Monday, May 1, 2017

MORE MARCHING

► From AP — Immigrants, unions march in U.S. for rights, against Trump — Immigrant and union groups will march in cities across the United States on Monday to mark May Day and protest against President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost deportations. Tens of thousands of immigrants and their allies are expected to rally in cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. Demonstrations also are planned for dozens of smaller cities from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Portland, Ore. In many places, activists are urging people to skip work, school and shopping to show the importance of immigrants in American communities.

ALSO at The Stand — Join May Day marches for immigrant rights

PLUS — Help document May 1 actions by donating photos, video, signs

► In today’s Seattle Times — Thousands expected for May Day marches, rallies in Seattle

► In today’s Yakima H-R — Yakima’s May Day march on Monday takes on a new urgency

► From Yahoo News — Peoples Climate March hits D.C. with new goals for the Trump era — Although these are dark days for environmentalists, the Peoples Climate March had a cheerful air Saturday afternoon as it took over the streets surrounding the federal government in Washington, D.C. According to the event’s organizers, more than 200,000 people came from across the country to gather in the swamp’s humidity.

► From KOMO News — Thousands protest Trump’s climate policies in downtown Seattle — Organizers estimate at least 3,500 people participated locally.

► In the Peninsula Daily News — Peninsula-wide climate march draws more than 400

LOCAL

► From KNKX — Hopes, suspicions raised by smelter restart talk in Wenatchee — Public utility commissioners in Chelan County take a high stakes vote Monday that could influence whether the aluminum industry and its well-paid, blue collar jobs make a comeback in the Pacific Northwest… It was idled at the beginning of last year, putting more than 400 people out of work. Eric Gladsjo was one of those workers. “I would be one of the first people back through the gate if they did open back up,” he said. “I would much rather go back to the wages I was making at Alcoa and all the overtime that I was getting.” Gladsjo now drives a truck for a propane company and said he earns about the same as the unemployment checks from his former Alcoa job.

► In the (Everett) Herald — Suppliers say Boeing plans to accelerate 737 MAX production — In the next two years, the Boeing Co. plans to go from making about one 737 MAX a month to more than 50 a month. No company has ever turned up production of a new jetliner that quickly.

► In the Seattle Times — Seattle income-tax idea is worth talking about (by Jon Talton) — A city income tax would face legal challenges and open the economy to risk. But it might push wider tax reform where it’s needed most, at the state level.

► In the (Everett) Herald — Right-to-work laws lower wages for all workers (letter) — Men in my family have been members of the Seattle Ironworkers union since 1909, and we all have been supporters of unions. I have been a member for well over 50 years and I worked in many states, some that supported unions and some that did not. The main difference in the right-to-work states are wages are much lower for both union and non union workers.

THIS WASHINGTON

► In today’s Seattle Times — Washington state senators tap surplus campaign money for food, clothes, furnishing — More than $2,000 at an Embassy Suites in Washington, D.C. Nearly $110 at a Hard Rock Cafe adjacent to Ford’s Theater, where Lincoln was shot. Another $52 at Elephant & Castle, a restaurant just blocks from the White House. In recent months, state Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) has spent thousands of dollars in surplus election-campaign money to pay for airfare, as well as lodging and meals in Washington, D.C., where he also works for the Trump administration. Ericksen has been juggling both his legislative duties and his job as a communications director at the EPA.

PREVIOUSLY from KUOW — Several state lawmakers eat frequently on lobbyists’ dime (May 2013) — If there were a frequent flyer program for lawmakers who allow lobbyists to entertain them, Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) would be racking up the miles. In the first four months of this year, lobbyists report Ericksen attended 62 meals, receptions and other lobbyist paid events with a combined, estimated value of more than $2,000. That’s more than any other Washington state lawmaker in our database and an average of one lobbyist event every other day.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Property-tax bills in King County are among the nation’s highest — and growing fast — The average property-tax bill across King County has jumped 35 percent in the last four years, due to quickly climbing property values and newly approved tax hikes.

► In the News Tribune — Don’t skimp on college need grants; expand them (editorial) — Legislators in 2013 set out to double the number of Washingtonians who hold a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2023. To make good on that promise, they’ll need to fully fund state need grants. Now is a good time to start.

► In the News Tribune — Two large Washington state agencies get new leaders — The state Department of Corrections and the Health Care Authority will have new leaders after problems — and success — in recent years.

TRUMPCARE

► From Politico — GOP faces make-or-break moment on Obamacare repeal — House Republican leaders and White House officials are increasingly confident about passing their long-stalled Obamacare replacement bill: More lawmakers than ever are committed to voting “yes,” they say, and GOP insiders insist they’re within striking distance of a majority. But the window of opportunity for Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team is closing fast. The House is scheduled to leave town for a one-week recess on Thursday, and some senior Republicans worry that failing to get it done by then would fritter away critical momentum. Skittish Republicans would return home to face a barrage of pressure from Democrats and progressive outside groups.

ALSO at The Stand — Call Congress: Urge them to vote ‘NO’ on new TrumpCare bill

► From The Hill — Key Trump adviser: I think we have the votes for healthcare — White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said Monday that he thinks there are enough votes to pass the revised GOP healthcare proposal.

► In today’s NY Times — Pushing for vote on health care bill, Trump seems unclear on its details — Trump insisted that the Republican health legislation would not allow discrimination against people with pre-existing medical conditions, an assertion contradicted by numerous health policy experts as well as the American Medical Association.

► From the Tribune News Services — GOP shuts out doctors, experts, Democrats as they work on Obamacare repeal

► From TPM — 5 points: Why the Trumpcare bill terrified moderates — These are the not-yet-addressed concerns of Republican moderates: Sorry, sick people (pre-existing conditions not protected), a machete to Medicaid (24 million will lose health coverage thanks to the gutting of Medicare), coverage that barely covers (cutting “essential benefits”), Remember the Maine (recreating expensive high-risk insurance pools), and fleecing grandma and grandpa (premiums would skyrocket foro older Americans).

THAT WASHINGTON

► In today’s Washington Post — Congress reaches deal to keep government open through September — Congress is expected to vote on the roughly $1 trillion package early this week. The bipartisan agreement includes policy victories for Democrats, whose votes will be necessary to pass the measure in the Senate, as well as $12.5 billion in new military spending and $1.5 billion more for border security requested by Republican leaders in Congress.

► From The Hill — Dem senator to give Trump plan to renegotiate NAFTA — Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) plans to give Trump a four-point plan to overhaul the NAFTA on Monday. Brown says Trump should be careful not to water down “Buy American” provisions, get rid of NAFTA’s independent court system used to settle disputes, and press Mexico to enforce labor laws and environmental regulations, which he argues would prevent U.S. jobs from moving to that country.

► From The Hill — GOP growing frustrated with Trump’s trade threats — Republican lawmakers are urging President Trump to proceed cautiously on NAFTA. GOP senators say worries about trade disputes are running high in their conference.

► In the NY Times — Under the Trump tax plan, we might all want to become corporations (bu Neil Irwin) — Millions of Americans would have the chance to cut their taxes by essentially turning themselves into small business entities.

► In the NY Times — On the power of being awful (by Paul Krugman) — It turns out, just as predicted, that Trump is ignorant and temperamentally unqualified to be president. But if you think his supporters will accept this reality any time soon, you must not know much about human nature.

NATIONAL

► In the NY Times — Vouchers found to lower test scores in Washington, D.C. schools — With Betsy DeVos, one of the country’s fiercest advocates of school choice, installed as education secretary, the school voucher experiment championed by conservatives is poised to go national. But DeVos’s own department this week rendered judgment on the Washington school choice program: It has not improved student achievement, and it may have worsened it.

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