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Report from Olympia | August 21, 2018
 Sen. Padden shares a laugh with Margo Spellman at a reception in February, honoring her parents, the late Governor John Spellman and his wife Lois.
Dear
Friends and Neighbors,
During these hot, lazy
summer days, it is easy to picture Governor Inslee and others sitting back and
relaxing with a glass of lemonade, waiting for the next legislative session to
start. Perhaps that is why the governor has been so slow to respond to
lawmakers’ requests for details on the state’s compliance with a recent court
decision.
It was back in June
that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus
v. AFSCME that public employees cannot be forced to pay union fees; yet, it
is still unclear whether or not Inslee and his administration are fully
implementing and abiding by the spirit of the landmark court decision.
You can read more
about the steps being taken to get answers on this important topic in this
issue of Report from Olympia. You'll also find an important update about the legal challenge to Initiative 1639, regarding firearms and your Second Amendment rights.
If you have questions about
anything in this e-newsletter, please give me a call or send me an e-mail. We
are here to serve!
Sincerely,
Senator
Mike Padden
It has been nearly
two months since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Janus case, declaring that it is
unconstitutional to force public workers to pay union fees. But a lack of
communication has many wondering whether Governor Inslee and his administration
are dragging their feet on implementing the ruling here in Washington, or if
they are instead actively working to circumvent it.
Since the ruling in late June, the governor has received four letters from
Washington Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler asking for assurances that
state employees are no longer forced to pay union fees, but there has been no
written response from the governor.
In the meantime, there are some other troubling signs.
First, it now appears that the state regards pre-Janus union membership agreements to be valid, which is in violation
of the Janus decision. In other
words, unionized public employees must formally waive their membership rights
under Janus, which is something they could not have done before the decision. Several
press reports indicate that union fees are still being deducted without workers’
permission, using this rationale.
The second concern is that the Inslee administration may be planning a
scheme to provide direct payments from the state treasury to labor unions,
which has been described as “the direct payment alternative.” Inslee refused to
answer questions when Schoesler asked him point-blank about this issue, but it
is a strategy being examined across the country. (The online magazine Slate recently published a story on
this, titled “How
to Save Public Sector Unions: A creative way to protect organized labor after
Janus.”)
This idea is outrageous, and would put the state in the
business of directly financing labor unions!
My colleagues and I will continue to push the governor for answers and
stand up for the constitutional right of our workers to choose to belong to a
union, or not.
On Friday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Dixon ruled in
favor of a challenge to the gun control initiative (I-1639), ordering the Secretary of State not to put the initiative on the
November ballot.
The Court found that the signed petitions violated
statue or constitution, in that they did not contain a "full, true and correct" copy of the measure. The Court relied on a declaration from the Secretary of State's election
director, who had raised concerns over the legality of ballot with petition proponents that were ignored.
The Washington state Supreme Court has
already entered an order with a briefing schedule for the appeal. Oral arguments in the appeal could be heard as soon as August 28.
You can read more coverage about the ruling at the links below:
Last week I was honored to attend the change of command ceremony conducted
by the Spokane Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. The ceremony
recognized the incredible service of Captain Janeen Graham, who transitioned
command to the new Squadron Commander, 1st Lieutenant Donald Morgan Jr. (In the
top photo above, I am pictured along Capt. Graham, Lt. Morgan, and Senior
Volunteer Member Don Morgan, Sr.)
The Civil Air Patrol is an official Auxiliary of the United States Air
Force, as well as a humanitarian, non-profit organization. Headquartered at
Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama, it has garnered the support and commitment
of more than 61,000 volunteer members nationwide.
Preparing our nation’s youth to be patriotically and technologically ready
for the global aerospace demands of the future is the primary mission of the
Civil Air Patrol.
In the News:
By TJ
Martinell, The Lens | Aug. 7, 2018
A two-thirds majority is required under most
circumstances for legislators to dip into the state’s budget stabilization
account (BSA), a.k.a. the rainy-day fund, which is meant to pay for unexpected
state costs such as wildfires or issues related to economic downturns.
However, a recent court ruling upheld a
provision in the 2018 supplemental operating budget that maintained a legal
loophole that could undermine that two-thirds voting protection by making
preemptive raids into the account easier when the state experiences
unanticipated revenue.
In the Aug. 3 decision, Thurston County
Superior Judge John Skinder ruled in favor of Washington state in a lawsuit
filed by frequent initiative sponsor Tim Eyman. The suit concerned an amendment
to a school funding bill that redirected $935 million in property taxes to the
education legacy trust account. Of that, $700 million was unanticipated revenue
originally meant for the rainy-day fund. The bill narrowly passed in the
Senate, 25-23.
Under a state constitutional amendment
approved by the voters in 2007, 75 percent of unanticipated or surplus revenue
“shall be transferred to the budget stabilization account.” The technical
maneuver was criticized by Republican legislators as an attempt to circumvent
the two-thirds requirement due to insufficient votes.
… Sen. Mike Padden
(R-4) told Lens that the ruling sets “a horrible precedent.”
“The spirit of the constitutional amendment
was violated,” he added. “That was the whole purpose of the constitutional
amendment when it passed. It passed in every county in the state. People have
their own family budgets and they try to save for unforeseen events; and we
know from history that it’s not going to be a bed of roses forever and ever.
There’s going to come a time when you need it.”
You can read the full article here.
In the latest issue of
Senator John Braun’s budget-policy series, titled Economic Sense, the chief budget writer for Senate Republicans
examines how recent state investments in education are being implemented at the
local level through negotiations with teachers’ unions.
“With constitutional
compliance in the McCleary v. State of
Washington court case finally achieved and students statewide receiving an
average of $15,000 per pupil in funding, attention has turned from the
Legislature to school districts and unions as they negotiate contracts for the
upcoming school year,” Braun writes.
“K-12 staff are
incredibly valuable and should be paid commensurately. As educators and
administrators seek to find agreement on pay and benefits in the upcoming
school year, there are three guidelines that all participants should abide by
to best serve the interest of students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers.”
Local bargaining units and school districts should follow three tenets to
ensure the public interest is best served:
- K-3 class size reduction money should not be negotiated away;
- Do not grant salary raises that depend upon the Legislature increasing the local property
tax limit; and
- Do not go on
strike.
To read the full Economic Sense on
education salary negotiations, click
here.
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In the News:
By Nina Culver, Spokesman-Review | Aug. 16,
2018
Joe Dawson
served as a fire commissioner for the Spokane Valley Fire Department for more
than 20 years before he stepped down in late May to focus on his health.
“The doctor told me I had to reduce the stress in my life,” Dawson said. “I
have been so relaxed in the last two months.”
Dawson, who turns 77 in a few days, said he misses serving as a
commissioner but was spending 20 hours a week or more on the job.
“It was time,” he said. “At my age, it was like having a half-time job.”
He was an educator for 38 years and spent 35 of those years in the West
Valley School District. He was a teacher for 13 years, then a principal for 15
years and closed out his career as an administrator.
Click
here to read the full story.
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In the next Report from Olympia, we will be sharing some of the exciting economic and jobs news that we are seeing both here in Washington and across the country.
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