H-1063.1
HOUSE BILL 1785
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Doglio, Berry, Parshley, Ramel, Reed, Mena, Ryu, Fosse, Thomas, Cortes, Pollet, Macri, Hill, and Scott
Read first time 02/03/25. Referred to Committee on Finance.
AN ACT Relating to imposing a surcharge on publicly traded companies providing excessive executive compensation; adding a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 82.16 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that chief executive officers have seen massive pay raises while the wages of workers remain modest. The pay for top executives is often hundreds, even thousands, of times that of the median worker at their companies. One report found that chief executive officer pay has increased 1,085 percent since 1978 while the median worker has seen a rise of only 24 percent in that same time frame. In the Pacific Northwest, the average chief executive officer can make between 200 and 400 times the amount of the chief executive officer's employees. This pay gap contributes to income inequality in the United States and further consolidates the wealth of the top one percent. It is the intent of the legislature to impose a surcharge on corporations with excessive chief executive officer pay and provide funding for state programs that support all Washingtonians.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows: