Northwest labor press., May 07, 2010, Page 3, Image 3

May 7, 2010:NWLP
5/4/10
10:12 AM
Page 3
Washington legislative session a mixed bag for labor
OLYMPIA — A projected $2.8 bil-
lion state budget shortfall meant tough
choices this year for the Washington
State Legislature. Last year, state law-
makers responded to a recession-caused
shortfall by passing what the Washing-
ton State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-
CIO called an “all-cuts” state budget.
This year, the Legislature split the dif-
ference, raising nearly $800 million in
new tax revenue, cutting as much from
the budget, and filling the remainder of
the hole with federal aid and by drawing
down reserve accounts.
WSLC went to Olympia with a jobs-
focused agenda: Spare public-sector
jobs (and services) from budget cuts,
and stimulate private-sector jobs
through public investment.
The Legislature’s record, says
WSLC spokesperson Kathy Cum-
mings, was mixed. In a two-month reg-
ular session and four-week special ses-
sion, lawmakers approved two meas-
ures that will put building trades mem-
bers back to work. But they also
bucked labor’s call to end tax loop-
holes, and cut too many services. And
they eliminated funding for Initiative
728, a voter-approved 2000 ballot
measure that mandates extra money to
reduce class sizes.
Democrats occupy the governor’s
office and have supermajorities in the
State House and Senate. But increasing
state government revenue still took ex-
traordinary measures. The Legislature
found it necessary to suspend —
through mid-2011—a voter-passed
statute that requires a two-thirds’ leg-
islative supermajority to increase taxes.
They then voted to increase state sales
taxes by 28 cents per six-pack on mass-
market beer; 2 cents per can on soda,
and $1 per pack on cigarettes. They also
added candy, gum, and bottled water to
the list of items covered by the state’s
6.5 percent sales tax. And they raised
the gross receipts tax on service busi-
nesses from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent.
Most of tax increases are temporary, ex-
piring mid-2013. The increases pre-
vented some layoffs and service cuts,
but even with the tax increases, up to
1,500 state employees are targeted for
layoff, 12,500 state workers will take 10
days of unpaid furlough, and the state
is closing a women’s prison near
Spokane.
Meanwhile, the Legislature passed
two significant back-to-work proposals
for the private sector. One is a referral
to voters of a $505 million bond meas-
ure to create an estimated 30,000 jobs
over five years doing energy-efficiency
retrofits at public universities and K-12
schools; the bonds would be repaid over
25 years by a sales tax on bottled water.
Also approved was an expansion of
the Washington State Convention Cen-
ter in Seattle; that project could account
for 3,000 jobs.
One jobs proposal that did not pass
would have increased a tax on oil ex-
ported by Washington refineries to
$1.50 per barrel, using the proceeds to
pay for storm water pollution cleanup
in every county.
The November 2010 general elec-
tion is shaping up to be a battle royale
over taxes. Ballot measure activist Tim
Eyman is gathering signatures on eight
separate initiative petitions to undo dif-
ferent pieces of the tax package, and an
initiative to reinstate the two-thirds’vote
requirement for legislative tax in-
creases. [On the other side, a ballot ini-
tiative backed by Bill Gates Sr., father
of the Microsoft founder, would impose
an income tax on the richest 3 percent
of Washingtonians — and also reduce
state property taxes by 20 percent and
exempt 375,000 small businesses from
the state’s business and occupation
taxes. Washington is one of seven states
that don’t collect personal income tax.
To get it on the ballot, backers have un-
til July 2 to collect 241,153 valid signa-
tures.]
Also passing, with labor’s backing,
were bills to:
• Give Washington State Department
of Labor & Industries subpoena power
for investigations into the underground
economy;
• Require the appointment of non-
voting labor members on public trans-
portation governing bodies; and
• Give collective bargaining rights to
symphony musicians and medical in-
terpreters by placing them under the ju-
risdiction of the Public Employment
Relations Commission.
Cummings said labor’s agenda was
sometimes stymied by a group of “cor-
porate Democrats” including the newly
formed informal “roadkill caucus.”
One of WSLC’s biggest affiliates,
the Washington Federation of State Em-
ployees (AFSCME), delivered a rebuke
to Democratic lawmakers at its April 17
endorsements conference. The union
endorsed only one Democratic incum-
bent in the State Senate, and 18 in the
House. [Dist. 49 (Pos. 2) Representative
Jim Moeller was the only lawmaker
from Southwest Washington to get the
group’s endorsement. ]
WSLC will release its ratings of leg-
islators at its May 15 political conven-
tion, where delegates will also deter-
mine which candidates to endorse. The
state labor federation resolved last year
to change the way it does politics, no
longer giving money to state Demo-
cratic committees, but instead deciding
on their own which candidates to sup-
port with the newly-formed “DIME
PAC.” DIME PAC is expected to have
close to $500,000 by May 15.
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