SENATE BILL REPORT

                  3SHB 1381

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

          Labor, Commerce & Trade, February 22, 1996

                Ways & Means, February 26, 1996

Title:  An act relating to shared leave.

Brief Description:  Sharing leave and personal holiday time.

Sponsors:  House Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Representatives Dyer, Brumsickle, Patterson, Campbell, Brown, Hankins, Chopp, Schoesler, Romero, Chandler, Robertson, Mitchell, G. Fisher, Sheahan, Poulsen, Thibaudeau, H. Sommers, Kessler, Mielke, Honeyford, Kremen, Wolfe, Boldt and Conway).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Labor, Commerce & Trade:  2/21/96, 2/22/96 [DP].

Ways & Means:  2/26/96 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, COMMERCE & TRADE

Majority Report:  Do pass.

  Signed by Senators Pelz, Chair; Heavey, Vice Chair; A. Anderson, Deccio, Franklin, Fraser, Newhouse and Wojahn.

Staff:  Jonathan Seib (786-7427)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS

Majority Report:  Do pass.

  Signed by Senators Rinehart, Chair; Loveland, Vice Chair; Bauer, Drew, Fraser, Hargrove, Hochstatter, Johnson, Kohl, Long, Pelz, Quigley, Roach, Sheldon, Snyder, Spanel, Strannigan, Sutherland, West, Winsley and Wojahn.

Staff:  Denise Graham (786-7454)

Background:  The state has a leave-sharing program that authorizes, within certain limitations, a state employee to transfer his or her annual leave to another state employee who is suffering from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, a severe injury or illness.  A community college, school district or educational service district employee who does not accrue annual leave may, within certain limitations, transfer sick leave to another state employee in these circumstances.

Summary of Bill:  The Washington State shared-leave program is altered to allow a state employee to transfer unused sick leave to another state employee, if after the transfer, the employee retains at least 480 hours of unused sick leave, and to allow a state employee to transfer his or her personal holiday as shared leave.

Employees of institutions of higher education, who do not accumulate annual leave, are authorized to transfer sick leave to other employees of the same institution on the same basis as employees of community colleges who do not accumulate annual leave.

The Legislative Budget Committee must study leave transfers authorized under this legislation and report to the Legislature on or before December 31, 1997.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  None.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  No one.