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1433 wins, ST3 wins, Jayapal wins, Inslee wins… aaand that about covers it

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

 


STATE ELECTIONS

 

1433-ballot

► In today’s Seattle Times — Voters approve minimum wage increase to $13.50 in Washington state — Washington’s low-wage workers can expect to earn at least $13.50 an hour by 2020 under a ballot measure that won Tuesday night. Initiative 1433, which would also require paid sick leave for employees, was leading with nearly 60 percent of the vote in statewide returns, as of early Wednesday. In King County the measure was leading overwhelmingly, by 72 percent to 28 percent.

ALSO at The Stand — Historic election victories for Washington workers

st3-approve-front► In the Seattle Times — Sound Transit 3 opens big lead with support in King, Snohomish counties — Voters appear ready to open their wallets Jan. 1 for a bigger transit future, by favoring a record tax increase to finance light-rail, commuter-train and bus-line extensions to rival some of the nation’s longest transit networks. The $54 billion, 25-year Sound Transit Proposition 1 was leading with 55 percent overall approval, following Tuesday night counts in urban King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Voters approve Prop 1 to fund STA upgrades, Central City Line

► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle’s hotel-workers measure passing — Seattle voters approved Initiative 124 to require hotels to provide housekeepers with panic buttons, track guests accused of harassment, limit housekeeper workloads, help thousands of low-wage employees pay for health care and retain workers during ownership transfers.

► In today’s PSBJ — Washington rejects the Initiative 732 carbon tax — Washington state voters rejected the Initiative 732 proposal that would have created the first state carbon tax in the U.S. About 59 percent of voters were rejecting the initiative.

ALSO at The Stand — I-732 loss shows urgent need for coalition effort on climate

Photo by Joe Mabel (from Wikimedia Commons)► In today’s Seattle Times — Jayapal defeats Walkinshaw in 7th Congressional District — By winning the seat occupied since 1988 by retiring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, Jayapal becomes the first Indian-American woman elected to Congress. The 52-year-old state senator — an immigrant-rights activist who scored an endorsement from Bernie Sanders last spring — captured 57 percent of the vote.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Patty Murray heading back to U.S. Senate — Washington voters gave Sen. Patty Murray a fifth term Tuesday, making her the state’s third-longest serving member of the Senate.

► In today’s Yakima H-R — Incumbents returned to WA Supreme Court — The 2016 state Supreme Court elections were roiled by big contributions from wealthy people angry over some major decisions (charter schools, insufficient public school funding) and Republicans convinced the court has become too liberal.

► In today’s Olympian — Gov. Jay Inslee wins second term — The incumbent was elected comfortably to a second term Tuesday, continuing the Democratic party’s more than 30-year reign over the office.

house-vs-senate-Olympia► In today’s Olympian — Control of Legislature looks to remain split between Republicans and Democrats — Democrats appeared to gain at least one seat in the House, as well as in the Senate, but without changing the majority in either chamber. If Tuesday’s results hold, Republicans would control the Senate 25-24, with the aid of one maverick Democrat, Tim Sheldon of Potlatch, who caucuses with the GOP. Meanwhile, Democrats would increase their House majority to at least 51-47.

ALSO at The Stand — How labor-endorsed candidates, measures fared

 


PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

 

trump-wins_front► In today’s Washington Post — Trump win promises to reshape political landscape — World markets shuddered, U.S. allies fretted and Americans celebrated or seethed Wednesday as Donald Trump looked ahead to the White House after a history-shaping victory that defied pollsters and galvanized legions of aggrieved voters in a loud repudiation of the status quo.

► From TPM — Like Gore, Clinton will likely win the popular vote — Hillary Clinton is on track to become the fifth candidate to win the popular vote while losing the election.

► In today’s NY Times — Donald Trump won. Now what? — He must now begin the hard work of assembling an administration and seeking broad political acceptance in a way he never did as a candidate… The election returns on Tuesday sent stock futures into a dive and drew expressions of consternation from abroad. Trump campaigned and won as a proud agitator, but he has different responsibilities as the president-elect. Helping to avert international panic is one of them.

► In today’s Washington Post — Trump’s victory has enormous consequences for the Supreme Court — In the short term, Trump’s victory means that at some point next year, the nine-member court will be restored to full capacity, once again with a majority of Republican-appointed justices. The long-term question will be Trump’s ultimate impact on the court’s membership, and whether he gets the chance to do more than choose the successor to Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Friedrichs: “I’m ba-ack.”

uninsured-wristbands► From The Hill — GOP sweep puts ObamaCare in jeopardy — Trump has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act as one of his first acts in office.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Here’s hoping you don’t have any pre-existing medical conditions or adult children who need coverage on your policy… and you like allowing insurance companies to cap your lifetime coverage.. and you like subsidizing uninsured free riders’ emergency room costs with higher premiums for the rest of us. Molotov!

► In today’s Washington Post — President Trump (editorial) — Americans are not and have never been united by blood or creed, but by allegiance to a democratic system of government that shares power, cherishes the rule of law and respects the dignity of individuals. We hope our newly elected president will show respect for that system. Americans must stand ready to support him if he does, and to support the system whether he does or does not.

 


NATIONAL ELECTIONS

 

► From Huffington Post — Unions defeat right-to-work amendment in Virginia — In a bit of good news for labor unions, Virginians voted down a ballot initiative Tuesday that would have enshrined the state’s right-to-work status in the state constitution.

 


LOCAL

 

WSNA-TGEN-nurses

► In today’s News Tribune — Tacoma General nurses plan weeklong boycott of extra shifts — Nurses at Tacoma General Hospital plan for a week to refuse to take extra shifts or voluntary overtime to protest hospital work practices. “We hope turning down voluntary overtime and extra shifts will demonstrate to management in a very concrete way that the nurses are being stretched too thin,” said registered nurse Renata Bowlden, a Washington State Nurses Association bargaining team member in Monday’s news release.

ALSO at The Stand — Tacoma General nurses to say NO to voluntary OT, extra shifts

 


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

 

wall-st-CEOs-bailout► From the Washington Post — Taxpayers are still bailing out Wall Street, eight years later — Eight-years after taxpayers rescued the U.S. financial system, some of the country’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, continue to receive billions in bailout money, according to government data. Wells Fargo is eligible for up to $1.5 billion in bailout funds over the next seven years. JPMorgan and Bank of America could receive $1.1 billion and $964 million respectively.

 


NATIONAL

 

► From PBS — Poverty wages for U.S. child care workers may be behind high turnover — Nationwide, average pay for child care workers is less than $10 an hour. Nearly half of these workers receive some kind of public assistance. Meanwhile, research shows the turnover among child care workers nationally is about 30 percent.

EDITOR’S NOTE — So, you’re saying these things might be connected?!

 


The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.

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