OLYMPIA – Rep. Liz Berry (D-Seattle) announced her 2025 legislative priorities today, continuing her role as a leader to end gun violence, fight for working families and consumers as chair of the House Labor Committee, and combat plastic pollution by expanding access to recycling.
Berry was sworn in for her third term on Monday and takes the helm of the Labor & Workplace Standards Committee for the second biennium, where she works to advance policies focused on health and safety in the workplace, and benefit programs like workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML).
This session Berry has introduced HB 1213, which closes a harmful loophole in PFML by expanding job protection for workers on leave. Under current state law, nearly half of Washington workers covered by the program are unable to take paid leave without risking their job. Accessing paid leave could not only result in being fired, but also in losing access to health care at a time when they or their family are seriously ill. A new study from the University of Washington found that while 70% of high wage workers have access to job protection, only 16% of low wage workers do.
Another bill offered by Berry supports those workers looking to strike out on their own in HB 1155, which prohibits noncompete agreements, inspired by the recent Biden Administration FTC rule.
“Washington’s innovators, startups, and workers all benefit from banning noncompete agreements,” said Berry. “When we stop people from starting their own businesses, or even just leaving one job for a better one, we hurt Washington’s workers and our economy.”
Berry is a former staffer to Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was the survivor of a violent shooting where six people lost their lives, including a friend and colleague of Berry’s. This experience has touched her life in a profound way and has inspired her work in the Legislature to end gun violence in our communities. Berry has introduced HB 1163, a commonsense proposal to establish a Permit to Purchase system in Washington state, a policy that has been shown to reduce gun violence, curb illegal gun trafficking, and ensure firearms are only in the hands of responsible gun owners.
“I’m a mom of two little kids and I have lost someone I love to gun violence. This is personal to me and to countless families in our nation. Gun violence is the number one cause of death for kids and teens. That’s unacceptable and we must act,” said Berry. “Permit to Purchase will save lives and create safer communities for everyone in Washington.”
In Washington, more than half of all paper and packaging are going into landfills, wasting valuable material that could otherwise be recycled while contributing to harmful emissions. Access to recycling is not equitable across the state with only 58% of jurisdictions providing curbside recycling. In 11 counties, there’s no curbside recycling at all. Additionally, the increase in plastic use has led to increased pollution and toxic chemicals in local communities from production and coincided with reports of increased counts of microplastics in human bodies.
Berry’s Recycling Reform Act (HB 1150) would create a producer responsibility program in which manufacturers and brands come together to reduce unnecessary packaging like plastics, fund statewide recycling services, and ensure that materials put in recycling bins will actually be recycled. Incentivizing companies to move away from toxic or harmful materials and holding them accountable is the best way to change their policies around plastic use in packaging. A proven policy across the world, five states have adopted similar legislation in recent years.
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