Owners of the Kent-based Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team moved closer to getting their wish as the state House voted 91-7 on Wednesday to approve a bill that would clarify that Western Hockey League players are amateur athletes and not employees who should be paid minimum wage and fall under state child labor laws.
Owners from teams in Everett, Spokane and the Tri-Cities joined Seattle, which plays at the ShoWare Center, in lobbying the Legislature this session in Olympia to approve the bill. The Senate voted 47-0 on March 3 on its version of bill 5893. The Senate will now vote on the House-passed version before the bill goes to Gov. Jay Inslee to sign.
The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.
The four state representatives from the Kent area each voted for the bill. They are Mia Gregerson, D-SeaTac; Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines; Mark Hargrove, R-Covington; and Pat Sullivan, D-Covington.
Owners proposed the bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, whose district includes Kent, because of an ongoing investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) into whether child labor laws have been broken by the teams that feature players ages 16-20.
Hockey owners fear if they must abide by child labor laws the younger players would no longer be able to compete with such limited work hours and their entire business model for the league would fall apart.
L&I started an investigation of the WHL teams in the winter of 2013 after someone filed a complaint about possible violations of child labor laws because the players put in so many hours of practice and games with basically no pay. L&I officials have said they do not have a timeline on when the investigation might be finished.
L&I staff says it hasn’t determined when the investigation might be wrapped up.
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