PAGE 2 | November 18 , 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
...Ballot measures around the nation
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Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la-
bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the
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ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in
Oregon and Southwest Washington.
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Office manager: Cheri Rice
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South Dakota, unions backed an
initiative that would have created
an end-run around the state’s
“right-to-work” law, by allowing
unions to charge non-members
for services, but it was defeated
by nearly 4-1.
Taxing the rich and
corporations
Oregon’s Measure 97 — a 2.5
percent gross receipts tax on
corporate sales over $25 million
— went down to defeat. But
Californians voted to increase
the personal income tax on in-
comes over $250,000, and
Mainers approved a 3 percent
tax on household income over
$200,000 to fund K-12 schools.
Drug prices and single payer
After drug companies spent
$109 million to oppose it, a Cal-
ifornia measure requiring state
agencies to pay the same as the
U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) for drugs was de-
feated 54-46. And in Colorado,
a ballot measure to set up a sin-
gle payer health care system
went down spectacularly, 79-21.
But in Ashland, Oregon, voters
approved a measure encourag-
ing the 2017 Legislature to
move forward with a system of
comprehensive health care for
all Oregon residents.
Money out of politics
In its 2010 Citizens United de-
cision, the U.S. Supreme Court
eliminated limits on independ-
ent expenditures for political
candidates. This year, voters in
Washington and California
passed measures calling for a
federal constitutional amend-
ment to overturn that ruling. The
Washington measure declares
that constitutional rights belong
only to individuals, not corpora-
tions.
Marijuana legalization
It was a breakthrough year for
marijuana legalization. Voters in
California, Maine, Massachu-
setts and Nevada legalized
recreational marijuana, and vot-
ers in Arkansas, Florida, Mon-
tana, and North Dakota ap-
proved measures allowing
medical marijuana. The only
marijuana measure to fail this
year was in Arizona. Unions
have mostly been neutral on the
measures, except United Food
and Commercial Workers,
which supports legalization and
represents some workers in the
cannabis industry.
Electricity deregulation
Remember Enron? Apparently
voters in Nevada don’t. Ignor-
ing appeals from the Nevada
AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 1245,
and Culinary Local 226,
Nevadans approved a constitu-
tional change that removes all
limits on what electricity
providers can charge.
Leave homecare workers
alone
Washingtonians approved a
measure sponsored by SEIU
775, the union that represents
state-paid homecare workers, to
exempt from public disclosure
the names, addresses, and tele-
phone numbers of in-home
caregivers and the clients they
serve. Canvassers working for
the anti-union Freedom Founda-
tion were knocking on their
doors to talk them into dropping
the union. The measure also in-
creases civil penalties on those
who defraud senior citizens and
other vulnerable people.
Carbon tax
Washingtonians rejected a
measure for a carbon emission
tax. The measure was opposed
by labor because rather than use
the funds to build clean energy
infrastructure and increase con-
servation, it would have low-
ered business taxes and resulted
in a $100 million a year cut to
the state budget.
Oregon’s 2 million
voter turnout
breaks record
Oregon voters returned a
record number of ballots in
the Nov. 8 general election,
breaking 2 million votes,
the Oregon Secretary of
State reported.
The 2.02 million ballots
returned in the recent elec-
tion beats the previous
record, which was 1.84
million ballots returned for
the 2008 general election.
The ballot return figure
accounts for 78.9 percent
of all ballots mailed to vot-
ers who were eligible to
vote in this election.
Of the 2 million-plus
ballots cast statewide,
28,322 ballots are being
challenged and reviewed
for issues like a missing
signature or a signature that
doesn’t match the registra-
tion record.
Oregon’s new Motor
Voter program registered
230,000 voters for the gen-
eral election, Secretary of
State Jeanne P. Atkins said.
POSITION OPEN
Executive Director
LABOR’S COMMUNITY SERVICE
AGENCY seeks an experienced, vision-
ary individual to manage personnel, fi-
nancial resources, and community-based
programs. Candidate will possess expe-
rience with non-profit fiscal, program
and grants management.
Preference will be given to those with
a background in organized labor, work-
force development systems, and with
experience in fundraising, program plan-
ning, strategic planning, and personnel
management.
This position is permanent, full time
(40+ hours per week), and offers com-
prehensive benefits, including: Health &
Welfare, Dental, Optical and Prescription
Drug Insurance; Retirement Plans; Paid
Holidays; Accrued vacation and sick
leave hours.
Starting salary: $54,000-62,000 DOE.
Please submit résumé, cover letter, and
separate page listing three references to:
Bob Tackett
9955 SE Washington St. #305
Portland, OR. 97216
Application must be received by
Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 at 5 p.m.
No phone inquiries, please,