DAILY NEWS
Winners and losers, divide and conquer, paid and poor…
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
ELECTION 2015
► In today’s Seattle Times — Tim Eyman’s anti-tax initiative leading — Opponents vowed to fight I-1366 in the courts. “We’re going to take steps to make sure this thing never has the opportunity to devastate education funding and human-services funding,” said Adam Glickman, a spokesman for I-1366 opponents.
► In today’s News Tribune — Republican Teri Hickel leading Democrat Carol Gregory in state House race in Federal Way — Republicans appear to have gained another seat in the state House, further eroding Democrats’ slim majority there. If Hickel maintains her lead, Democats’ majority in the state House will be reduced to 50-48.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Historic election: Two Latinos elected to Yakima City Council — Political ceilings were broken Tuesday as two Latinos were elected to the Yakima City Council, and a third was leading her opponent. And in another first, the majority of the City Council’s members will be female.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Congratulations to Dulce Gutierrez, Labor Community Organizer for the Washington State Labor Council, on her election to the Yakima City Council!
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane voters reject Worker Bill of Rights — A controversial measure to bolster worker rights in Spokane failed at the polls Tuesday, as 62 percent of voters rejected it.
► In today’s P.S. Business Journal — $930M Move Seattle levy passed; Sawant retains City Council seat — It looks like Seattle voters have approved the so-called “Move Seattle” transportation levy, which would spend $930 million on roads, bridges and other infrastructure improvements around the city.
► From Huffington Post — Maine, Seattle pave path for campaign finance reform — Voters in Seattle and Maine went to the polls Tuesday night and supported ballot initiatives to reform their campaign finance laws and expand the role of small donors in elections… In Seattle, voters backed a sweeping measure to enact public financing of the city’s elections by a vote of 60 percent to 40 percent.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Seattle Times — Court-ordered expansion of Western State Hospital nixed — The head of the Washington state health services agency said Tuesday concerns about safety at Western State Hospital, the state’s largest psychiatric facility, have led him to end all expansion until they can hire more staff.
ALSO at The Stand — State Attorney General sues anti-union group over RTW efforts (Oct. 15)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Washington Post — Clinton proposes $12 federal minimum wage — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the federal minimum wage should be $12 an hour. The national figure is currently $7.25 an hour. Clinton had previously expressed support for a Democratic proposal in the Senate for a $12 federal minimum but had not discussed it at length on the stump.
► From The Hill — House picks up pace on highway bill — The House is working its way through hundreds of amendments to a $325 billion highway bill under Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who is touting it as an open amendment process intended to show that the chamber is under new leadership.
► From The Nation — Congressional Democrats launch a new strategy to restore the Voting Rights Act — Their bill compels states with a well-documented history of recent voting discrimination to clear future voting changes with the federal government, requires federal approval for voter-ID laws and similar measures, and outlaws new efforts to suppress the growing minority vote.
NATIONAL
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.