DAILY NEWS
Budget and jobs bills approved, union ads, Newt’s bounce…
STATE GOVERNMENT
► This morning from AP — State Legislature passes budget bill after all-night session— The Legislature approved a supplemental budget Wednesday, setting the stage for adjournment of a double overtime legislative session. Reform bills that had been a key part of negotiations have either been passed out of the entire Legislature, or at least one chamber. Even though any special session can run up to 30 days, Gregoire said early Wednesday that lawmakers agreed to a one-day session. Lawmakers also approved a $1 billion capital budget package that supporters say will lead to 18,000 construction jobs.
LOCAL
► At Publicola — Sound Transit board member: Transit agency should have run pro-union ad — King County Council member Larry Phillips writes Sound Transit director Joni Earl in opposition to Sound Transit’s decision not to run ads supporting unionization of non-unionized workers at SeaTac airport. The ads, sponsored by Working Washington, feature SeaTac skycap Hosea Watkins, who, according to Working Washington, has worked at SeaTac for 31 years and is still paid minimum wage.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle Community Colleges scale back rules for protests — SCC administrators have backed away from a rule change that would have restricted campus protests — a proposal that itself brought protests from students and faculty.
NATIONAL
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Bank bill key to aerospace jobs, senators warn — The U.S.-backed bank that helped finance 471 Boeing jet sales over the last three years could close if Congress fails to act by May 31. That could jeopardize future aircraft sales and jobs at hundreds of Washington aerospace companies, says Sen. Patty Murray and other advocates of the Export-Import Bank.
► At AFL-CIO Now — Corporate tax dodgers didn’t miss a beat in 2011 — A new report shows that most of the 30 Fortune 500 companies that paid no federal income tax from 2008 through 2010 were able to keep up their tax dodge two-step in 2011. Those nimble firms include Boeing, Verizon, GE, Wells Fargo, Tenet Health Care and more.
► In today’s Seattle Times — With unemployment still high, H1-B visa requests rise again (by Jon Talton) — Nearly every week, I get an email from a skilled American worker who can’t find work in the technology industries. Now comes a report that the government has received 25,600 petitions for H-1B skilled-worker visas since April 2. That’s a rate twice as high as that for all of April last year.
► In today’s NY Times — Obama and the ‘Buffett Rule’ (editorial) — Raising taxes on the rich is a necessary way to combat inequality, but it is only a start.
HEALTH CARE
► In today’s Washington Post — Poll finds more Americans expect Supreme Court’s health-care decision to be partisan— More Americans think Supreme Court justices will be acting mainly on their partisan political views than on a neutral reading of the law when they decide the constitutionality of President Obama’s health-care law, according to a new poll.
ELECTION
► In today’s NY Times — Santorum quits race, clearing path for Romney — Rick Santorum’s abrupt decision to end his campaign clears the way for Mitt Romney to claim the GOP nomination while dashing the hopes of social conservatives.
► In The Hill — Gingrich’s $500 check for Utah filing fee bounces — “Our office immediately attempted to contact the campaign and the designated agent but no phone calls were returned,” said Utah’s state election director.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
Until we address the imbalance of power in the U.S. economy, and until Americans regain the clout that their parents and grandparents had to compel employers to share their revenue more equitably, the difference between our recoveries and our recessions will grow harder to discern.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m. These links are functional at the date of posting, but sometimes expire.