HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1155

BYRepresentatives Vekich, Schoon, Kremen, P. King and Basich

Providing for a study on underemployment in the state.

House Committe on Trade & Economic Development

Majority Report:  The second substitute be substituted therefor and the second substitute bill do pass.  (16)

      Signed by Representatives Vekich, Chair; Wineberry, Vice Chair; Amondson, Beck, Cantwell, Doty, Fox, Grant, Hargrove, Heavey, Holm, Kremen, Moyer, Rasmussen, B. Williams and J. Williams.

House Staff:Stephen Hodes (786-7092)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

JANUARY 22, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The major shifts in the economic base of the state, and the attendant changes in the industrial structure have resulted in dramatic changes in the organization of employment and in employment practices in the state.  These changes involve a lower attachment of much of the labor force to employers, sudden changes in whether activities are done within firms or are contracted out, changes in benefit structures and tax treatment of benefits, and major changes in the organization of industries from the manufacturing to the retail level.

The growth in part-time employment and casual employment has increased the flexibility of employers in regard to hiring and employment practices, and has resulted in situation in which part-time and temporary employees must respond to employer requirements which are unreasonable or capricious.  There is not a large amount of data available on the extent of underemployment or the problems associated with it, and the which does exist on these subjects is not organized in a useful manner.  Other states, most notably California, have begun to examine these subjects in order to determine whether there is a cause for state action regarding underemployment, but the shifts in industrial structure and the organization of employment nationally have shifted so rapidly that action by state governments thus far is limited.

SUMMARY:

SECOND SUBSTITUTE:  The bill directs the Employment Security Department to undertake a study of underemployment in the state.  The Department is directed to examine the extent and seriousness of unemployment, the concentration of underemployment in the workforce in economically distressed areas, by race or ethnicity, and by gender.

The department is directed to conduct the study using information from a list of state data files, to examine the feasibility of modifying those files to ensure that information is available to monitor underemployment in the state on an ongoing basis, to implement these changes when feasible, and to report on the feasibility of making further changes to effectively monitor underemployment.  The Department is to report the results of the study in January 1989.  An appropriation of $85,000 from the federal interest payment fund is provided to the Employment Security Department to carry out the study.

SECOND SUBSTITUTE COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  The substitute directs the Department to conduct the study using information from a list of state data files, to examine the feasibility of modifying those files to ensure that information is available to monitor underemployment in the state on an ongoing basis, to implement these changes when feasible, and to report on the feasibility of making further changes to effectively monitor underemployment.  These provisions are not in the original bill.  The substitute does not include the requirement in the original bill that the Department cooperate with other agencies and does not explicitly provide for undertaking the study through contracts with private firms.  The substitute provides an appropriation of $85,000 from the federal interest payment fund, while the original bill was funded with an appropriation of $75,000 from the general fund.

Appropriation:    $85,000 is appropriated from the federal interest payment fund to the Department of Employment Security.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 21, 1988.

Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    (1987) Representative Vekich, prime sponsor.

(1988) None Presented.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

(1988) None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    There is a need for the state to examine issues related to underemployment, because shifts in the state economy have altered the relationships between employers and the work force.  Questions have been raised on these issues by the study of the Joint Select Committee on Unemployment Insurance and Compensation.

(1988) None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (1987) None Presented.

(1988) None Presented.