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Bill would require 120-day notice and 5-year grant ineligibility for call-center offshoring
Summary
Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5,459 would require certain call center employers (50+ employees) to notify the Employment Security Department 120 days before relocating operations to a foreign country, bar such employers from state grants or loans for five years after moving (with limited waivers), and require state contracted call-center services to be performed in the U.S.; labor witnesses urged support to protect local jobs.
Ben McCarthy, committee staff, summarized Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5,459, which has three main elements: (1) a requirement that covered call center employers provide Employment Security Department (ESD) notice at least 120 days prior to relocating call center operations to a foreign country; (2) a five-year ineligibility period for state grants or loans for employers that have relocated operations abroad (with ESD/awarding-agency waiver authority if ineligibility would cause substantial job loss or environmental harm); and (3) a requirement that state-agency contracts for call-center services specify that the services be performed entirely within the United States (excluding interpreter services).
Witnesses from unions and call-center workers strongly supported the bill. Christine Reid (IBEW Local 77) said the bill provides safeguards against companies moving jobs abroad without notice. Eileen Nicks (CWA Local 7800) cited roughly 50,000 customer-service workers in Washington and described call centers as family-supporting jobs, and Crystal Rivas (CWA Local 3783) pointed to recent closures by companies such as Wells Fargo and Concentrix as examples of offshoring harms.
Committee members asked technical questions about scope (the bill only covers moves abroad, not relocations within the U.S.) and noted exemptions for interpreter services in state contracting. No formal vote was taken in the hearing.
