Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Administration Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee adopts amendment creating BOLI expenses fund and forwards bill to Ways and Means
Summary
The committee adopted the dash‑1 amendment to SB 1506, creating a BOLI expenses fund financed by a small employer/employee assessment; the bill as amended was referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means with a do‑pass recommendation.
The Senate Committee on Labor and Business adopted an amendment to SB 1506 on Feb. 9 that would create a Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Expenses Fund in the State Treasury and authorize an assessment on employers and employees to finance BOLI administrative costs. The committee then voted to refer the amended bill to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
Whitney explained the dash‑1 and dash‑3 amendments replace the placeholder language in the underlying measure; both include fiscal impacts and seek referral to Ways and Means. The dash‑3 amendment, proposed by Vice Chair Hayden, would have limited the assessment to employers with more than 10 employees; Hayden argued that carving out the smallest employers protects rural businesses. Hayden moved the dash‑3 amendment and debated its merits, but the dash‑3 amendment failed to move forward after a roll-call sequence; Chair Taylor voted no and the amendment did not pass.
Vice Chair Hayden then moved the dash‑1 amendment (a broader replacement). Committee debate included examples of the assessment's scale: witnesses discussed a per‑hour assessment on employees as low as one‑tenth of a penny and employer costs of roughly 1¢ per hour for very small employers; proponents estimated the assessed fund could yield in the tens of millions of dollars annually when aggregated (figures discussed included $19 million to $24 million depending on prevailing‑wage assessment impacts). Some senators raised concerns that core administrative functions should be funded from the general fund rather than a dedicated assessment.
The dash‑1 amendment was adopted in committee, and the committee moved SB 1506, as amended, to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means with a do‑pass recommendation. Chair Taylor again volunteered to serve as carrier if Ways and Means forwards the bill to the floor.
The committee closed the SB 1506 work session and returned to additional testimony on SB 1566.
