Local board and council members of Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties have selected Democrat Liz Lovelett, an Anacortes City Councilmember, to fill the 40th District seat formerly held by Sen. Kevin Ranker, bringing the state Senate back up to full membership of 49.  Sen. Ranker resigned last month amid allegations of workplace misconduct.  An investigation by the Senate confirmed the allegations late last week.

Sen. Lovelett must run and be elected in this November’s election in order to serve out the remainder of Sen. Ranker’s term, which ends in 2020.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are beginning to take up floor debate and votes on issues that are winding their way through the committee hearing process.

Nearly 1.850 measures have been introduced so far in the Legislature, now in its 24th day of the scheduled 105-day regular session. Some 135 bills have been passed in committee so far and are awaiting further approval by the Rules Committees of each chamber. Currently, the Senate has scheduled 22 measures on its floor calendar for action in the coming days.

Governor Inslee signed the first bill of the session on Monday. House Bill 1064 amends Initiative 940, the police reform measure approved by voters last November. The bill passed both chambers unanimously earlier this session.

Senate Bill 5236 was defeated in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee last week when Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent), chair of the committee and prime sponsor of the bill, announced the committee would take no further action on it.  The bill, which would have banned stylists and beauticians from renting work space in hair salons, was defeated after hundreds of workers said their livelihood would be threatened by the bill. More than 1,000 beauty care workers packed a hearing room and overflow space in Olympia last week to register their opposition to the bill.

Self-employed workers still face a threat from other legislation that would make it more difficult for them to earn a living. House Bills 1515 and 1601 are awaiting action by the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee, and their companion bills, Senate Bills 5513 and 5690 are up for a hearing and action in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.

These measures would severely restrict the classification of self-employed workers as independent contractors or sole proprietors, forcing such workers to operate like employees for purposes of minimum and prevailing wage mandates, unemployment and workmen’s compensation insurance, and other employment laws.

Executive sessions to pass HB 1515 out of committee have been repeatedly scheduled, but no action has been taken to date.

Keep up with the action on these and other bills by visiting washingtonvoters.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter #waleg.

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