DAILY NEWS
The Stand’s ‘game,’ Wauna G-P mill, corporate taxes…
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTING NEWS:
► At Washington State Wire — State Labor Council steps up its game, launches sophisticated news website — The council’s new offering, “The Stand,” takes the place of the WSLC Reports Today, the clip service and newsletter that has been offered online as a segment of the state Labor Council’s website. Editor David Groves says he envisions The Stand as an online newspaper that will present the news and views of labor and its political allies. And you can say it steps up the Labor Council’s game a hundredfold, making it the first of Olympia’s big interest groups to make the leap from website newsletter to broad-scale news operation.
LOCAL NEWS:
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Wauna mill union issues strike authorization — Union workers at Georgia-Pacific’s Wauna mill have given negotiators strike authorization as contract talks with the company have bogged down, a union representative said Monday. The 900 members of the United Steelworkers local 1097 have been working under a contract that expired in April 2010, said Gaylan Prescott, the union’s staff representative. The union voted down a company contract offer in January, and the next contract talks are scheduled May 24 with a federal mediator, he said.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane School District warns 238 of layoffs — Administrators issued an unprecedented 238 layoff notices Tuesday in preparation for a “worst-case scenario” state budget. On the list: 72 elementary school teachers, 42 high school and middle school teachers, 28 special-education teachers, 55 counselors, 10 speech language pathologists, six librarians, six psychologists, seven occupational therapists and physical therapists; and five specialty educators.
► In the PS Business Journal — Boeing shareholders vote to review executive pay annually — Fifty five percent of shareholders at the annual Boeing board meeting voted to review top executive pay annually, overriding the board recommendation for a three-year review.
► At HA Seattle — Early poll in Washington gubernatorial race — A new poll has Republican AG Rob McKenna leading Rep. Jay Inslee by +7 (48% to 41%) and Rep. Dave Reichert (R-08) slightly ahead of Inslee, 46% to 44%. Gov. Christine Gregoire is down 12% to McKenna and 4% to Reichert.
LEGISLATIVE NEWS:
► In today’s News Tribune — Tax loopholes fight on tap this week in Legislature — A showdown over tax breaks is coming to the state Capitol. Washington has more than 500 exemptions and special tax rates on the books, worth billions of dollars a year, and debate so far in the Legislature has been about cutting programs to cover a $5.3 billion budget gap over the next two years. But that tune will change slightly when Senate Democrats hold a hearing Wednesday on a handful of tax-related measures.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Attend Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Ways & Means Committee at 2:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 4 of the J.A. Cherberg Building on the Capitol Campus.
► In the Spokesman-Review — Tax breaks burden poor (by Liz Moore) — There is no good reason to oppose ending unjustified tax breaks for Wall Street banks, private jets and cosmetic procedures. Any legislator who defends a tax break for Wall Street banks over basic funding for clinics and classrooms should be embarrassed, ashamed and voted out. It’s time for our legislators to work for us and to start taking responsibility for our future. Tell your lawmakers to stop subsidizing tax dodgers and outsourcers, and to invest in our kids, our future and our quality of life.
NATIONAL NEWS:
► In today’s NY Times — U.S. business has high tax rates but pays less — Topping out at 35%, America’s official corporate income tax rate trails that of only Japan. But by taking advantage of myriad breaks and loopholes that other countries generally do not offer, U.S. corporations pay only slightly more on average than their counterparts in other industrial countries. And some U.S. corporations use aggressive strategies to pay less — often far less — than their competitors abroad and at home.
► In today’s Washington Post — Is Obama serious about immigration reform? — The president has repeatedly touted his support of both the Dream Act and other measures to make it easier for people who are in the U.S. without legal status to become citizens. But he has also repeatedly said he can’t do anything on immigration without getting support from Republicans in Congress.
► In today’s Washington Post — Michelle Obama, Cabinet thank federal employees — This week marks National Public Service Recognition Week, an annual reminder of the work conducted by the nation’s local, state and federal government employees. In a video posted Monday on the White House Web site, First Lady Michelle Obama thanks federal employees for the work they do “to move this country forward.”
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m. Make this electronic “clip service” your first stop of the morning to get O.P.P. news and opinion. (Other People’s Press.) These links are functional on the date of posting, but sometimes expire.
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