SEIU 925 Olympia Legislative Agenda

• Child Care Center Directors and Workers Collective Bargaining (HB 2449/SB 6522) – win for 20,000 child care center workers the right to come together on a statewide basis to advocate for children and their profession, by bargaining with the State over subsidy rates, professional development, training and quality standards.
  
  

• Close the Transportation Funding Gap – legislative audits show that the state is short funding districts by up to $200 million per biennium. Last year’s $25 million allocation was a down payment, but more needs to be done.
• Improve Classified Staff Funding Formulas – The legislature funds our districts at a ratio of one classified staffer per 59 students; yet the actual staffing ratios are closer to 1:30 around the state. Our local levy funds make up the difference. The State must step up to its responsibility to fully fund basic education, and let our local levy dollars fund educational enhancements that parents and kids want.
  
  

• Hold Insurance Companies Accountable – Last year’s runaway health insurance rate hikes cost Washington families millions. It’s time to empower the Insurance Commissioner to review and approve proposed rate increases.
• Improve Small Employer Access to Affordable Health Plans – by allowing small businesses to pool their purchasing power through the State Health Insurance Partnership, and by providing premium subsidies for low wage employees.
• Improve School District Access to PEBB – to offer a voluntary alternative for small districts caught in insurance companies’ price squeeze.
  
  

• Make Property Taxes More Progressive -- Lower income homeowners currently pay a much larger share of their household earnings in property taxes (6%) than higher income households (2.8%). A property tax circuit breaker would protect low and moderate income homeowners if their property taxes rise above a certain percentage (for example, 5%) of their household income, in much the same way that a home’s circuit breaker protects a home from electrical overload.
• Pass a Working Families State Tax Credit – Washington’s low wage workers pay five times as much of their household income in state and local taxes (17%) as wealthier Washingtonians. A state tax credit equal to 10% of a family’s federal Earned Income Tax Credit would help offset working families’ tax burden, would be simple, would put money in the pockets of those who need it most, and would help local economies.