SEATTLE – Ahead of the 2020 legislative session, a diverse coalition is calling on state lawmakers to fund a working-class tax break.

The Working Families Tax Credit, the Evergreen State's version of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, would provide an average income boost of $350, mainly for people making less than $51,000 a year.

Brittany Williams, an executive board member for the Service Industry Employees Union 775, a home-care providers' union, said most families would use the extra income to pay bills. In her case, that means medical expenses.

"I need dental work done and, even though I do have dental insurance, because of the work that I need done, it just doesn't cover it," she said. "And so, I work through the pain, and I live with that pain with my mouth issue every day and I just don't complain about it to anybody. I make sure my children are taken care of."

The Working Families Tax Credit already has passed in Washington state but has yet to be funded. It's estimated the measure would affect about 967,000 households. Supporters include Moms Rising, United Way of King County and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

At a roundtable this week in support of the state tax credit, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said she also is working on federal legislation. Jayapal is co-sponsoring the "Working Families Tax Relief Act" and the "Building Our Opportunities to Survive and Thrive Act," which would provide up to $3,000 in tax credits for individuals and $6,000 for married couples. She said the 2017 Republican tax cut isn't helping working families, and contended that wealthy Americans can afford to pay more.

"When three people in the United States of America - two of whom live in our state - have the same combined wealth as 160 million Americans across the country," she said, "we know that that does not provide the opportunity for everyone to have a fair and decent life, and just to make ends meet."

The 60-day state legislative session begins Jan. 13. state Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-West Seattle, and Rep. Debra Entenman, D-Kent, are the primary sponsors of the Working Families Tax Credit bill. Its text is online at apps.leg.wa.gov.

Advocates and stakeholders have solutions for the Virginia Employment Commission to get through its backlog of unemployment appeal cases.

According to the commission, during the first year of the pandemic, unemployment claims reached historic levels.

In 2020, more than 1 million claims were filed. Although the number of claims filed has declined since then, appeals are still facing longer processing time.

The agency's issues stem from underfunding, short staffing, and lacking technology, according to a 2021 report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Pat Levy-Lavelle, senior intake attorney at the Legal Aid Justice Center, said one way to fix the issue is hiring more staff for first-level appeals. However, pandemic-era decisions are having a ripple effect now.

"Earlier in the pandemic, the former Secretary of Labor for Virginia basically said we had focused on folks to answer the telephones, and we forgot about staffing up in terms of having enough hearing officers," Levy-Lavelle recounted.

He added while work has begun to get more people in, there have been some hiring challenges.

Other recommendations are the commission having notices written so they are easier to understand. But, Levy-Lavelle feels having stakeholders come together to review recommendations to determine their necessity, will be a good first step to improving the agency.

Recently, a bill came to a vote in the House of Delegates to cut down the number of days a person has to file an appeal on unemployment claims. Although the bill failed, some are worried strategies to aid the employment commission are not heading in the right direction.

Flannery O'Rourke, staff attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, described the challenges with implementing policy recommendations.

"Any kind of legislative fix, I think, is more complicated to implement," O'Rourke contended "I think we will still see if the governor's proposed budget amendment to fund current appeals staff will go through, and there's also the governor's proposed budget amendment that will help improve the claimant self-service system."

O'Rourke added stakeholder and legislative action needs to be taken quickly. With the commission still struggling to meet current needs, she hopes things will be resolved in a timely manner, so it can better assist people with appeals.

A Utah lawmaker has proposed a bill which could impose stricter restrictions and regulations for public employees.

Passage of House Bill 241, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, would mean union stewards and leaders would not be allowed paid time to engage in union work. It would also prohibit a public employer from deducting union dues from a public employee's wages and prohibit public money or public property to be used for union organizing or administration.

Shelley Bilbrey, court clerk for Salt Lake City for almost two decades, has been a member of her union for the last 16 years and has been a union steward the last eight. She said in her opinion, the provisions mean Utah labor unions are in for the fight of their lives.

"A union member cannot do any union business whatsoever in a public building," Bilbrey explained. "That, right there, pretty much puts a kibosh on the union."

Teuscher has said it is an issue of using taxpayer money to process payroll deduction for union dues. Bilbrey countered she is shocked and confused because public employees have other deductions being taken out of their paycheck, and she does not see how union deduction fees are different.

Bilbrey added the measures proposed in the bill would heavily complicate helping union members. Bilbrey explained she joined her union to have a voice. As a union steward, Bilbrey emphasized she has a specific number of hours covered to handle union issues. If the bill were passed, Bilbrey stressed union issues would have to be resolved on one's own time.

"I don't know how to figure out how we would go around that," Bilbrey admitted. "What am I supposed to say to someone? 'Oh yeah, hey, meet me at Denny's.' "

Bilbrey added being part of a union is all about leveling the playing field and about giving individuals a voice at the workplace. She sees the bill not only as perplexing, but as an attack on public employees and Utah unions.

Researchers have said rural communities face a host of unique challenges, and access to paid leave is one of them. Advocates hope the needs of rural families are part of the debate, as discussion ramps up for a statewide program in Minnesota.

Gov. Tim Walz has included a paid family- and medical-leave program in his proposed budget.

Leota Goodney, activist and retired accounting firm operator from Northfield, said creating pathways for such a benefit could be helpful to small businesses in rural areas. She said it is a struggle everywhere, but is more profound in Greater Minnesota, where smaller firms and the self-employed are considered key drivers of local economies.

"There are not large employers like there are in the urban areas, and many of the large employers in the urban areas already offer some kind of paid family leave," Goodney pointed out.

A report by the think tank New America said only 61 % of women in rural communities have paid time off of any kind to care for a new child or an ill loved one.

The Walz plan calls for nearly $670 million to get the program started, with a less than 1% payroll tax to maintain funding. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce argued it would place too much financial stress on small businesses.

The organization estimates the plan would cost Minnesota businesses $1 billion, but Goodney countered having employers and their staff pitch in is a small sacrifice in establishing a benefit which can help recruit workers for rural areas.

"I definitely think that it makes living more attractive in rural areas," Goodney asserted. "This is a way to keep people from leaving rural areas to go somewhere else where they can actually make a living."

Nearly a dozen states have adopted paid-leave laws. Minnesota's plan would cover up to 12 weeks of medical leave and up to 12 weeks of family leave.

The state has a $17 billion surplus and Democrats feel optimistic about pushing proposals such as paid leave through because of their majorities. It remains unclear what will be in the final spending plans with several priorities announced in recent weeks.