DAILY NEWS
GOP smears, NLRB on KapStone, class warfare…
Monday, February 8, 2016
STATE GOVERNMENT
ALSO at The Stand — Senate Republicans shame, harm state with Lynn Peterson’s firing (by Jeff Johnson)
MORE coverage from the Associated Press — Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) on Lynn Peterson: “She’s racist.”
► From PubliCola — Peterson responds to firing, Republican senator threatens “more heads are going to roll”
► In the Seattle Times — 405 toll lanes may have been trigger for Peterson’s firing — Some powerful swing-district lawmakers, notably Sen. Andy Hill (R-Redmond) turned against a toll concept that both parties have supported. I-405 became a way to turn widespread traffic frustrations against Inslee, a Democrat.
► From AP — Corrections secretary resigns amid early release controversy — Washington state Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke resigned on Saturday amid a controversy over the early release of prisoners, telling a Republican senator he hoped his departure would satisfy the “need for blood.”
► In the Spokesman-Review — Senate panel OKs bill to name agriculture whistleblowers — Farm industry have urged lawmakers to support a bill banning the investigation of anonymous tips. SB 6551 was passed with bipartisan support by the Senate Agriculture, Water, and Rural Economic Development Committee.
► In the Spokesman-Review — Mumm left speechless at hearing on Baumgartner bill — Spokane City Councilwoman Candace Mumm traveled to Olympia to speak against his bill that would block Spokane’s (and other cities’) minimum wage ordinance, but she was never given the opportunity to speak at the public hearing chaired by… Sen. Baumgartner.
LOCAL
► In today’s Columbian — Impasse over Battle Ground teachers’ contract — In Battle Ground, the teachers union and school district officials are living up to the town’s name. More sparks likely will fly at tonight’s school board meeting. The two sides are heading back to the contract bargaining table Friday as they try to reach a contract for the current school year.
► In the Seattle Times — Grocer is green but unions see red — New Seasons, the Portland-based small-format grocer that emphasizes regional, organic food, hasn’t even opened its first store in the Seattle area and already there’s opposition. Labor groups are criticizing News Seasons’ working conditions, citing news articles about the grocer’s “anti-union climate” and health and safety violations records.
BOEING
► In the Seattle Times — Massive, speedy robots ready to build composite wings for Boeing 777X — Next summer, Boeing will start using the machines to manufacture wing skins and spars for 777X development and production.
► A related video from the North Carolina AFL-CIO — NC workers explain “good jobs” to a kid robot
ELECTION 2016
► In the (Everett) Herald — Carbon tax measure, I-732, might be on Washington ballot — I-732’s main points include instituting a $25-per-metric ton tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels. It would also reduce the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent and effectively eliminate Washington’s B&O tax.
ALSO at The Stand — WSLC opposes Initiative 732 carbon tax
► From Think Progress — What working class New Hampshire voters think of the GOP candidates’ poverty plans — During Saturday night’s debate, the only candidate to touch on the issue of wages was Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who noted that while it’s impossible to survive on the current federal minimum, he doesn’t support raising it.
► In today’s NY Times — The time-loop party (by Paul Krugman) — Republican candidates keep repeating their canned policy statements, despite evidence that these prescriptions have failed in the real world.
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
► From Huffington Post — TPP would further emasculate America (by Leo W. Gerard) — NAFTA and the TPP are giant greenbacks for multinational corporations. CEOs close U.S. factories, destroy the lives of American workers and collect bigger profits as a result of the less-than-subsistence wages they pay foreign labor. Meanwhile, NAFTA, the TPP and the rest of the free trade schemes are sapping U.S. industrial strength, shipping it overseas. They’re emasculating America.
ALSO at The Stand — 2 things you can do TODAY to stop TPP
NATIONAL
► In today’s — States not waiting to close gender age gap — The issue has gone nowhere in Congress. So states are forging ahead on their own efforts. They have passed a string of equal pay laws in recent years, and more proposals have been introduced in two dozen states so far this year.
ALSO at The Stand — Government run like a business has poisoned our children
► From Huffington Post — Don’t believe the Walmart hype: Here’s proof it still isn’t paying its workers enough — A new Demos brief argues that Walmart wages and schedules still aren’t livable. Demos finds that the new $10 an hour wage “still does not provide enough income to support the basic needs of a single adult working Walmart’s full-time schedule of 34 hours per week in any state in the country.”
ALSO at The Stand — Union membership up in Washington state
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.