Bill to align state WARN-like law with tribal sovereignty and privacy draws mixed testimony

Committee staff described gross substitute Senate Bill 6106, which modifies the state's secure timely notification framework modeled after the federal WARN Act. The bill would exclude tribes and businesses wholly owned by tribes from the employer definition so the notice requirement would not apply to them. It would exempt the names and addresses of affected employees provided to the Employment Security Department (ESD) from public disclosure and would limit the requirement to include names and addresses to the notices provided to ESD and to employees’ bargaining representatives.

Josh Dye, testifying for ESD, said the bill honors government-to-government relationships with tribes and protects worker privacy while enabling ESD to receive confidential notices so it can help affected workers. The Association of Washington Businesses supported the bill as a corrective technical fix. Representatives of the agricultural sector — Mike Gempler of the Washington Growers League and Scott Dilley of the Worker and Farmer Labor Association — urged a fix for seasonal agriculture, saying the 2025 law that created broad notice requirements could impose liability when seasonal work legitimately ends and asked the committee to pursue an amendment or interim work to exempt seasonal agricultural employment.

The committee acknowledged the growers’ concerns but the chair noted the bill title may not permit the requested amendment this session and recommended interim stakeholder work before a future session. No final vote on SB 6106 occurred in this session; testimony closed and staff will coordinate follow-up.