LEGISLATIVE REPORT – WEEK ONE

Everyone has been sworn in and the inaugural galas are over.  It’s time for business.

State of the State

I wasn’t expecting much, and I wasn’t disappointed.  State of the State addresses are generally pretty unremarkable.  Governor Little laid out his agenda.  No surprises.  Nothing bold.  There were some bright spots:

• Raising starting pay for teachers to $40k.  It’s currently $35,800.  This is good as Idaho teachers have chronically been underpaid and underappreciated. 

• Implementing Proposition 2, Medicaid Expansion, as approved by Idaho voters.

And there were some dark clouds:

• Executive Order requiring state agencies to revoke two regulations for every new regulation they want to implement.

“Licensing Freedom”

As Lt. Governor, this was one of Little’s crowning achievements.  Each agency had to report and make recommendations to ease the regulatory burden of licensing. 

At least that’s how it is being sold.  Unfortunately, part of that “freedom” is the dismantling of competency requirements for licenses in the trades and weaker requirements for apprentices.   The Governor has created a climate of de-regulation and many legislators love this.  They want the government to get out of the way so business can prosper.  Screw the workers, and screw public safety.  The interim committee on licensing regulation stated that a goal was to “open the trades.”   I will be closely watching agendas and reading bills to make sure that this “opening” does not mean licensing anybody who owns a hammer.

DBS has bills ready to go, and according to some reports, “greased.”  This is a legislative term of art that means the bill is going through and going through quickly.  Legislative leadership is behind it and the majority party has been told how to vote.  Any opposition is being told to sit down and shut up.

The DBS bills coming from the Electrical Board would: 

https://dfm.idaho.gov/legislation/rs/450-01.pdf

o            Changes apprenticeship license renewal from every five years to annual

o            Removes requirement that apprentice show advancement in training

o            Allows exam for out of state applicant showing 8 years (16,000 hrs) work

o            Allow reciprocity agreements w/other states

o            Department to maintain employment info submitted w/ online accessibility

https://dfm.idaho.gov/legislation/rs/450-02.pdf

o            creates new license for “electrical installers” requiring no formal training

o            allows licensed electrical installer to sit for regular journeyman exam

I’m keeping an eye out for these bills to appear on an agenda.  The Building Trades need to be ready oppose these, if that’s what we choose to do. 

Ugliness Ahead

I’ve heard that the asbestos bill we defeated two years ago will be back.  This is a particularly vile piece of legislation as it requires workers with asbestos related diseases to jump through additional hoops before they get their day in court.  It is cynically designed to delay litigation until the worker dies. 

The following are not building trades issues, but I bring them to your attention as they may have an impact on your members.

First, is the expedited eviction bill.  Recall that last year our wage claim bill was traded at the last minute to get this ugly mess held.  Well, the ugly mess will be back.

The bill would allow a landlord to quickly evict a tenant when a crime has occurred on the rented property.  The goal may be to get rid of tenants that engage in criminal activity, but the bill goes much, much further.  It would allow for eviction if the tenant has no knowledge of the criminal activity, or even worse, if the tenant is the victim of the crime.  To add insult to injury, the bill would allow a landlord to collect three times the damages suffered.  So, if a door gets kicked in, the tenant must pay three times what the door was worth.   And if a tenant gets evicted the first month of a one-year lease, the landlord can get three times the rent for the eleven months left on this lease.   Ouch.

This bill is coming from the Apartment Association and is opposed by many groups.  I will be watching this. 

Second, is yet another expansion of inmate labor.   First, farmers wanted to use state prisoners to pick apples rotting in the orchards because they couldn’t get workers to pick them.  Paying higher wages may have solved that, but it was easier to get the legislature to give them inmates.

Then a few years later, they needed inmates to work in potato warehouses because, again, they couldn’t get workers and the potatoes were going to rot.   So, the state let them use inmates in warehouses rather than letting the beloved “free market” solve the problem.  (Hint:  pay more and you’ll get more workers.)  I understand that now many spud cellars have only inmates working during the harvest,

Now, they want to use inmates in production facilities.  Not because food is rotting, but because the industry has come to rely on cheap inmate labor.  And they want yet more labor, cheaper.

I spoke against the bill early on, pointing out that it would drive wages down.  It has.

Happy Thoughts

Some of the bills we’ve been working on for years may get some movement.  We’ve brought these before but aren’t prioritizing them this year as we’re focusing on licensing, apprenticeships and the dreaded asbestos bill.

Rep. Chew (D, 17) will be working on getting a bill printed or introduced to raise the minimum wage.  I’ve dutifully drafted a new bill every year, changing the dates.  Every year it goes nowhere.  I will be working with Rep. Chew to get this bill moving as far as possible.

There may be interest in bringing the wage claim bill that we’ve worked on the past two years.  Current law requires a worker to bring a state claim for unpaid wages within 6 months.  I simply propose to expand that to 12 months.  Federal law provides two years. 

The bill I drafted to prohibit employers from asking applicants about previous salary history and prohibiting employers from disciplining workers for talking to each other about wages and salaries may get picked up.   This is being called the paycheck fairness bill.

I will work with anyone who wants to take our work and run with it.

Union Day

Union Day at the Statehouse is next Thursday, the 17th.  It’s a fun day.  We get to mob the Statehouse and talk to legislators.  This year, we will be talking about apprenticeships and the importance of high standards for licensing. 

Here’s a recent editorial from the Idaho Press Tribune, in Nampa.  It’s worth a read because it outlines why licensing in the trades is important. 

https://www.idahopress.com/opinion/editorials/state-of-idaho-should-require-licenses-for-general-contractors/article_e662c34a-b8f1-5899-a89c-b02d5722cb5e.html

Please plan on attending and bringing members with you.  Public policy is important, and nobody can speak for the building trades better than our members.

Marty Durand

Piotrowski Durand, PLLC