DAILY NEWS
Budget near, IAM election, our two-fern president…
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Olympian — Budget negotiators are closing in on agreement, but capital projects may die — Washington lawmakers negotiating terms of a supplemental operating budget say they are getting closer to a deal, and one key lawmaker said a House-Senate agreement needs to come Tuesday if the Legislature is to adjourn on time Thursday. But disagreements could doom a capital construction budget agreement, with budget chairmen saying it is still very possible no capital budget is passed this year.
► In today’s News Tribune — State Sen. Tracey Eide won’t run for re-election — A state Senate seat is up for grabs with the announcement Monday that long-serving Democrat Tracey Eide will not run for re-election this fall.
► In today’s News Tribune — Teachers, lawmakers disagree on costs of losing waiver — As state lawmakers consider measures that aim to keep Washington’s waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the state teachers union is working to convince them that losing the waiver wouldn’t be a big deal.
► At Slog — Rodney Tom whipped up fun new way to cut funding for the homeless — Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom really is an impressive guy; without personally lifting a finger, he can turn an essential bill on low-income housing and homelessness into a “compromise” that only benefits for-profit landlords and doesn’t actually help the homeless.
LOCAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle sees big gains in public transit ridership — The Seattle area saw big gains in public transit ridership last year, as more people boarded buses, trains and subways nationally than at any time since the 1950s. Also, Washington State Ferries booked more than 22.5 million passenger trips last year, up a little more than 1 percent from 2012.
► From AP — Detainees on hunger strike could be force-fed — Several hunger strikers at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma have said they were questioned and told they would be force-fed if the strike continues. Officials say they won’t do so unless it’s medically necessary and court-ordered.
► In today’s Oregonian — Hanjin Shipping will keep calling on Portland — Hanjin Shipping Co. vessels will continue calling on the Port of Portland despite the company’s dissatisfaction with delays and low productivity at the container terminal.
► In today’s Columbian — Labor history program now set for March 20 — A discussion of Northwest labor history has been rescheduled for March 20 at Vancouver Community Library after it was snowed out in February.
OUTSOURCING
NATIONAL
► In The Hill — Dems try to force House vote to extend unemployment benefits — Democrats on Wednesday will file a petition aimed at forcing the House to vote on legislation extending emergency unemployment benefits. The discharge petition will only force a House vote on an unemployment bill if a majority of House members sign it.
► In The Hill — Unions fear a ‘New Deal’ sell-off — Labor unions are going on the attack against a proposal buried deep in President Obama’s budget that they charge is a move to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority.
► In today’s Seattle Times — The bull market and the minimum wage (by Jon Talton) — How can it be that the five-year bull market — the Obama rally, if you will — coincides with a national effort to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and a robust campaign in Seattle for $15? Many shares on Wall Street are at record highs, yet inequality is at Gilded Age levels. What’s going on? During the Obama rally wages for most Americans have continued their stagnation. Thus, the people who make most of their income from investments have done very well. But those who depend on wages have not.
► At Huffington Post — Cancer patient who blamed Obamacare for ‘unaffordable’ costs, actually saved money — Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group backed by the Koch brothers, is running Obamacare attack ads featuring a cancer patient who claimed her treatments were “unaffordable” under the new health law. On Monday, The Detroit News reported that the patient will actually save more than $1,000 a year.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Which brings us to…
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.