Tuesday, March 6, 2018

THIS WASHINGTON

► From the Seattle Globalist — Washington Voting Rights Act passes Legislature — The Washington Voting Rights Act has passed both chambers of the legislature — sending the bill to Gov Jay Inslee. Supporters say this will enable candidates to better reflect the demographic, ethnic and economic make-up of their neighborhoods. “It sets up a collaborative process for communities to work it out before you have to go to court,” said Rep. Zack Hudgins (D-Tukwila)… One of the Republicans supporting the bill last week was Rep. Larry Haler (R-Richland), a city that is 87 percent white. Haler said that the changes in the Voting Rights Act could benefit all underrepresented groups, including lower-income candidates. He said he supported the bill because five of Richland’s seven city council members came from the same upper-class neighborhood, with city’s poorer neighborhoods not being represented on the council.

ALSO at The Stand — Full disclosure: Historic bills are passing! (WSLC Legislative Update)

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Lawmakers are now at odds over a Sound Transit car-tab fix — The Senate and House disagree over whether lost revenue from a lower fee should be offset right away.

► In today’s News Tribune — Lawmakers on the brink of changing Washington’s police deadly force law — The agreement is expected to alter Initiative 940, which proposes sweeping changes to the standard for how police can legally use deadly force. The compromise deal will, however, lower the bar for prosecuting police who use deadly force.

► From AP — Inslee signs net neutrality legislation — Washington became the first state Monday to set up its own net-neutrality requirements after U.S. regulators repealed Obama-era rules that banned internet providers from blocking content or interfering with online traffic.

► From HuffPost — Washington state sets net neutrality showdown as governor signs law — The move ensured a likely showdown with the Federal Communications Commission, which ordered the open-internet provisions to end in April.

LOCAL

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Three immigration protesters arrested outside McMorris Rodgers office in downtown Spokane — Kamau Chege, a senior at Whitworth University who helped organize the protest, said 50 people showed up. Chege said protesters refused to leave until McMorris Rodgers gave assurances of a solution for the people who were brought to the country unlawfully as children.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Is peak construction over? Seattle development declines at fastest rate in more than a decade — The number of projects underway now between South Lake Union and Sodo is still historically high, but down 23 percent from the record levels reached six months ago.

► In the (Longview) Daily News — Celebrate the life of the late “Rosie the Riveter” model at the Monticello Hotel — A celebration of the life of “Rosie the Riveter” model Naomi Parker-Frahley will be held at the Monticello Hotel at 2 p.m. Saturday. Parker-Frahley died in her Longview home on Jan. 20 after a battle with cancer. She was 96.

THAT WASHINGTON

► In today’s NY Times — Trump reaffirms commitment to tariffs but opens door to compromise — President Trump, facing an angry chorus of protests from leaders of his own party, including the House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wisc.), insisted on Monday that he would not back down from his plan to impose across-the-board tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. But the White House was devising ways to potentially soften the impact of the measures on major trading partners.

► From The Hill — Scarborough: Trump will ‘pull back’ on tariffs after Pa. special election — The commentary comes as the RealClearPolitics average of polls shows the race between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone as a toss-up.

► From Politico — Victory in sight for Democrats defying Warren on bank bill — Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are poised to pass a bill this week that would relax key banking regulations, steamrolling opposition from outspoken liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren who have built their careers calling for tougher oversight of Wall Street.

► In today’s NY Times — Why are Democrats helping Trump dismantle Dodd-Frank? (by Mike Konszal) — Proponents argue that this bill provides much needed relief for community banks and credit unions, which, these proponents claim, face enormous difficulties. They also say that it doesn’t endanger financial reforms aimed against the largest and most dangerous players. But that view is mistaken: This bill goes far beyond the health of community banks and credit unions. It removes protections for 25 of the top 38 banks; weakens regulations on the biggest players and encourages them to manipulate regulations for their benefit; and saps consumer protections.

► From Politico — Cochran resigns effective April 1 — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) will resign from the Senate on April 1, his office announced Monday, triggering a second Senate election in Mississippi this fall and reshaping the leadership of one of Congress’ most powerful committees.

NATIONAL

► BREAKING from CNN — West Virginia lawmakers reach deal to give striking teachers pay raise — West Virginia lawmakers said Tuesday morning that a deal has been reached to deliver a 5% pay raise to teachers, according to the governor and the committee meeting on the matter. Teachers have been on strike since Feb. 22.

EDITOR’S NOTE: MSNBC is reporting that ALL state employees will get the raise.

► In today’s NY Times — The teachers revolt in West Virginia (by Michelle Goldberg) — Strikes by teachers are unlawful in the state, and their unions lack collective bargaining rights. Nevertheless, in a revival of West Virginia’s long-dormant tradition of bold labor activism, teachers and some other school employees in all of the state’s 55 counties are refusing to return to work until lawmakers give them a 5 percent raise, and commit to addressing their rapidly rising health insurance premiums… Yet if the strike is rooted in the specific conditions and history of West Virginia, it’s also part of a nationwide upsurge in intense civic engagement by women.

► From WDTV — Frontier Communication workers on strike — After ten months of negotiations, members of the CWA have not been able to reach agreement on a fair contract with Frontier Communications. As a result, 1,400 Frontier Communications workers in West Virginia and in Ashburn, VA went on strike at 12:01 am on Sunday.

► In today’sLA Times — Oklahoma comes closer to joining West Virginia in a major teacher strike

► In today’s NY Times — United Airlines pauses lottery for bonuses after employees rebel online — Faced with a backlash from employees, United Airlines said Monday it was “pressing the pause button” on a plan to replace its modest monthly bonuses with a lottery system that would have offered large rewards to a few workers at random.

► From Politico — Jay Inslee wants to take down the ‘Republican governors who are kowtowing’ — “We have Republican governors who are kowtowing to Donald Trump and will continue to do so, who have been lackeys to his abysmal record and his moral depravity and his inhumane policies, and that all across the country they will be called to account for that chaotic behavior,” said the Washington governor and chair of the Democratic Governors Association. “It’s been amazing to me, shocking and disappointing, that we have so many Republicans who now aspire for governor who just are afraid and shaking in their boots and won’t stand up against this man in the White House.”

► From The Onion — Teacher in cash-strapped Ohio school district forced to make do with centuries-old firearms — “The students here really deserve better than a bunch of muzzle-loaded long guns that haven’t been relevant since the early 1800s,” said math teacher Kurt Hyde. “There were rumors last year that we were finally going to get a gatling gun, but it ended up going to some wealthy school district in Columbus.”

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► In today’s NY Times — The real reason the investor class hates pensions (by David Webber) — No issue in America today better illustrates the divergent interests of working Americans and the 1 percent than pension reform. Substantial empirical evidence shows that America’s favored retirement vehicle — the 401(k), recently renounced by its own inventors — is grossly inadequate and will leave tens of millions of Americans with insufficient retirement assets. And yet states and cities are busy converting traditional pensions into these failing 401(k)s or equivalents, to the great benefit of money managers and the finance class.

We 401(k) holders are the world’s ideal source of capital. We let ourselves be charged high fees that we do not understand, we accept poor returns quarter after quarter, we never sue to enforce our rights, we never vote as shareholders and we never tell our investment managers how we think they ought to vote. We are beyond passive; we are supine. At bottom, the problem is structural. We are to our investees and investment managers what nonunionized “right to work” workers are to their employers: alone and devoid of leverage to negotiate. That stands in sharp contrast to traditional pensions, which, like unions, are collective and centrally managed.

If the Kochs and their allies succeed in smashing and scattering these last remaining pension funds into millions of 401(k)s, they will do more than just undermine the retirement security of millions of Americans. They will silence their economic voice. The pension reform drive should be understood, at least in part, as a campaign of economic voter suppression. And it is coming, soon, to a jurisdiction near you, if it isn’t there already.

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