OLYMPIA — It’s a new year. For Washington, that means a few new laws are in effect.
And for minimum wage workers, it also means a pay raise.
For the second year in a row, Washington will retain the title as the state with the highest minimum wage in the country. In 2024, minimum wage will rise to $16.28 per hour from the current rate of $15.74.
The state’s Department of Labor and Industries decides when and how much to raise the pay statewide.
Seattle workers will see their minimum wage rate rise over a dollar to $19.97 per hour for employers with 501 workers or more.
All cities in Snohomish County stick to the state’s rate.
Gun control
Those looking to buy any firearm in the state will encounter new policies aiming to reduce gun violence.
For any firearm purchase, a buyer must wait 10 days before acquiring their gun. The law, which previously only applied to pistols and semiautomatic weapons, now applies to all guns.
House Bill 1143 also requires proof the buyer completed a recognized firearms-safety training program as well as a background check.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure into law the same day he gave the green light to an assault weapons ban, which went in effect immediately in April. The assault weapons ban came after a yearslong push led by Rep. Strom Peterson, a Democrat from Edmonds.
Hospital staffing
Hospitals in the state will now be mandated to create a hospital staffing committee in which at least half of members must be nurses.
The committees’ responsibilities will include developing and analyzing annual staffing plans and assessing complaints. It requires nurses and executives to agree on the number of staff in each patient care unit.
Everett’s largest hospital has already implemented a staffing committee. In the past few months, it has been met with agitated nurses unhappy about their staffing situations.
For five days in November, more than 1,300 nurses at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett went on strike to protest, saying they were overworked and overwhelmed by a hefty patient-to-nurse ratio.
Weeks after the strike, Providence and its nurses agreed on a tentative contract to resolve the nurses’ concerns. Nurses rejected the contract last month.
Cannabis screening
With some exceptions, it is now unlawful for employers to discriminate against job candidates based on cannabis use.
The law argues lawful cannabis use outside of work has “no correlation to an applicant’s future job performance.”
The law does not apply to employers in the construction industry or in positions that require a federal government background check or security clearance.
Street racing
In legislation sponsored by Mill Creek state Sen. John Lovick, street racers will see tougher punishments.
On the first offense of street racing, drivers could have their cars impounded for up to 72 hours. On the second offense, their vehicles may be forfeited.
In addition, the passengers in racing vehicles can be charged as accomplices.
The definition of illegal street racing was also expanded to include racing in “off-street facilities,” like public parking lots.
Newspaper tax exemption
A new law aiming to keep local news organizations staffed and in business will provide some newspapers and digital news sources a tax break.
The law said between 2005 and 2020, newspapers in Washington lost two-thirds of their newsroom employees. It also states more than two dozen weekly and three daily newspapers in the state have shuttered since 2004.
The law will exempt newspaper publishers and digital publications from a business and occupation tax. The tax rate for newspapers was 0.035% and was measured based on the gross income of the business.
Jenelle Baumbach: 360-352-8623; jenelle.baumbach@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jenelleclar.
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