Employer Gag Bill put on the shelf, a welcome respite for business owners facing tax hikes
The Everett Herald reported today that the Worker Privacy Act (or Employer Gag Bill, as we like to call it) won’t be making an encore appearance in the next legislative session after all.
Lawmakers are waiting to see if a similar bill passed in Oregon this year, the Worker Freedom Act, will survive the legal challenges filed against it last week by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In addition, political heat still emanating from last session has given legislators reason to put this bill on the shelf until things cool off.
This is good news for business owners and, really, for anyone interested in getting back to work in 2010.
But starting in January, Washington state employers will be facing a substantial unemployment tax increase by 7.6 percent — which is not good news. Without a major economic boom in the next year, most small business owners’ revenues are certain to take a hit.
Passing the Worker Privacy Act would have been like kicking our state’s most important job creators while they were down — not exactly the best strategy for boosting the employment rate.