Vote no on Proposition 1. Let’s find the right solution for Olympia
A majority of the Olympia City Council, ourselves and the mayor, voted this past week to oppose Proposition 1, also known as the Workers’ Bill of Rights. We recognize that low-wage workers in our community are struggling with the rising cost of living, but this proposition is not the solution. Numerous past mayors and city council members agree.
Many advocates for Proposition 1 acknowledge that it is flawed, but say it should be passed now and fixed later. However, state law says the city council cannot amend a single word of the eight pages of regulations without another costly citywide election.
The city council was prepared to conduct an analysis and community engagement on this proposal. To not violate state election laws, we had to pause that work when Proposition 1 was placed on the ballot. If this fails, we are committed to picking up where we left off to craft policies that make sense for Olympia.
Our concerns about Proposition 1 rest solely on its complexity and the unanticipated consequences. These regulations were written to address exploitative labor practices common in large retail businesses, but will be applied to employers across all sectors in Olympia. We have heard from many community members about the devastating impacts that will be felt by everyone in Olympia, including nonprofits, local businesses, childcare, healthcare, emergency response, and social services.
The talking points of Proposition 1 are simple and appealing: livable wages, predictable schedules, and workplace safety. However, like most things in life, when you read the details, the many challenges become clear.
One major flaw in Proposition 1 is the employer size definitions. Medium employers are defined as having 16 to 499 employees — a vast range if you think about the capacity of a 20-employee business (such as a restaurant) compared to a 400-employee business (such as a senior living community). Most employers in our community do not have the resources of the corporate employers this is intended to target. Managing administrative requirements and defending against allegations takes time, money, and specialized knowledge.
The definition of large employers includes all franchises without consideration for the nature of the franchise relationship. Locally owned and managed businesses and nonprofits that are affiliated with, but not supported by, larger organizations will struggle to manage the more extensive regulations required of large employers.
Proposition 1 does not consider the needs of nonprofits that provide critical services for our community. The YMCA is already budgeting for a 12-17% increase to the cost of their childcare services should this proposition pass. And, meanwhile, federal funding is disappearing and nonprofits are losing resources at an alarming rate. The requirements of Proposition 1 will make services harder to provide, but will not reduce the number of people who desperately need them. Most nonprofits cannot simply raise prices. They will either reduce services, shrink their service areas, or close.
For example, the Thurston County Food Bank is expecting more demand as people lose federal food assistance. They also anticipate a 20-25% reduction of food they receive from the federal government. Proposition 1 will compound these challenges and further impact service levels.
Another challenge with Proposition 1 are the rules associated with predictable schedules. Advocates say this will bring Olympia to the same labor standards as Seattle, but it goes far beyond their labor laws, which only apply to large retail and food services. Proposition 1 applies scheduling regulations to large employers of all sectors in Olympia, including healthcare and other community services. It offers no exemptions for scheduling emergencies such as weather-related closures and no flexibility for employers that, by their nature, rely on unconventional shift types and lengths.
The added costs Proposition 1 places on employers will be passed down to individuals, deepening Olympia’s affordability challenges. At a time when our city is struggling with a significant budget deficit, we should not create a new mandate that requires scarce public dollars to be used for implementation and enforcement of a flawed proposal.
While Proposition 1 is well intended, the Olympia community and city government cannot afford this. Please read more at Olytogether.com and vote “no” when you receive your ballot.
Yen Huynh is Olympia’s mayor pro tem. Dani Madrone has served on the Olympia City Council since 2019. Kelly Green was appointed to the city council in January.