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Stealing The Public Purse: Why Washington's Collective Bargaining Law For State Employees Violates The State Constitution, Christopher D. Abbott

Washington Law Review

In 2002, the Washington legislature passed the Personnel System Reform Act (PSRA), which gives state employees the right to collectively bargain over wages and other economic terms of their employment. Section 302(3) of the PSRA further provides that once the Governor and collective bargaining units reach a proposed collective bargaining agreement, the legislature may not amend the agreement. Instead, the legislature may only express disapproval with any portion of the agreement by rejecting funding of the agreement as a whole. This Comment argues that section 302(3) of the PSRA, now codified at RCW 41.80.010(3), violates the separation of powers doctrine …