(May 4) — The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the state’s largest union organization, released its 2012 Legislative Voting Records on Friday, just in time for the WSLC’s political endorsement convention scheduled to begin Saturday morning. The WSLC’s voting records are published after each session of the State Legislature so that rank-and-file union members can [...]
OLYMPIA (April 11) — With strong bipartisan support, the Washington State Legislature today passed the Infrastructure Jobs Bonds sought by a labor-business coalition to create some 20,000 jobs throughout the state. Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) President Jeff Johnson called it “a great victory for the working men and women of our state, especially those [...]
UPDATE (April 11) — Thanks to the thousands of emails sent by supporters of the Infrastructure Jobs Bonds, the legislation passed today! Get details. Thank you for your support! OLYMPIA (Mar. 30) — With the extended special session of the State Legislature scheduled to end April 10, Washington lawmakers are reportedly nearing agreement on the [...]
The Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council is distributing the following information about SB 6789: OLYMPIA — Until recently, Washington’s low-cost electricity from renewable hydro and wind power made rural parts of our state a leader for the construction of data centers. But since July 2011, companies including Facebook, Apple, Rackspace and Amazon have [...]
OLYMPIA (Mar. 22) — Passage of state legislation to finance an enhanced capital budget through bonds should be a special-session priority because “this new infusion of capital and jobs will help repair the damage to household and state budgets brought on by the Great Recession,” according to a new report by the Economic Opportunity Institute. [...]
By DON ORANGE The Association of Washington Business (AWB), our state’s Chamber of Commerce, is fighting to eliminate industry regulations! Not exactly a “man bites dog” newsflash, huh? After all, that’s what AWB is paid to do: oppose government efforts to regulate private industry. But if there was ever a private-sector industry in need of [...]
By TERESA MOSQUEDA Health care consumers scored a significant, historic victory with last week’s Senate passage of HB 2319, which implements the Affordable Care Act in Washington state. The House concurred with Senate changes on Saturday, so the bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Chris Gregoire, who requested it and is expected to [...]
OLYMPIA (March 7) — Amid the state budget drama of the past week and the prospect of an extended special legislative session, one critically important issue — repeatedly cited by voters as their top priority — is being ignored in Olympia: JOBS! In stark contrast to the harmful all-cuts budgets proposed by both parties — [...]
UPDATE (March 8) — The House has passed the Washington Filmworks renewal legislation and tit is headed to Gov. Cgris Gregoire’s desk for signature. OLYMPIA (March 6) — SB 5539, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, would reinstate a relatively small tax incentive ($3.5 million) called the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program to encourage film making in [...]
OLYMPIA (March 5) — Senate Republicans, with the assistance of three Democrats, staged a coup Friday night using an arcane parliamentary procedure to seize control and pass a secretly negotiated budget and several budget policy bills. The legislation further eviscerates the social safety net, takes revenue from local governments, harms public schools and higher education, [...]
