DAILY NEWS
Charters sprung, Haggen to Albertsons, TPP loses again…
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
STATE GOVERNMENT
ALSO at The Stand — Labor opposes surprise charter schools bill
TAKE A STAND — Urge your senator to pass Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
► From KPLU — War of words, no smoke signals as secret budget talks continue — The clock is running out on Washington’s 60-day legislative session. House Democrats and Senate Republicans have until Thursday at midnight to approve an update to the state’s two-year budget. But first they need to agree on the details.
► From PubliCola — Last minute tax breaks in Olympia — House Speaker Frank Chopp signed off on a bill, estimated to cost the state $284,000 in its first year, to give a tax break to airplane repair maintenance facilities if they employ at least 100 people at $80,000 a year over the next four years.
► In today’s News Tribune — State Patrol would give troopers 5 percent raise in legislative deal — Several lawmakers said the raises are first step toward bringing State Patrol salaries in line with pay at other law enforcement agencies in the state.
► From The Stranger — State fines Alaska Airlines for failing to keep baggage handlers safe — In response to worker complaints filed last summer, L&I found a total of 16 workplace safety violations — most of them considered serious — for Menzies workers at SeaTac Airport. The state slapped Menzies with $62,000 in fines, and another $7,000 for Alaska Airlines itself.
► From AP — Audit: State paying unemployment to people in jail — Many people in county jails are receiving unemployment benefits they’re ineligible for, according to a state audit.
LOCAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Greenwood explosion destroys buildings, injures 9 firefighters — Nine firefighters were hurt when an apparent natural-gas leak sparked an early morning explosion that leveled a building and destroyed several businesses.
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Port approves $274,000 severance package with former CEO — Port of Longview commissioners approved a $274,000 settlement agreement with former CEO Geir-Eilif Kalhagen, provided he agrees not to sue the port over his early January ouster.
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Boeing 777X wing plant set to open in Everett in two months — Boeing’s new $1 billion 777X wing factory in Everett could open as early as May, just 18 months after the first dirt was turned.
CAMPAIGN 2016
► In today’s NY Times — Trade and jobs key to victory for Bernie Sanders — Sanders pulled off a startling upset in Michigan on Tuesday by traveling to communities far from Detroit and by hammering Hillary Clinton on an issue that resonated in this still-struggling state: her past support for trade deals that workers here believe robbed them of manufacturing jobs.
► In the Int’l Business Times — Union members gravitating toward Trump amid tough talk on trade — As primaries and caucuses have illustrated thus far, voters across the country are drawn to the GOP front-runner’s populist rhetoric and tough talk on trade — both of which are pillars of many embattled U.S. labor unions. Come November, some Democrats and labor officials worry that Trump could capture a large chunk of the union vote, historically a vital part of the Democratic electoral coalition.
► From Politico — Will blue-collar Dems run to Trump? Fuhgeddaboudit! (by Timothy Noah) — Trump’s string of victories demonstrates only that he’s doing exceptionally well compared to the other Republican candidates with (overwhelmingly white) blue-collar voters in Republican primaries. Democrats and independents seldom vote in Republican primaries; indeed, in most states they’re barred from doing so. The great majority of these voters are registered Republicans who were never going to vote Democratic anyway.
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Washington Post — Senate tired of waiting on the House to figure out its budget mess — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the upper chamber plans to soon begin writing spending bills based on a bipartisan budget agreement reached in December that would boost spending this year by $30 billion. House conservatives are pushing their leaders to abandon that deal.
ALSO at The Stand — Senate Republicans: Do your job, so I can do mine (by Sen. Patty Murray)
NATIONAL
► From Forbes — Wall Street bonuses more than total earnings of minimum wage workers — The money that bankers made in bonuses last year may have been relative small for them, but large for regular people. The average bonus was nearly triple the country’s median household income. An analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies found that the bonus pools was enough to offer a $15 an hour wage to any of the three following groups in the country:
● 2.6 million restaurant wait staff and bartenders $15 an hour
● 1.6 million home healthcare and personal care aides
● 2.6 million fast food workers
► From Huffington Post — Michigan taxpayers face paying millions in legal fees over Flint crisis — Gov. Rick Snyder (R) requested on Tuesday $1.2 million for legal services, more than double the $500,000 already earmarked.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.