Rebecca Saldaña — Identifies herself as State Senator of the 37th and chair of the committee.
Rebecca Saldaña — Addressed as Madam Chair.
Rebecca Saldaña — Addressed as Chair.
Rebecca Saldaña — Chair Rebecca Saldaña is addressed multiple times at the openings of successive testimonies, with speakers greeting her as Chair and thanking her before beginning their remarks.
Rebecca Saldaña — The speaker thanks Chair Saldaña as the committee chair.
Rebecca Saldaña — Addressed as Chair.
Adam Eitman — Adam Eitman is introduced as the committee's guest and legislative director, then he introduces himself and confirms that he serves as the legislative director for the Attorney General's office.
Adam Eitman — Adam Eitman explains that the workers' rights unit will be created from existing resources and start small, with two attorneys and three professional staff. The discussion also points toward the need to expand investigative tools as part of strengthening the unit’s enforcement capacity.
Curtis King — Addressed as Ranking Member.
Curtis King — Curtis King asks repeated follow-up questions about the Attorney General’s Office proposal, specifically which unit the FTEs would be moved from, what services are already being provided, and where the reallocated resources would come from. He then identifies himself as the ranking member and states his legislative district.
Curtis King — Addressed generically as Ranking Member.
Curtis King — Senator Conway is addressed during the discussion and is credited as the sponsor of the 2024 budget proviso that convened the task force, with additional mention that she served as one of the task force chairs.
Curtis King — Addressed as Ranking Member.
Lionel Greaves — Lionel Greaves is introduced as the newly promoted Deputy Attorney General and former division chief, then handed the floor to discuss the new workers' rights unit. The discussion transitions into his testimony on the unit and related wage theft enforcement efforts, including reference to associated legislation.
John Braun — Asked for specifics on how much of the $1.2 billion in wage recovery was in Washington State and requested additional detail on what it meant for the state.
John Braun — Asked whether the bill merely reminds employers about access to workspace areas or actually prohibits employers from allowing access.
John Braun — Introduced himself as State Senator for the 20th Legislative District and noted his committee tenure.
Steve Conway — Senator Steve Conway introduced himself as Vice Chair and noted his long tenure on labor issues in the Legislature, then his years of service were corrected on the record from 43 years to 34 years.
Steve Conway — Identified as a sponsor supporting Senate Bill 5801.
Steve Conway — The speaker notes that Senator Steve Conway may still have a question.
Steve Conway — The chair recognizes Senator Conway’s question, and Senator Conway asks whether the problem being discussed applies to self-insured systems, state-insured systems, or both, indicating he has two related questions on the same issue.
Steve Conway — Steve Conway was thanked for his participation and leadership on the underground economy task force, with additional reference to his earlier work on the first task force in 2007 and his continued role in helping move the current effort forward.
Steve Conway — Thanked by Carolyn Logue for his leadership and participation on the task force.
Steve Conway — Steve Conway responded to the question by noting he had served as a co-chair of the underground economy task force, thanking Labor and Industries staff and task force members for their work, describing the effort as one of the most comprehensive looks at the underground economy, and referencing his role as chair of the prior task force while encouraging review of the report.
Derek Stanford — Derek Stanford introduced himself as a committee member and State Senator for the First District, noting that he lives in Bothell.
Drew MacEwen — Introduced himself as representing the 35th District.
Mark Schoesler — Mark Schoesler briefly introduced himself, referenced his district and its eight counties, and welcomed Steve Conway as part of the same introductory exchange.
Mark Schoesler — The transcript appears to say 'Senator McEulan,' likely a mishearing of Senator McEuen/McEwan; kept as questionable because no exact match is available.
Emily Alvarado — Introduced herself as representing the 34th District.
Victoria Hunt — Introduced herself as representing the Fifth Legislative District and noted she is new to the committee.
Victoria Hunt — Carolyn Logue is introduced as a task force member and noted as representing business interests through her public affairs/lobbyist role.
Victoria Hunt — Carolyn is referenced in a side comment, but the main point is broad agreement between business and labor on escalated penalties.
Brenda Hillman — Brenda Hillman, the assistant director for the Department of Labor and Industries, is identified as being online and ready to present, and the committee is told that she will begin the presentation.
Brenda Hylman — Introduced herself as assistant director for the Insurance Services Division at Labor and Industries and began testimony on medical decisions in workers' compensation.
SB5801 — Senate Bill 5801 is identified as the legislation that created the medical provider network, with the network noted as having been implemented in January 2013.
Dr. Lee Glass — Identified as the head of the complex treatment unit that reviews exception requests.
Dr. Gary Franklin — Identified as the medical director who helps at the policy level and is usually not involved in specific claim reviews.
Brenda Weiss — Brenda Weiss is introduced and then testifies, identifying herself as the Government Affairs Director for Teamsters Local 117 and noting her role as a labor representative on the Workers' Comp Advisory Committee. Her remarks are later referenced when someone cites what Brenda said previously about the 6% of complex cases.
Dr. Allen B. Thomas — Identified as one of the first panelists to come to the front.
Dr. Maureen Pierce — Identified as one of the first panelists to come to the front; name may be uncertain because later testimony refers to Dr. Maureen Pearson.
Ryan Reese — Identified as a panelist.
Ryan Reese — Introduced as the next witness after Dr. Pearson's testimony.
Ryan Reese — The chair asks Ryan Reese about the source of the accusatory letter. Reese responds that it may have come from either the third-party administrator or the City of Vancouver, but the source cannot be confirmed because the factual evidence does not show which one it was.
Dr. Jamie — Identified as a panelist, but full name is unclear.
Dr. Jamie — The chair asked Dr. Jamie to correct the pronunciation of the last name.
Nica Chow — The speaker corrects the pronunciation of Nica Chow’s name, acknowledging uncertainty and asking the witness to clarify the correct pronunciation.
David Lawman — Identified as a panelist.
Dr. Alan Thomas — Introduced himself as a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and began testimony criticizing the system.
Dr. Maureen Pearson — Dr. Maureen Pearson, a licensed psychologist who works with first responders, testified about PTSD treatment guidelines. She introduced her background and then warned that the proposed guidelines would endanger first responders and the public by limiting inpatient care and restricting treatment options.
Ryan Rees — Testified as president of IFF 452, the Vancouver Firefighters Union, about Captain Doug Murray's case.