Dear Neighbors,
After a long week of late night floor debates, we have reached the week of House of Origin cutoff. This means that starting next week, House committees will resume to start hearing legislation passed on the Senate floor.
Here are some updates.
Statewide Office of Equity can reduce systemic racial inequities
I have introduced legislation (HB 1783) this session which would establish a statewide Office of Equity within the Governor’s Office to help reduce systemic racial disparities. Race influences where we live, where we work and what our long-term health impacts are. Consciously or unconsciously, race effects the way we move around on a daily basis. This result, in part, relies on a systemic history of policies that have advantaged some, while disadvantaging others on racial lines. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can start repairing this painful history and current reality. |
Getting closer to Equal Pay for Equal Work
Last year we passed the Equal Pay Opportunity Act, which prohibits pay secrecy policies, allows discussion of wages, requires equitable access to career advancement opportunities, bans retaliation against workers that ask for equal pay, and offers administrative options as well as damages if private action is pursued. This session, we are following up with a bill that promotes equity and economic equality by prohibiting employers from asking an applicant’s salary history. On the surface, it may seem harmless to ask how much a person made in previous jobs, but this practice can keep wages down over an entire lifetime, particularly for women and people of color. Requiring salary history and linking new wages to old wages perpetuates this gap. Tomorrow’s salary shouldn’t depend on yesterday’s wages. Regardless of your career path, past pay should not dictate how much you’ll make in a new job. House Bill 1696 will prohibit employers from asking applicants what their wages were in previous jobs and will require employers to provide a wage scale or salary range when requested. What should matter when you’re job hunting is your experience, your skills, and your training or degree; these are the things that should affect your salary, not your previous pay. |
Eliminating subminimum wage for people with disabilities
Here in Washington state, paying people with developmental disabilities subminimum wages, an archaic practice, is still being utilized today. Some argue that paying subminimum wages is necessary to have jobs for people with disabilities. However, we’ve seen that paying a subminimum wage has not been an effective way to encourage businesses to hire more people with disabilities.
The law that allows this unfair practice is from 1959, predating civil rights legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. In fact, when this law passed, schools could refuse to educate people with disabilities.
No class of employees should be marginalized, and minimum wage protections should be for everyone, regardless of their disability status.
It’s time for Washington state to join the national movement that has seen Kentucky, Oregon, and Hawaii introduce legislation to eliminate the practice, while Alaska, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maryland have already banned paying people with disabilities subminimum wages. That’s why I support House Bill 1706, which will end this outdated and unfair practice here in Washington.
Instead of paying people with disabilities subminimum wages, we should be encouraging supportive employment programs that will help them find jobs that match their strengths and talents.
All the best wishes,
Rep. Mia Gregerson