Short legislative session, long list of wins for hospitality The 2022 legislative session was a short 60-day sprint to the finish that had a huge impact on hospitality businesses in Washington. Our message to lawmakers this year was clear: The businesses that define your community are hurting, and recovery is going to be a long, slow process. Members drove that point home, and in the first 60 days of the year, 440 members made three or more engagements with their lawmakers. Here are some of the biggest wins our industry worked together to achieve. We fought hard to secure relief funding for hospitality businesses through legislation and the state budget including: • $100 million in grant funding for the hospitality industry, $15 million of which is specifically reserved for hotels that were impacted by the eviction moratorium and suffered losses in the form of unpaid stays, legal fees and room damage. • $7 million in relief by reducing liquor license fees by 50% through Dec. 31, 2023.
$200 million providing unemployment insurance relief This bill extends last year’s relief by capping the social tax at 0.5%, which will provide savings for every business. ESD will reissue rate notices to take effect prior to first quarter payments. The bill also caps the social tax calculation at rate class 7 for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Paid Family and Medical Leave accountability ESD shared some surprising news early in session by revealing the Paid Family and Medical Leave program would become insolvent without a direct legislative appropriation, which they did receive. We worked to insert significant accountability measures into SB 5649. The bill as passed requires an immediate actuarial audit, creates a temporary taskforce, establishes permanent actuaries inside ESD, and requires an in-depth audit to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee.
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