Council passes Mosqueda legislation to strengthen King County contracting, procurement policies, in contrast to federal trajectory

May 6, 2025

On the 101^st day of the Trump Administration, the King County Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee approved two pieces of legislation to strengthen labor standards and further values-based purchasing. The full King County Council on Tuesday passed those bills into law.

“While the federal administration is eliminating policy directives that support minority contractors and rolling back labor standards, King County is investing in strong labor standards and advancing equity in our contracting,” said King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who sponsored the package of legislation. “This is not only the right thing to do, it makes economic sense. Public dollars should be used for the public good, and these pieces of legislation ensure that our County contracts and leased land are supporting good jobs, strong labor standards, and creating pathways to economic stability for our local economy. This is a win-win for the strength and resilience of our local economy and our values as a region. Thank you to the Executive for feedback and support, to the co-sponsors of this legislation, and to the labor and diverse small business communities for calling for and shaping these policies.”

Sponsored by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and cosponsored by Councilmembers Rod Dembowski, Jorge L. Barón, and De’Sean Quinn, and joined in committee by Council Chair Zahilay and Councilmember Balducci, with feedback from the Executive, these policies were crafted in partnership with labor unions, frontline workers, and with feedback from organizations representing women- and minority-owned local businesses.

The policies advance the County’s commitment to contracting with those who adhere to high labor standards, support small businesses, promote women- and minority-owned businesses, and ensure that no county funds are being used to enforce immigration law.

“King County has continually partnered with unions to ensure that we are a leader in labor standards for our employees and workers on county projects. Now, we continue that collaboration so that everyone working on behalf of the county or at county properties can benefit from these standards,” said King County Executive Shannon Braddock. “I thank Councilmember Mosqueda for her leadership in bringing this legislation forward, and the rest of the Council for their support of this measure.”

Impacts of the ordinances include:

1. Responsible Contracting for Services, Ord. 2025-0093: When the County procures services, such as security, janitorial or food services, starting this fall it will apply a set of responsible contracting criteria when evaluating submitted bids, such as giving consideration to business recruiting and hiring from economically distressed areas of the county, and to those committed to high labor standards and environmental stewardship. This legislation builds on existing standards for construction and procurement of goods by expanding and delineating contracting criteria that further County values and ensure contracts don’t just go to the lowest bidder, but instead to the most responsible. The criteria give consideration to contractors that invest in workers and safe working conditions, support small women- and minority-owned businesses, aid climate justice and more. The County will apply these criteria when contracting for services over $100,000, and the legislation sets forth a process to minimize the administrative burden placed on small businesses seeking to work with the County.

    

2. Community Workforce Agreements (CWAs) for Tenant Improvements on County-Owned Land, Ord. 2025-0092: When the County undertakes large construction projects, CWAs are used to ensure public dollars are put to public good. Now, when major construction projects – above $5 million – are undertaken by tenants on County-owned leased land, they will be covered by CWAs, helping to boost apprenticeship utilization, and providing a pathway into good, union, family-wage jobs for people from communities in the region. CWAs are a proven way to expand participation in the trades, helping to address labor shortages in construction, and ensuring local communities have access to these good jobs through local hire.

What community is saying:

Zenia Javalera, President, SEIU Local 6 – “Many of our members who work as janitors and security guards are immigrants and right now there is a sense of fear in our country for many of them. Despite that fear, they’ve organized and stood up to fight for and win things like healthcare for their families and decent retirements. Our union is incredibly proud to know that when the county is putting out bids for services, our union employers won’t be at a disadvantage.”

Billy Hetherington, Political Director, LiUNA Local 242 – “This commonsense legislation expanding the use of CWAs on these large-scale projects closes a loophole that was disappointing to see when we first discovered it. Thank you to Councilmember Mosqueda and everyone on council who stood with working people to close this and expand access to more opportunity for our working people especially in the trades.”

Stefan Moritz, Secretary-Treasurer, Unite Here 8 – "We're very excited that this ordinance implements criteria that will ensure the highest possible labor standards for the delivery of services. Specifically, by considering minimum labor standards as part of the process, you will not only increase the quality of jobs that are directly tied to the County, but also in King County overall. You push up all of us – we're all in the same boat together. The labor movement has successfully advocated for these labor standards in various jurisdictions around King County and we believe the results have been extremely positive."

Lisa Bogardus, Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council – "When I look back at my career at the Building Trades, the things that I'm most proud of is the work I've done with the County. I can't thank King County enough for your support and your partnership through this journey. I think that it is the data that really speaks. You can come out with a lot of anecdotal 'here's a good story,' and those are great to hear, but when you look at the really amazing data that's come out of the County's programs, it only makes sense to find areas where we can continue to expand that. The idea that it could be expanded to the lease projects - the ones that have been missed - let's grab those in the future. Let's create these opportunities."

Greg Woodfill, President, Amalgamated Transit Union 587 - “This legislation will prevent sub-contracting exploitation and abuses like substandard wages, benefits, working conditions, wage theft, intimidation, and retaliation. Public dollars should not be used for profits that come directly from sub-standard compensation and unsafe and poorly maintained public transit vehicles. That is why we need to get these sub-contracting decisions right the first time.”