Washington HB 2622: Concerning procedures for ensuring compliance with court orders requiring surrender of firearms, weapons, and concealed pistol licenses.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to comparison factors that must be considered in 1
interest arbitration for correctional employees regarding wages, 2
hours, and conditions of employment; and reenacting and amending RCW 3
41.80.200.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 41.80.200 and 2025 c 387 s 4 and 2025 c 162 s 1 are 6
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:7
(1) In order to maintain dedicated and uninterrupted services to 8
the supervision of criminal offenders that are in state correctional 9
facilities and on community supervision, it is the legislature's 10
intent to grant certain employees of the department of corrections 11
interest arbitration rights as an alternative means of settling 12
disputes.13
(2) This section applies only to employees covered by chapter 14
41.06 RCW working for the department of corrections, except 15
confidential employees as defined in RCW 41.80.005 and internal 16
auditors.17
(3) Negotiations between the employer and the exclusive 18
bargaining representative of a unit of employees shall be commenced 19
at least five months before submission of the budget to the 20
legislature. If no agreement has been reached sixty days after the 21
H-2501.1
HOUSE BILL 2622
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Stuebe, Doglio, Parshley, Eslick, Fosse, Goodman,
Pollet, Zahn, and Peterson
Read first time 01/22/26. Referred to Committee on Labor & Workplace
Standards.
p. 1 HB 2622

commencement of such negotiations then, at any time thereafter, 1
either party may declare that an impasse exists and may submit the 2
dispute to the commission for mediation, with or without the 3
concurrence of the other party. The commission shall appoint a 4
mediator, who shall promptly meet with the representatives of the 5
parties, either jointly or separately, and shall take such other 6
steps as he or she may deem appropriate in order to persuade the 7
parties to resolve their differences and effect an agreement. A 8
mediator, however, does not have a power of compulsion. The mediator 9
may consider only matters that are subject to bargaining under this 10
chapter.11
(4) If an agreement is not reached following a reasonable period 12
of negotiations and mediation, and the director, upon recommendation 13
of the assigned mediator, finds that the parties remain at impasse, 14
then an arbitrator must be appointed to resolve the dispute. The 15
issues for determination by the arbitrator must be limited to the 16
issues certified by the executive director.17
(5) Within ten working days after the first Monday in September 18
of every odd-numbered year, the governor or the governor's designee 19
and the bargaining representatives for any bargaining units covered 20
by this section shall attempt to agree on an interest arbitrator to 21
be used if the parties are not successful in negotiating a 22
comprehensive collective bargaining agreement. The parties will 23
select an arbitrator by mutual agreement, by alternatively striking 24
names from a regional list of seven qualified arbitrators provided by 25
the federal mediation and conciliation service, or, with the consent 26
of the parties, the American arbitration association.27
(a) The fees and expenses of the arbitrator, the court reporter, 28
if any, and the cost of the hearing room, if any, will be shared 29
equally between the parties. Each party is responsible for the costs 30
of its attorneys, representatives and witnesses, and all other costs 31
related to the development and presentation of their case.32
(b) Immediately upon selecting an interest arbitrator, the 33
parties shall cooperate to reserve dates with the arbitrator for a 34
potential hearing between August 1st and September 15th of the 35
following even-numbered year. The parties shall also prepare a 36
schedule of at least five negotiation dates, absent an agreement to 37
the contrary.38
p. 2 HB 2622

(c) The parties shall execute a written agreement before December 1
15th of the odd-numbered year setting forth the name of the 2
arbitrator and the dates reserved for bargaining and arbitration.3
(d)(i) The arbitrator must hold a hearing and provide reasonable 4
notice of the hearing to the parties to the dispute. The hearing must 5
be informal and each party has the opportunity to present evidence 6
and make arguments. The arbitrator may not present the case for a 7
party to the proceedings.8
(ii) The rules of evidence prevailing in judicial proceedings may 9
be considered, but are not binding, and any oral testimony or 10
documentary evidence or other data deemed relevant by the arbitrator 11
may be received in evidence. A recording of the proceedings must be 12
taken.13
(iii) The arbitrator may administer oaths, require the attendance 14
of witnesses, and require the production of such books, papers, 15
contracts, agreements, and documents deemed by the arbitrator to be 16
material to a just determination of the issues in di