Elizabeth New (Hovde) believes the unemployment insurance fund is a safety net financed by employers and meant for workers who lose work through no fault of their own; It should not be paying workers who choose not to work. Unions can do that.
Elizabeth New (Hovde)
Washington Policy Center
Gov. Bob Ferguson still has a chance to veto some very bad bills. Read more about three of them I followed this session.
— Senate Bill 5083 will increase health insurance costs for most people and could limit access to services for all Washingtonians by placing price caps on services provided to people who the state insures.
As Chelene Whiteaker with the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) testified in February, hospitals in the state are experiencing continuously negative operating margins of -1.3% in aggregate. “When overall costs exceed payment, hospitals have two choices: Seek higher payment rates from commercial insurers — the only payment rate that is really negotiable — or cut services,” she said.
Rather than seeking cost containment and affordability for all, lawmakers advanced a bill picking winners and losers. Read more here.
— House Bill 1296 is the much-debated bill that eliminates parent notification of medical ongoings a school knows about, offers or arranges for a child. The right for parents to be notified was established by Initiative 2081 just last year.
Keeping parents out of the loop is harmful for child health outcomes. Schools also should not be accomplices to children making life-altering medical decisions on their own. Watch debate on the bill here, and read my blog, “Parents told to have a seat; government knows best” here.
— Senate Bill 5041 allows striking workers to collect unemployment insurance benefits funded by the very employers they’re striking against. Seriously.
The unemployment insurance fund could be harmed. The fund is a safety net financed by employers and meant for workers who lose work through no fault of their own. It should not be paying workers who choose not to work. Unions can do that.
See Washington Policy Center’s concerns about how SB 5041 could harm workers, consumers, businesses and taxpayers on our blog.
My session recap is here with some other bills that are going to become law.
Elizabeth New (Hovde) is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.
Also read:
- Opinion: President Trump signs memorandum to protect the Snake River dams
Todd Myers argues that President Trump’s new memorandum rescinding Biden-era policies is a positive step toward protecting the Snake River dams, energy reliability, and salmon recovery. - Opinion: Why would C-TRAN Board members put the agency on the hook for $7.2 million annually if they don’t have to?Ken Vance questions why C-TRAN Board members would commit the agency to $7.2 million in annual light rail costs when the IBR administrator says alternative funding is possible.
- POLL: Is the IBR team listening to SW Washington?
A new poll invites Clark County residents to weigh in on whether local taxpayers should be responsible for the cost of light rail operations in the I-5 Bridge Replacement Program. - Opinion: How to use a two-way left turn laneDoug Dahl explains the legal and safety reasoning behind using two-way left turn lanes for both entering and exiting traffic.
- Opinion: Washington’s CO2 tax jumps 16% in just three months to about 46 cents per gallonIn an opinion column, Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center argues that Washington’s carbon-tax price rose 16 percent last quarter to the equivalent of about 46 cents per gallon of gasoline, yet provides little measurable climate benefit.
