[NFBWATLK] Action Alert! - state bills ending subminimum wages

[Marci Carpenter]

There are now bills in the state legislature to end the payment of subminimum wages in Washington. We have HB 1706 in the House and SB 5753 in the Senate. There is good support in both chambers for these bills but we still need to contact our state legislators and urge them to support them. To find your state Senators and Representatives go to http://leg.wa.gov and click on the “Find Your District” tab. More than 85 other disability organizations have signed a letter of support, as well as several entities who have successfully made the transition out of the subminimum wage practice. A flyer containing all of the supporting groups is attached below. 

HB 1706 is currently scheduled for a hearing this Monday afternoon from 1:30-2:30 pm in the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards and SB 5753 is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday morning from 8:00-9:00 am in the Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce. I was planning on attending both hearings though the weather is making that less likely. Several of the supporting organizations have representatives who live in Olympia so there will be very good witnesses even if I am not able to attend. We may want to get Federation members to the Capitol when the weather improves. 

I think our best strategy right now is to contact our Legislators and encourage them to support these bills. I will be submitting written testimony.You can also do this by going to http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx and scrolling down to the “How To Submit Written Testimony” section. Your email to the committees need not be long or elaborate. Encourage the Members to support the bills and, if you have had personal experience in a subminimum wage job, briefly tell that story.

Thank you for all that you do to help build the National Federation of the Blind of Washington

Marci Carpenter, President
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