Bill to protect lawmakers from getting fired passes state House
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/02/13/3046486/bill-to-protect-lawmakers-from.html
The chambers of the state House of Representatives in Olympia, Wash. are shown on Jan. 3, 2013.
Bill to protect lawmakers from getting fired passes state House
By Melissa Santos
Staff writer
February 13, 2014 Updated 6 hours ago
Elected legislators in the state House want to keep their jobs. No, the other ones.
The state House passed a measure Wednesday that would require employers to grant state lawmakers a temporary leave of absence so they can serve in Olympia.
House Bill 2473 would prohibit employers from demoting or firing elected lawmakers who take a leave of absence to serve in the Legislature. It would also allow members of the Legislature to sue their employers if they believe they have been terminated or demoted due to time spent in legislative sessions.
The proposal comes after a busy year in which lawmakers were in session between January and June of 2013, and returned for another special session in November.