Y = Yes

N = No

NV = Not Voting

Subsidizing Health Insurance for Employees of Small Businesses

By a vote of 57 to 41 on Feb. 8, the House approved HB 2572. The bill would provide premium subsidies to eligible employees who are employed by a small business that offers health coverage equivalent to the state Basic Health Plan. The small business will pay at least 40% of the monthly premium cost for the employee. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.

Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) - Y

Rep. Joe McDermott (D-West Seattle) - Y

Health Savings Accounts for State Employees

By a vote of 88 to 10 on Feb. 8, the House approved HB 1383. The bill would add a health savings account (HSA) coupled with a catastrophic insurance policy to the many health insurance options for state employees and their families. State employees would be free to choose the plan. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.

Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) - Y

Rep. Joe McDermott (D-West Seattle) - Y

Creating the Department of Early Learning

By a vote of 79 to 19 on Feb. 9, the House approved HB 2964. The bill would create the Department of Early Learning within the executive branch of state government, making it a cabinet-level department. Its mission would be to implement early learning policy, to coordinate, consolidate and integrate child-care and early learning programs and to collaborate with the K-12 school system to improve transitions from pre-kindergarten environments to kindergarten. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.

Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) - Y

Rep. Joe McDermott (D-West Seattle) - Y

Property Tax Levies for School Employee Salaries

By a vote of 50 to 48 on Feb. 9, the House approved HB 1484. The bill would permit a voter-approved county property tax of $0.75 per $1,000 of value to be used for collectively bargained pay raises for school employees. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate.

Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) - Y

Rep. Joe McDermott (D-West Seattle) - Y

Prohibiting Automatic State Fee Increases

By a vote of 40 to 1 on Feb. 8, the Senate approved SB 5527. The bill would prohibit state agencies from adopting administrative rules that automatically increase fees by a formula amount, such as the fiscal growth factor or the consumer price index. Prior legislative approval would be necessary for such a fee increase. The bill is now under consideration in the House of Representatives.

Sen. Erik Poulsen (D-West Seattle) - NV

WashingtonVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website to find plain-English explanations of bills and a record of each legislator's votes. Visit www.WashingtonVotes.org.