News Council filing four pro-workforce bills this week

The Providers’ Council will file the four pieces of legislation this week that comprise its 2019-2020 Pro-Workforce Legislative Agenda. These bills include:

  • Fair pay for comparable work, which will be filed in the House by Rep. Kay Khan and in the Senate by Sen. Cindy Friedman. The bill would set a schedule to fully eliminate the pay disparity between state workers and those employed by community-based human services nonprofits who are doing similar work under state contracts, providing care and services to residents on behalf of the Commonwealth.
  • Education loan repayment program, to be filed in the House by Rep. Jeffrey Roy and in the Senate by Sen. Eric Lesser. The bill would create an education loan repayment program for human services workers who work under state contracts to serve clients on behalf of the Commonwealth.
  • Health insurance aggregation, to be filed in the House by Rep. Jack Lewis and in the Senate by Sen. Sal DiDomenico, would deem the Providers’ Council a “qualified association” and an approved “small business purchasing cooperative,” allowing the association to aggregate human service providers of any size for the purpose of securing more competitive rates when buying health insurance.
  • Exemption from EMAC Supplement, to be filed in the Senate by Sen. Michael Moore and in the House by Rep. Gerry Cassidy, would exempt community-based human services organizations from making EMAC Supplement payments.

Information about the Council’s Legislative Agenda is available in the Public Policy section of the website and includes fact sheets about each bill and the bill text. If you have questions about the Council’s Pro-Workforce Legislative Agenda, please email Bill Yelenak at bill@providers.org.

Back to All News