Manweller bills to help telecommunications workers and streamline prevailing wage paperwork signed by governor
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Manweller bills to help telecommunications workers and streamline prevailing wage paperwork signed by governor
Bills to clarify the scope of work for those in the telecommunications industry and cut down on redundant prevailing wage paperwork were signed by Gov. Jay Inslee today.
Rep. Matt Manweller, who sponsored the bills, says the legislation reflect bipartisan work and an effort to improve the rules and regulations of the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
House Bill 2253 would preserve and expand the scope of telecommunications work to include work on equipment that is commonly used to power telecommunications devices and systems. Manweller's House Bill 2254 was also amended into HB 2253 to allow telecommunications workers who obtain a training certificate from L&I before July 1, 2015 to apply actual work experience toward taking a professional competency certification exam to become a limited energy system 06 specialty electrician.
“This will allow people who install telephones and Internet cables to keep their jobs after an adverse ruling by the Department of Labor and Industries,” said Manweller, R-Ellensburg. “It clarifies what telecommunications companies have been doing for twenty years and is simply a case of technology moving faster than the rules and regulations being put in place for this industry.”
House Bill 1254 prohibits L&I from collecting an affidavit certification fee from individuals or entities that are exempt from the requirement to pay prevailing wage.
“When you are an independent proprietor, you must send an affidavit to the department indicating the prevailing wage laws don't apply to you. The department must then send you a return piece of work acknowledging that,” said Manweller. “After the work is completed, another affidavit has been required along with a forty-dollar fee. The legislation eliminates this affidavit as well as the filing fee since the scope of work has already been clarified and acknowledged in the first two affidavits.”
The telecommunications legislation takes effect immediately due to the emergency clause attached to the bill. People could be held liable for citations without the legislation in place.
The prevailing wage measure takes effect on June 12, 2014.
Both bills passed through the legislative process unanimously.
PHOTO: Rep. Matt Manweller speaks to his legislation on the House floor.
Photo credit: Washington State Legislature.
