Friday, June 2, 2017

THIS WASHINGTON

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Everett teachers ready to strike if bargaining rights limited — Several hundred Everett school teachers made clear Thursday they are prepared to strike if state lawmakers fail to fund public schools adequately and pay classroom instructors fairly. “There is a very good potential that we could be taking action that would disrupt the start of the school year,” said Jared Kink, president of the Everett Education Association, which represents 1,100 certificated teachers in the Everett School District. Roughly 300 union members gathered in the Cascade High School gymnasium to voice support for a resolution authorizing a walkout or strike in the event of an unsatisfactory resolution from Olympia on the long-running fight on public school funding.

► In today’s Seattle Times — McCleary roundup: A poll, fact check and candlelight vigil on school funding — A new poll found that 51 percent of likely voters had not seen, heard or read anything about the McCleary case, but about two-thirds of respondents reported believing that Washington’s public-school system needs a boost in funding. And most respondents — 51 percent — said schools “definitely” need more money. The WEA and Washington’s Paramount Duty are planning a candlelight vigil Friday evening at the Capitol to show their support for ample funding for schools and to protest the Republicans’ budget proposal.

► MUST-READ in the News Tribune — There’s more to race protests at Evergreen than biology professor and viral videos (by Matt Driscoll) — What’s really going on at The Evergreen State College? Much like your reaction to this story, your take on that question probably depends on your political leanings. That’s been the case since the school’s experimental creation as a bastion for liberals in what was then a logging town, and it will likely continue long after folks like Rep. Matt Manweller (R-Ellensburg) find some other example of liberal intolerance to rail against. But here’s the truth this saga has laid bare: When it comes to issues of race, equality, and social justice, there’s a lot going on at Evergreen — like so many college campuses across the country right now. Dealing with things of this nature is rarely easy, and rarely pretty, but always worth the work. For the most part, Evergreen deserves credit for rolling up its sleeves and attempting to do just that. The way the story has largely been portrayed this week — and jumped on by some seeking to score political points — doesn’t come close to doing the situation justice.

EDITOR’S NOTE — The price of media/political exploitation…

► In today’s Seattle Times — Evergreen State College closes after caller claims to be armed, en route to campus

LOCAL

► In today’s Seattle Times — Candidates for Seattle mayor talk city income tax, noncitizen voting, car-tab fees — More anti-bias training for city employees, schedule protections for additional private-sector workers, and a new tax on the incomes of high earners. Those were policies six leading candidates for Seattle mayor said they would support as they sought to impress an audience of union members Thursday night at a forum sponsored by the M.L. King County Labor Council. Former Mayor Mike McGinn, attorney and educator Nikkita Oliver, state Sen. Bob Hasegawa, urban planner Cary Moon, former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, and Jessyn Farrell, who left the statehouse earlier this week to focus on campaigning, took part in the first major forum since 21 candidates last month filed for the August primary.

► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Trump’s proposed budget would mean 1,000 jobs lost at PNNL — The budget proposed by the administration of President Donald Trump for the next fiscal year would result in a loss of more than 1,000 jobs at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, according to a preliminary analysis done by lab leadership.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — From Bellevue to Spokane, Planned Parenthood supporters pan McMorris Rodgers’ support of health care bill — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ stance on health care issues drew crowds of protesters on both sides of the state Thursday. In Spokane, protesters in pink hospital gowns called on her Thursday morning to drop efforts to withhold funding to Planned Parenthood. In Bellevue, an evening rush-hour crowd of about 100 gathered on a street corner outside a building where her re-election campaign was holding a campaign fundraiser, chanting and waving signs to protest her vote for the House Republicans’ proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act.

► From The Stranger — McMorris Rodgers Watch: Why you should give a f— about the Eastern WA Republican — That’s Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican who voted to take away your healthcare, strip your internet privacy protections and wants to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — McMorris Rodgers applauds Trump decision on climate agreement

CLIMATE CHANGE

► In today’s Washington Post — Trump announces U.S. will exit Paris climate deal, sparking criticism at home and abroad — Trump’s decision set off alarms worldwide, drawing swift and sharp condemnation from foreign leaders as well as top environmentalists and corporate titans, who decried the U.S. exit from the Paris accord as an irresponsible abdication of American leadership in the face of irrefutable scientific evidence. Trump, who has labeled climate change a “hoax,” made good on a campaign promise to “cancel” the Paris agreement and Obama-era regulations that he said were decimating industries and killing jobs.

ALSO at The Stand — “A stunning display of ignorance and hubris” (statement by WSLC President Jeff Johnson)

► From the AFL-CIO — Paris climate agreement withdrawal a failure of American leadership — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: “Pulling out of the Paris climate agreement is a decision to abandon a cleaner future powered by good jobs.”

► In today’s Seattle Times — Gov. Inslee calls Trump’s climate-pact withdrawal ‘pathetic’ — plus other Northwest reaction to U.S. abandoning Paris accord

► In today’s Washington Post — These titans of industry just broke with Trump’s decision to exit the Paris accords — Thirty states (including Washington) and scores of companies said Thursday that they would press ahead with their climate policies and pursue lower greenhouse gas emissions, breaking sharply with President Trump’s decision to exit the historic Paris climate accord.

► In today’s NY Times — Our disgraceful exit from the Paris Accord (editorial) — Here’s what Trump’s decision on the climate change pact says to the world: America cares little about science, its allies and competitiveness.

► In today’s Seattle Times — On climate change, the cost of leaving Paris (by Jon Talton) — Abandoning the treaty where 190 nations agreed to head for a low-carbon future might appear to boost today’s economy. In fact, it will bring enormous costs and destabilization.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — If Trump won’t, state can keep climate commitments (editorial) — The reasons to carry on are clear, as stated in a state Department of Ecology report from December:

“In recent years we have observed devastating wildfires, drought, lack of snowpack and increases in ocean acidification. These events are examples of what our future will look like if we fail to take action. While Washington cannot single-handedly solve climate change, we can do our part, and set an example for other states and jurisdictions.”

THAT WASHINGTON

► In today’s Washington Post — As wealthy, businesses take their time paying taxes, government is running out of cash — Wealthy Americans and business owners are putting off paying taxes in the hopes that Republicans will deliver big cuts, leaving the federal government increasingly short on cash and accelerating its crash into the debt ceiling… That debt ceiling can be raised only by Congress. The government has been bumping up against the debt ceiling since mid-March, and the Treasury Department is expected to run out of emergency steps to avoid defaulting on payments in a few months. A failure by Treasury to make major payments would call into question whether the U.S. government can meet its obligations. Because federal debts serve as a global reserve currency, relied on by banks and businesses around the world, a default could cause a severe crisis.

► From The Hill — Koch-backed group launches six-figure campaign for tax reform

► From The Hill — Trump appeals travel ban case to Supreme Court — The Trump administration late Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its travel ban that would block citizens from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. The decision comes a week after a Richmond, Va.-based federal appeals court refused to reinstate the ban. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 10-3 ruling that Trump’s executive order “speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination.”

► In the LA Times — School vouchers don’t just undermine public schools, they undermine our democracy (by Jonah Edelman and Randi Weingarten) — Although our organizations have sparred and disagreed over the years, such is the danger to public schooling posed by Trump’s embrace of vouchers that we are speaking out together on this issue. The Trump-DeVos effort to push vouchers, or something equivalent through tax credits, threatens the promise and purpose of America’s great equalizer, public education.

► In the Seattle Times — U.S. education budget would move nation in wrong direction (editorial) — The real danger in the Trump administration’s education budget is that it shows where President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would like tax dollars increasingly to go in the future — toward private schools, including religious institutions.

► From HuffPost — The fate of 16.8 million Medicaid enrollees rests on 20 GOP Senators from 14 states — The vast majority of Americans support continuing the Medicaid expansions, including 93 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of independents and 71 percent of Republicans, according to a new survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. More than seven in 10 favor leaving current federal funding for Medicaid overall in place… There are 20 Republican senators representing 14 states where the stakes are especially high because they’re among the 31 states and the District of Columbia that accepted federal funding to expand Medicaid to poor adults under the Affordable Care Act. Large segments of some of these states’ populations rely on Medicaid.

NATIONAL

► In today’s Washington Post — U.S. job market stumbles in May, adding just 138,000 jobs — U.S. job growth came in below expectations in May with employers adding just 138,000 jobs while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an increase of 180,000 in non-farm payrolls, which would have been in line with average monthly gains seen over the past year. Meanwhile, workers still aren’t seeing very rapid wage growth.

► In today’s NY Times — Walmart is accused of punishing workers for sick days — A report released Thursday by a workers’ advocacy group says Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, routinely refuses to accept doctors’ notes, penalizes workers who need to take care of a sick family member and otherwise punishes employees for lawful absences.

► In today’s NY Times — Uber says it just noticed error on pay, but it was no secret — The ride-hailing service, which said last week it had taken excess driver commissions, received complaints as early as 2015 and took steps to revise its contract.

T.G.I.F.

► The Entire Staff of The Stand can’t wait to see this guy this weekend at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville. Enjoy!

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