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Governor Gregoire Signs Unemployment Insurance Legislation

For Immediate Release: March 8, 2006

OLYMPIA � Governor Chris Gregoire today signed two measures to restore equity and stability to Washington unemployment insurance law. House Bill 3278 and Senate Bill 6885 were the result of negotiations following the work of a legislative task force.

�This bill solves two problems. It addresses provisions of the 2003 law that disproportionately reduced weekly benefits for women, people of color and low-income workers, and it addresses a tax system that is taxing employers more than necessary to cover weekly benefits and maintain a solvent trust fund,� said Governor Gregoire.

Last summer, a Legislative Task Force worked with the Employment Security Department to examine the unemployment insurance system in Washington. Those discussions led to Senate Bill 6885 and a series of negotiations, hosted by the Governor�s office, between business and labor on a comprehensive compromise. Members of the Legislative Task Force -- Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Senator Linda Evans Parlette, Representative Steve Conway and Representative Cary Condotta -- were central to the final agreement.

Governor Gregoire said, �This bill is a remarkable compromise, an agreement reached by business and labor, by the House and Senate and between Republicans and Democrats.�

House Bill 3278 will take effect 90 days after adjournment of the legislative session. Senate Bill 6885 will take effect immediately.


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