A poll showed Thursday that 73 percent of Washington voters favor paid-medical-leave legislation, giving hope to supporters of the job protections.
The Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle arranged for the poll and released it at a news conference in Olympia.
Backers of two pending legislative measures cited the results as evidence they have an idea that deserves passage this year in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
"I think 2007 is the year," said Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, a backer of House Bill 1658.
Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said there is support in the Senate for Senate Bill 5659, including a commitment from its majority leader, Sen. Lisa Brown.
Rep. Marylou Dickerson, D-Seattle, said the measure carries little state cost because it is funded by 2-cents-per-hour payroll taxes on workers.
The Association of Washington Business is among groups that oppose the measures, both of which have a Monday deadline for passage out of fiscal committees. The measures would provide up to five weeks of leave at up to $250 per week.
Don Brunell, president of the AWB, said his group opposes another mandate on businesses and prefers to see government encourage employers to be flexible about employees' needs. He said his organization has assisted nine employees in his 23 years, including a few with cancer, and did so using vacation, sick leave and shared leave from other workers - all without a state-mandate.
Brunell has said the legislation imposes a one-size-fits-all approach on businesses.
But Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner of Moms Rising, an advocacy group, said the bill is needed. "The goal is to build a true family-friendly America," she said.
The poll of 600 voters was done Feb. 12-14 by Lake Research Partners and has a margin of error of 3.7 percent. It found 73 percent of voters statewide and 79 percent of women favored the paid-leave concept - even if workers have to pay 3 cents per hour.
About 65 percent of men supported it, Watkins said. He said 82 percent of voters in Eastern Washington favored the legislation, which could cost workers about $40 per year.
Brad Shannon
Hearings next week on slot machines
A tentative tribal-state agreement that expands the number of electronic slot machines allowed at tribal-owned casinos will get two formal hearings next week in Olympia, officials said Thursday.
The first hearing will be before the joint Senate and House commerce committees at 8 a.m. March 8 in Cherberg Senate Hearing Room 4.
The Washington State Gambling Commission said it also plans a 9 a.m. hearing March 9 to consider the tentative agreement, which amends Appendix X of compacts already negotiated with 27 of the state's tribes. The hearing is at the Red Lion Hotel Olympia, 2300 Evergreen Park Drive.
The new agreement would let tribes such as the Squaxin Island, Nisqually and Chehalis near Olympia own 300 more of the video-style slot machines, which are modeled after a scratch-ticket game, and accept bets of up to $20 on 15 percent of the machines. The tribes now are allowed to own 675 machi nes but can lease additional ones from other tribes, and bets are capped at $5.
Tribes would contribute 0.13 percent of the net winnings from the slot machines to programs designed to reduce problem gambling and another 0.13 percent to programs reducing smoking. Casinos that went smoke-free would pay less, and those going alcohol-free would not contribute to the no-smoking fund, according to terms of the agreement released by the Gambling Commission.
The Christian Coalition opposes the expansion, and state lawmakers have been split on the appropriateness of the pact, including some of those who will vote on it as ex-officio members of the Gambling Commission. Among those, Democratic Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, has expressed support for it, while Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, criticized it for a lack of revenue sharing with the state.
Brad Shannon
