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Committee rejects proposal to require outdoor public-worker safety plans and grants
Summary
House Bill 1629 would have required public employers to adopt workplace violence prevention plans for outdoor public workers, create safety teams, require training, create a PCCD data-collection role and establish a grant program; the committee voted the bill down after members raised implementation and redundancy concerns.
Representative Kinkade presented House Bill 1629 to the House Judiciary Committee as a prevention-focused alternative to criminal-penalty approaches, describing a grant program to fund protective equipment and training for municipal outdoor workers.
Committee counsel explained the bill would add a new Chapter 34 to Title 71. It would require public entities employing outdoor public workers to implement workplace-violence prevention plans, create safety teams, review risks periodically, consult employee representatives, provide de-escalation and reporting training, ensure access to incident reporting, counseling and legal support, authorize PCCD oversight of data collection and annual reporting to the General Assembly, and create a grant program for local government units to improve safety infrastructure and training. Counsel said the bill takes effect in 180 days.
Representative Kenyatta said many municipal employers already perform many of the tasks HB 1629 would require and said he was not convinced the bill as drafted would meaningfully improve safety. Chairman Kaufman said the concept was new to him and he had outstanding questions; he was not prepared to support the bill. After a roll-call, the secretary announced the bill did not receive the votes necessary and “does not receive the votes necessary to pass” and will not be reported to the floor.
Sponsors said they would continue work on the policy after the committee vote.
