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Governor Bob Ferguson signs House Bill 1644 to strengthen safety and contractor accountability for youth workers
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Summary
Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1644 at a ceremony at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 66 DuPont training facility. Sponsors and labor leaders said the law will hold unsafe employers accountable and protect minors working on construction sites; specific vote tallies were not provided at the event.
Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1644 at a bill-signing ceremony at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 66 DuPont training facility, declaring that the new law will hold employers accountable and improve safety for minors on job sites.
"It's an honor, really an honor to sign House Bill 1644," Ferguson said as he prepared to sign, adding that the measure represents a team effort by legislators, labor leaders and community partners.
The bill’s sponsors and labor advocates said the law responds to a rise in child employment and incidents on job sites. Representative Mary Fossey, the bill’s primary sponsor and deputy floor leader, told attendees that child employment has increased "by nearly 50%" over the last decade and described HB 1644 as a step to prevent unsafe employers from continuing to hire minors.
"No parent should have to worry about their child going to work and facing serious injuries or death," Fossey said, urging accountability for employers who repeatedly violate safety and child-labor rules.
Heather Kurtlock, executive secretary of Washington State Building a Construction Training, noted the bill won bipartisan support: "Representative Fossey and Representative Schmidt, with a bipartisan vote out of both chambers." Kurtlock also highlighted training programs such as the Future Works youth construction program as places the law aims to protect.
Emil Simmons, president of the Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO, framed the signing on Workers' Memorial Day as a reminder of the cost of unsafe workplaces and praised the legislation. "Today, we write into law protections for some of our most vulnerable workers, our children," Simmons said.
At the ceremony, Ferguson used three pens to sign the bill, inviting sponsors and labor leaders to stand behind him. He thanked Local 66 for hosting and the coalition of labor and legislative partners who backed the measure.
The event emphasized the law’s intent to remove unsafe employers from consideration as "responsible bidders," a change sponsors said would prevent contractors with repeated violations from receiving public contracts. Specific statutory language, effective dates and detailed implementation steps were not discussed at the ceremony, and the speakers did not provide vote tallies for the reported bipartisan passage in both chambers.
The immediate next steps for implementation, including any administrative rules or dates for the law to take effect, were not specified at the signing. Organizers said the bill expands protections for youth in construction training and will be incorporated into the state’s procurement and contractor-responsibility practices as agencies implement the law.
