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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2009)
August 7, 2009:NWLP 8/4/09 10:20 AM Page 5 WSLC ranks state lawmakers The old method may be imperfect, but this year’s ratings made it clear it was a tough session for labor. Not one of the Washington Senate’s 49 members got a 100 percent rating, and just five of the 98 House members got 100 percent. Ratings were based on lawmakers’votes on eight bills. WSLC had made it clear that the bills were of importance to la- bor. The report in all its detail is avail- able at www.wslc.org/legis/index.htm. The top-ranked House members, with 100 percent ratings, were Democ- rats Bob Hasegawa, Mark Miloscia, Mike Sells, Geoff Simpson, and Bren- dan Williams. Hasegawa is a former leader of Seattle-based Teamsters Local 174. Sells is secretary-treasurer of the Snohomish County Labor Council in Bremerton. And top ratings in the Senate went to Democrats Craig Pridemore of Vancou- ver and Kevin Ranker of San Juan Is- land. Both had 88 percent ratings. Bottom-ranked in the Senate — at 13 percent — were Seattle-area Democrat Al O’Brien and three Republicans. Overall, Democrats had higher scores than Republicans, but in the Sen- ate, the two top-rated Republicans (Don Benton and Pam Roach) had higher scores than the five lowest-rated De- mocrats. Tom Campbell of Pierce County was far and away the highest ...WSLC may alter political action strategy (From Page 1) it’s also been customary in the past for unions to make nominal contributions to friendly politicians who are not fac- ing serious election challenges. The problem is those politicians often pass on the contributions to party leaders, who may use it to help elect Democrats who are not close to labor. WSLC also wants to develop a new method for rating lawmakers. Cum- mings said it has become common practice for Democratic leaders to “pro- tect” their members from individual ac- countability to labor — either by pre- venting bills from getting a vote or by blocking roll-call votes in which there’s a record of how lawmakers voted. Those practices make it hard for labor to rate lawmakers’ votes on priority bills. Also, the traditional rating system gives legislators credit for voting the right way on the final passage of the bill, even if they actively worked against the legislation during the committee process or in caucus meetings. For ex- ample, some legislators who co-spon- sored the Worker Privacy Act reportedly worked behind closed doors to quash it and avoid a vote, after being pressured by Boeing and other business interests. All this is on the agenda at the con- vention, which started Aug. 6, after this issue went to press. AUGUST 7, 2009 ranked House Republican, at 75 percent. Several ranking choices turned the usual partisan comparison upside down. Most Democrats voted to approve the fi- nal state budget, while Republicans voted against it. WSLC opposed it, ar- guing it went too far cutting state serv- ices. Including the budget vote in the rankings meant all Republicans had at least 13 percent, while few Democrats could make 100 percent. Also, this year’s ratings had a sort of giveaway – a bill expanding unemploy- ment insurance that passed almost unan- imously in both chambers. WSLC sup- ported the important bill, which added $45 a week to unemployment checks, but including the bill in the ratings had the effect of bumping everyone’s ratings up slightly, and lessening the difference between ranked lawmakers. SW Washington lawmakers ratings were as follows: D ISTRICT 17 (E AST V ANCOUVER ) Sen. Don Benton (R) — 50% Rep. Tim Probst (D) — 63% Rep. Deb Wallace (D) — 38% D ISTRICT 18 (C AMAS , W ASHOUGAL , B ATTLEGROUND , R IDGEFIELD , L A C ENTER , K ALAMA ) Sen. Joseph Zarelli (R) — 25% Rep. Jaime Herrera (R) — 29% Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) — 25% D ISTRICT 19 (L ONGVIEW , K ELSO ) Sen. Brian Hatfield (D) — 50% Rep. Dean Takko (D) — 63% Rep. Brian Blake (D) — 75% I NVESTMENT C ONSULTANTS TO M ULTI -E MPLOYER B ENEFIT F UNDS Please call Jason Zenk at 253-376-3391 Midwest Office 550 W Washington Blvd Ninth Floor Chicago, IL 60661 p: 312-575-9000 F: 312-575-9840 East Coast Office 1220 Adams St First Floor Boston, MA 02124 p: 617-298-0967 F: 617-298-0966 www.marcoconsulting.com D ISTRICT 49 (W EST V ANCOUVER ) Sen. Craig Pridemore (D) — 88% Rep. Jim Jacks (D) — 88% Rep. Jim Moeller (D) — 75% Labor council in Vancouver makes picks for August primary election VANCOUVER — Ballots have been sent to residents eligible to vote in this month’s Washington primary elec- tion. The deadline to return ballots is Aug. 18. If more than one candidate is running for a post, only the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election in November. In Southwest Washington, the Clark, Skamania, Klickitat Central Labor Council has issued endorsements in several races. At the City of Vancouver, the labor council supports Jack Burkman for an open seat on the City Council, Position 1. Burkman is running against three others in a seat being vacated by in- cumbent Pat Jollota. The labor council also endorsed Anne McEnerny-Ogle for Position 3. She is challenging in- cumbent Jeanne Harris, who has gar- The Marco Consulting Group nered endorsements from several union locals. The Vancouver City Council is a non-partisan race. For Battle Ground City Council, the labor group likes incumbent Mayor Michael Ciraulo for Position 1; Michael Dalesandro in Position 4; Adrian Cortes for Position 5, and in- cumbent Bill Ganley for Position 6. The labor council endorsed Mark Rohr for a seat on the non-partisan Washougal City Council. It also sup- ports the re-election of Port of Vancou- ver Commissioner Nancy Baker. Nationally, the labor council en- dorsed HR 676, the single-payer health care reform bill sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, (D-Michigan). HR 676 would institute a single payer health care sys- tem by expanding an improved Medicare system to all U.S. citizens. Washington PAC #48 Washington Primary Endorsements City of Battle Ground Michael J. Ciraulo, Pos. 1 Michael Dalesandro, Pos. 4 Adrian Cortes, Pos 5 Bill Ganley, Pos. 6 City of Vancouver Royce E. Pollard, Mayor Jack Burkman, Pos. 1 David Michael Heywood, Pos. 2 Jeanne Harris, Pos. 3 City of La Center Al Luiz, Pos. 2 Barbara M. Vinning, Pos. 3 City of Washougal Lou Peterson, Pos. 6 City of Ridgefield Ron Onslow, Pos. 1 Battle Ground School District John G. Idsinga, Dist. 3 Vancouver School District Nelson Holmberg, Pos. 3 IBEW #48 encourages everyone to VOTE! Paid for by Washington PAC #48, P.O. Box 2883, Battle Ground, WA 98604 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 5
