NEWS ROUNDUP
May Day coverage, zombie Trumpcare, Dems get a deal…
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
MAY DAY
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle’s May Day marches and rallies focus on immigrants’ rights, peace — Thousands of May Day marchers took to the streets in Seattle Monday to demand an end to deportations, affirm the need for strong labor laws and voice concerns about xenophobia, racism and military spending.
ALSO TODAY at The Stand:
May Day: “Immigrants are welcome here” (by Jeff Johnson)
Amazon contractors, community deliver a message of solidarity
► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Diverse Tri-City crowd rallies for May Day
► In today’s Olympian — Windows broken, nine arrested in Olympia May Day protest
► From The Hill — A May Day call for justice (by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Maria Elena Durazo) — Cesar Chavez said that our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. As we celebrate International Workers’ Day, known around the world as May Day, it is clear that Chavez’s vision is not yet fulfilled.
TRUMPCARE
► In today’s Washington Post — House Republicans continue health-care push, may leave changes to Senate — In the messy effort to rally their often unruly party around a measure to replace big parts of President Barack Obama’s health-care law, House leaders have been forced to leave other objectives by the wayside and focus on one simple, political goal: pass a bill they can say repeals Obamacare — even if it has no hope of survival in the Senate — to shield their members in next year’s elections.
► From Politico — House Republicans floundering on Obamacare repeal — House Republicans and the White House kicked off the week thinking they’d finally pass their Obamacare repeal bill. But by Tuesday morning, worry had once again gripped the House GOP leadership, as Speaker Paul Ryan and his team floundered in their bid to land the votes.
► From Politico — GOP suffers surprise defection on Obamacare repeal — President Donald Trump dialed up his campaign-trail ally Rep. Billy Long on Monday, after the Missouri Republican announced his decision to vote against the Republican plan to replace Obamacare. The goal was straightforward: Persuade Long to change his mind. It didn’t work.
LOCAL
► From KUOW — Seattle commits to adopting income tax, or at least trying to — Seattle officials have committed themselves to trying to adopt the city’s first income tax. Monday, the City Council passed a resolution to start the process. But the city faces legal uncertainty in this area. That’s because the state Supreme Court once ruled an income tax unconstitutional, and no city or county has approved one ever since.
► In today’s Seattle Times — REI says store-employee pay up an average 10 percent — Wage hikes are costing the outdoor retailer as much as $25 million, CEO says at annual membership meeting. REI had said its move toward higher pay had been under way for months, but it came at a time when employees had been increasingly vocal about wage and scheduling issues. A Seattle City Council member had held a forum in which some REI workers talked of low wages and erratic hours.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Just considering forming a union raises wages and working conditions. So what are you waiting for?
THIS WASHINGTON
ALSO at The Stand — ‘People’s Governor’ Mike Lowry passes away at 78
► In today’s News Tribune — Mental patient throws exit sign, breaks security officer’s jaw, documents say — A patient at Western State Hospital in Lakewood is charged with second-degree assault after allegedly hurling an “exit” sign at a security officer and breaking his jaw.
FEDERAL BUDGET DEAL
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Key Sound Transit deal back on track with federal budget agreement — A compromise deal to fund the federal government provides Sound Transit and Community Transit with millions of dollars they’ve been counting on to expand light rail and bus service in Snohomish County.
► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Federal budget deal delivers solid Hanford funding for next 5 months
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Congressional spending compromise includes protection for state’s marijuana industry
► In today’s Pittsburgh P-G — Funding agreement protects orphan miner health care, but doesn’t resolve pension issues — A new government funding agreement permanently protects thousands of retired miners’ health care, but doesn’t resolve pension shortfalls that also worry coal workers. Legislative leaders have agreed to the provisions as part of a $1 trillion government funding bill, and rank-and-file members are expected to approve it later this week.
PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — Time running out for Congress to act on mine workers’ benefits (April 6)
► From The Hill — Trump: U.S. ‘needs a good shutdown’ — President Trump on Tuesday called for a “good shutdown” in September to fix the “mess” in government. He also expressed frustration that legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate because of the filibuster, saying it would be necessary to elect more Republicans or “change the rules.”
NATIONAL
► From CNN — Hollywood crisis averted: Writers reach deal with studios — It was a cliffhanger ending, but the Writers Guild of America and the studios have reached a new deal that will keep the scripts coming and Hollywood at work. The threat of the first strike in a decade was averted after a marathon negotiating session that went past the midnight deadline, leaving much of Hollywood staying up late and checking social media, looking for hints as to whether there would be picket lines on Tuesday. The parties issued a joint statement confirming the three-year agreement.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
Instead of costing jobs, increasing the minimum wage boosts the economy by increasing consumer spending and reducing employee turnover. The truth is that cities and states that raised the minimum wage in 2014 experienced faster job growth than those that did not. In terms of wage policy in America, the nation with more income and wealth inequality than any other major country, the bottom line is not complicated. In the year 2017, a job must lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in it. We must raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.