By Kathleen Collins, Government Relations Consultant
The 2024 legislative session starts January 8. It will be a short 60-day session where legislators will tune up the state’s two-year budgets and address unfinished business. The short session does not lend itself to passing major new laws, but some unfinished issues could get resolved.
Election year 2024
2024 is an election year, which means legislators will want to complete their business so they can start re-election activities. All the House members and half of the Senate will be up for re-election. In addition, all state elected officials will be up for re-election. Four statewide positions will be open—Governor, Attorney General, Public Lands Commissioner, and Insurance Commissioner. Governor Inslee decided not to pursue what would have been an unprecedented fourth term. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is retiring after six terms totaling 24 years. Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz are both vying to replace Governor Inslee as is State Senator Mark Mullet. Three other state senators have tossed their hats in the ring for the other three statewide seats. All of them are current committee chairs, so if any of them win, there will be shuffling to fill their chairmanships.
Budgets and opportunities
There will be additional funds in the state coffers in 2024 that could provide opportunities for SMACNA contractors. Funds from the recent federal legislation on infrastructure and energy continue to pour into the state in the form of specific energy efficiency grants programs administered by the Department of Commerce. And Commerce expects to add more federal funds for solar expansion. Money from the state’s Climate Commitment Act (cap and invest program) auctions have exceeded projections so far. The Legislature will be tasked in the 2024 session with deciding how and when to spend the additional state auction money. Some of it could be used to increase the clean buildings and energy efficiency grant programs. More information is available on the Commerce website at commerce.wa.gov/growing-the-economy/energy
Unfinished business
Last session, Puget Sound Energy asked the legislature to give them the authority to start decarbonizing their system by reducing the use of natural gas. The most controversial part of their proposal was to stop all new natural gas hooks up effective June 2023. There have already been discussions on reviving the bill in the 2024 session. If the near-term ban on new natural gas uses is removed, the opposition would be reduced.
State law specifies that the prevailing wage rates be set using the highest contract negotiated for a specific trade but does not specify how many companies or workers need to be covered by the contract. Some unions have taken advantage of this lack of clarity and have negotiated higher contracts with a single employer that then set the wage rate. Several of the construction groups want to amend the law in the 2024 to set the wage rate against the contract that represents the majority of the work done by a specific trade. Related to this, recently prevailing wage and project labor agreements have been added as a requirement for private sector work when they are given a tax credit. We will probably see this trend continue.
Building code changes
The Building Code Council is finally slated to adopt the revised 2021 building code on November 28 with a March 15, 2024, effective date. The revised code was supposed to go into effect this summer, but the Council had to revisit their ban on the use of natural gas appliances after an appellate court ruling that said these bans ran afoul of a federal law regulating appliances. (Energy Policy & Conservation Act of 1975 – EPCA). The Council will consider two options for the code prepared by the technical committees. One option provides a fossil fuel compliance pathway in the energy code using revised energy credits. The other option makes changes throughout the building code and established requirements for fossil fuel appliances. Hearings on the proposed revisions are November 21 and 22. ▪
For more information on any of these items, please contact the SMACNA offices.
