State Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, gets in a jab Saturday. And while it may not change things a whit, it’s all in the game.

OLYMPIA, March 11.—A bill that imposes a new paperwork requirement on construction contractors offers sort of an illustration of the way things are really going in the House these days. House Bill 1473, a measure that advances a union-backed crackdown on the “underground economy,” was the subject of spirited debate as Republicans gleefully accused Dems of being insensitive to small business, quoted from White House press releases that took a contrary position, and wondered why anyone would want to be stuck inside working on such a bill anyway when the weather seems finally to be turning nice.

Not that the argument made any difference. The measure passed, just barely, 51-47. The vote may not make any difference. either. Now the measure proceeds to almost certain death in the state Senate.

“It’s kind of a moral victory,” said House Minority Floor Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm. “They have the majority, they have the votes, but we walk off feeling like we won.”

Think of it as a slice of life in the state Legislature as the House and Senate scramble to beat a deadline for passage of bills from the chamber of origin. Today is the 57th day of this year’s 105-day session, roughly the midpoint, and the self-imposed deadline, though easily bypassed, has forced both chambers for the last week to stage marathon sessions and pass bills in batches. The underground economy bill was one of 43 that passed the House Saturday.

Most bills in the House and Senate pass unanimously or near-unanimously, after about a minute of speechifying on the floor. Most of them you’ve never heard of, and it’s safe to say many of them you’ll never hear of again. Usually it’s because the bills don’t have a great effect, but in the rare cases where support comes primarily from one party and the other side takes umbrage, the bills are destined for oblivion. That’s because the Legislature this year is under essentially divided control, with Democrats in charge of the House and a Republican-leaning coalition running the Senate. Yet every now and then a bill like the underground-economy measure comes along – it may not be going anywhere, but it gives lawmakers a chance for a rollicking debate.

Imposes New Reporting Requirement

House Bill 1473 is the product of a multi-year effort, pushed primarily by union interests, to crack down on independent subcontractors who work “under the table” – and thus skirt unemployment, workers’ compensation and other taxes imposed by the state. Business interests also are peeved when some fail to pay their fair share – but they’re none too crazy about new rules they say are unlikely to have much effect, and wind up imposing new burdens on the law-abiding. HB 1473 would require contractors to file reports with the Department of Labor and Industries to file reports whenever they pay a subcontractor more than $600. Reports would be shared with the Department of Employment Security, which administers unemployment insurance. Contractors would face penalties anywhere from $200 to $5,000 if a report is incomplete or false.

“If we get a wage claim, we can go back and check and see if they are really doing what they are supposed to be doing,” explained sponsor Mike Sells, D-Everett, chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee and a staunch supporter of labor. It also would help ensure that contractors on public works projects are paying union-level prevailing wage rates, he said.

L&I estimates that it would collect somewhere between $2.5 and $3.2 million a year in additional workers’ compensation premiums. But L&I also would have to track 265,000 new reports annually. That would require an expense of about $1.5 million every two years. The estimate doesn’t cover the costs that would be paid by contractors as they comply with the new rule.

Bill Called Pointless

Tom Kwieciak, lobbyist for the Building Industry Association of Washington, speaks with state Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, outside the House chamber door.

Out in the halls just outside the House chamber, the state Labor Council and the Building Industry Association of Washington were busy rounding up votes on both sides. The whole thing is silly, said BIAW lobbyist Tom Kwieciak: What good is a new law when L&I has trouble enough enforcing the ones that already exist? “There’s another layer of paperwork for legitimate guys to turn in and deal with, and then it becomes another disadvantage to being legitimate because you have more stuff to do. And the guy who is cheating isn’t going to do anything.”

And out on the floor, Republican orators made speech after speech pointing to what they called a logical disconnect. If people are breaking the law, do you think a piece of paperwork is going to change anything?

“If somebody is paying cash or paying under the table, they’re not going to file a report,” said state Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee. “So it is not going to get to those people. It is just going to create another burden on the contractors that are doing it right.”

Norma Smith, R-Clinton, warned of death by a thousand paper cuts. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, complained worker-comp rates will have to go up to cover the new expense. Vincent Buys, R-Bellingham, said, “The assumption that somebody who is not following the rules will wake up one day and decide hey, guess what? There’s a new rule here, I should probably follow the rules, even though I haven’t followed the rules all along — is absurd.”

And then came Manweller.

Quotes From Obama Press Release

State Rep. Chris Reykdal, D-Olympia, argues bill will “empower” businesses to prove they are blameless.

Freshman state Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, has been making a name for himself this session with fiery speeches – though few have gotten attention beyond the chamber because the stakes have been so low. But his speech Saturday at least had the ranks chortling. In early drafts of the federal Affordable Care Act, he said business faced a similar reporting requirement, but after uproar it was removed. Manweller quoted from a statement by Obama press secretary Jay Carney: “Mr. Obama is open to changing the law; we are pleased that Congress has acted.” Said Manweller, “So, Mr. Speaker, the question is why what is bad for America good for Washington? Why is it that what was going to kill jobs in America is not going to kill jobs in Washington? Why is it that what was expensive for small business owners in America is not expensive to small business owners in Washington? President Obama and I don’t agree on a lot, Mr. Speaker, but this is one where we do.”

In all, eight Republicans took turns lambasting the measure. Only two Democrats bothered counterattacking. Chris Reykdal, D-Olympia, said the measure would “empower” contractors to prove that they are abiding by the law. And if some people ignore the law, Tami Green, D-Tacoma, said that’s their fault: “If violent criminals commit crimes, we don’t say, oh well, violent criminals are committing crimes. We write laws and try to make things better.”

Next came the vote and its most predictable result. All Republicans voted no, and four Democrats crossed over and voted with the Rs — Judy Clibborn of Mercer Island, Chris Hurst of Enumclaw, Monica Stonier of Vancouver and Larry Springer of Kirkland. With 51 votes, the measure passed with only one vote to spare. But it is the way things work in the Legislature: Votes always are counted in advance, and the majority party rarely schedules a vote on a bill if it is not going to pass. Of course the argument wasn’t going to change anything, Wilcox said afterward, and it may not matter much in the scheme of things. You can be sure the measure will disappear when it gets over to the Senate. So for the minority a debate like that one is more a morale-booster than anything else, and the Rs count it as a win: They may have lost the vote, but they say they won the argument. “Most of our wins are invisible and never show up,” Wilcox said.

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