Bill passed to employ apprentices

OLYMPIA – A measure that mandates the use of state-approved apprentices in all major public works projects is headed to Gov. Christine Gregoire.

The House of Representatives voted in favor of a Senate bill that would mandate the use of apprentices for certain Capitol construction projects earlier this week. The legislation would turn an executive order by former Gov. Gary Locke that has been in place for five years into law.

The bill requires no less than 15 percent of the labor hours done for public works estimated to cost $1 million or more be performed by apprentices enrolled in state-approved apprenticeship training programs.

Local lawmaker Timm Ormsby, president of the Spokane Regional Labor Council, was one of the bill’s many proponents.

“It’s important to get this bill moving, it’s important to get our folks to work and not miss this construction season,” said Ormsby, D-Spokane.

However, the bill faced heavy opposition by Republicans in the form of 10 proposed amendments, none of which passed the House floor.

“There’s nothing fair about this bill,” said Rep. Jim Clements, R-Selah.

“(My amendment) treats that bill like a rat caught in one of my barns by my orchard dogs; it kills it and it resurrects it into something that is fair and equitable in this state,” he said.

Clements wanted to add trainees in approved training programs to the types of workers that may be used to meet the requirements of the bill. He said it would open up opportunities for workers other than those in state-approved programs.

Still, Democrats remained in favor of the legislation.

“The Apprenticeship Program has a proven track record of training workers young and old and putting them to work earning good wages in highly skilled fields,” said Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, in a written statement after the passage of the bill. “This will ensure that we meet the needs of our state’s construction industry and keep us on the path to greater economic recovery.”

Currently there are 240 state-approved apprenticeship programs that provide 10,000 jobs in Washington with the construction industry providing a majority of the apprenticeships. The apprenticeships are approved and regulated by the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. Republicans worried that the bill would hurt small businesses and only benefit larger construction firms and labor unions.

Another concern of Republicans was that the bill was not given a public hearing in the House and that it contains an emergency clause, which means it would take effect immediately after being signed into law as opposed to the normal 90-day waiting period.

Due to the lack of a public hearing and the emergency clause, Republicans claimed the legislation was rushed through the process. Rep. Doug Erickson, R-Ferndale, labeled those three points a “trifecta of closed politics.”

“We are being railroaded today and the state is being railroaded,” said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee. “The system is being manipulated.”

Despite strong opposition, the bill, SSB 5097, passed with a final vote of 58-40 and now awaits the signature of Gov. Christine Gregoire to become law.