A compromise is being worked on for two different family leave bills in Olympia.

A Democratic bill is sailing through the Washington House, mainly because the Democrats are the majority party there.

However, the Senate Republicans put their own family leave bill on hold, not even voting it out of a committee despite having the votes to do so. Instead, the Republican-controlled Senate has settled for moving a bipartisan bill that merely says having a law with reasonable family leave would be good for Washington.

All this means family leave is in the negotiations stage in Olympia.

Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, is the sponsor of both the original Republican family leave bill and the follow-up “placeholder” bill.

“We are negotiating, trying to figure out if there is path forward,” Fain said.

Both Fain and Sen. Karen Keiser, D- Kent, said the both sides agree a family leave law is the goal of both sides, but details need to be hammered out. Keiser is a co-sponsor of the “placeholder” bill and the prime sponsor of another stalled Senate family leave bill that is a clone of the House Democrats’ bill.

“There are significant differences in the details, but not in the overall goal,” she said.

Both voiced optimism that the two sides can reach an agreement by mid-April. “I’m encouraged because the business community has come forward in a positive way on this issue. … We’re not deadlocked. We are moving,” Keiser said.

Keiser hoped the family leave negotiations will be resolve by mid-April so the issue won’t be overshadowed by the Legislature’s five years of trench warfare on funding schools to comply with a 2012 Washington Supreme court ruling to improve education in the state. The education issue dominates Olympia’s politics and is expected to be more or less deadlocked through special sessions extending into the summer because of huge fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats.

The family leave bills are prompted by 2016’s passage of Initiative 1433, which increases the state minimum wage to $13.50 and mandates sick leave for employees. The initiative passed by a 57-percent to 43-percent margin.

The Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce has been monitoring the discussions, waiting to see what develops before taking a position on what the two sides offer, said Austin Neilson, government affairs director for the chamber. The chamber is using the Association of Washington Business for guidance, and the AWB has taken no position pro or con on these bills, other than seeking an exemption for businesses with extremely few employees.

Keiser’s bill and the House Democrats’ bill by Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett, calls for:

• Allowing 26 weeks of leave for birth or adoption of a child, a family member’s serious health problem or a military-related absence.
• Making a person eligible for sick leave after 340 hours of work.
• Making the benefit amount to be 90 percent of the person’s average weekly salary during that person’s highest-paid six months of the person’s year of qualifying for sick leave.  This applies if a person’s average weekly wage is less than under 50 percent of the average state weekly wage, which was $1.082 in 2015. A different formula is used if a person’s average weekly wage is more than 50 percent of the state average  The maximum benefit is $1,000 a week.
• Having employers pay a premium to a state fund for sick leave money of 0.255 percent of a person’s wages beginning in July 1, 2018 and then 0.51 percent on July 1, 2020, with annual adjustments later. The employer would be allowed to deduct one half of the premium from a worker’s wages.

Fain’s original bill, which is essentially the GOP’s beginning bargaining position, would have:

• Covered 12 months of mother-newborn child bonding.
• Started Jan. 1, 2020, the sick leave would have an eight-week maximum per year. The payment would be 50 percent of the employee’s weekly salary, with the amount not to exceed 50 percent of the average state weekly salary.
• On Jan. 1, 2021, the bill would have bumped sick leave up to a maximum of 10 weeks per year. It would be 55 percent of an employee’s weekly wage, but will not exceed 55 percent of the state’s average weekly wage.
• On Jan. 1, 2022, the limit would have stayed at 10 weeks per year. but the sick leave wage would be 60 percent of the employee’s weekly salary, not to exceed 60 percent of the state’s average wage.