Source: Don Jenkins, CAPITAL PRESS, 3/8/19

Senate Democrats passed a bill Wednesday to allow the Employment Security Department to tax farms that hire foreign workers, legislation that some Republicans said continues a pattern of assaulting agriculture's finances and integrity. The employment department says it needs money to fulfill administrative duties related to the federal H-2A program. The Senate's newest member, Democrat Liz Lovelett of Anacortes, said the state needs the money to investigate "deplorable" conditions on farms.

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