Morning Fizz
"Mind-Blowing Tax-Increasing Orgy"
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz.
1. The Republicans in Olympia are making a lot of noise about the reforms they must have for a budget deal, blaming Democrats for watering down reform legislation.
But one of the key reforms the Republicans claim to want is a state takeover of the K-12 employee health care system. If Fizz's memory is correct (and it is ), the Republicans are the ones who scotched that legislation when the Democrats, with the votes lined up to pass it, brought it to the senate floor.
Why would the GOP balk at their own reform bill? After all, the teachers' union, one of the GOP's main adversaries, is dead against the bill. Here's why the GOP won't back up its reform rhetoric with votes: Insurance giant Premera is also against it . The current teachers’ health insurance model funnels 60 percent of its members to a Premera/WEA health care plan.[pullquote]Here's why the GOP won't back up its reform rhetoric with the votes: Insurance giant Premera is against the bill.[/pullquote]
Fizz wonders if Republican senate budget chief Zarelli can actually back up his reform talk by delivering the GOP votes on the K-12 plan.
2. A cast of high-profile candidates have lined up to run for the 36th District state house seat being vacated by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson. The field includes three well-known women---Progressive Majority leader Noel Frame , Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton, and Mike O'Brien aide Sahar Fathi, who, while not initially as well-known, scored a profile in The Stranger. Also in the mix: Brett Phillips, the son of a King County Council member Larry Phillips.
One lesser-known contender made his candidacy official yesterday: Evan Clifthorne, a 28-year-old aide to state Sen. Paull Shin (D-21, Edmonds).
Clifthorne, who previously worked in D.C. for a group that advocated for the rights of women in the Middle East, says his work for Shin over the past couple of years uniquely qualifies him for the job of representative. "I am the only person in the race that has any legislative experience whatsoever," he says. "There's no other person in the race who has an understanding of how things actually work in Olympia." He says that if he's elected, he plans to focus on reforming the state's tax policy (particularly by closing tax loopholes) and improving education, including teacher salaries.
Asked whether, given the retirement this year of several prominent female legislators, the legislature needs to elect more women, Clifthorne says that while women should "play an important role in the legislature, at the same time it's important that we evaluate candidates based on their qualifications, not based on their gender."
3. The Seattle Times has more on the news first reported by the AP yesterday: A state senate GOP staffer is seeking a $1.75 million settlement from the state after the GOP allowed formerly-banned and volatile state Sen. Pam Roach (R-31, Auburn) back into the caucus.
Roach, who was particularly abusive to the staffer, Republican Senate Counsel Mike Hoover, was allowed back in the caucus in exchange for her key 25th vote on Republican budget chief Sen. Joe Zarelli's budget coup.
4. There's been a mini-wave of staff departures at the city council in recent months, including the departures of Jean Godden aide Tom von Bronkhorst, Sally Clark aide Dan Nolte, Bruce Harrell aide Michael Jarrett, and central staffer Kieu-anh King. That's an unusually high number of staffers to leave the council in a short time.
Two, King and Jarrett, have gone on to other city departments---King to the City Budget Office in mid-February ("I wasn't planning on leaving, but I was asked to come on board"), Jarrett in January to Seattle City Light. Von Bronkhorst reportedly plans to return to campaign work at least part-time, and Nolte says he plans to move to New York City for a change of scenery. When he gets there, he'll be rooming with another city hall veteran---Jesse Baumgartner, the onetime campaign manager for Tom Rasmussen.
5. Initiative hawker Tim Eyman announced yesterday that he plans to move forward with his ballot measure (Initiative 1185) that would renew 2010's I-1053, which requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes. In January, I-1053 will have been in effect for two years, after which legislators will have the ability to repeal it by a simple-majority vote. Without the two-thirds limit, Eyman predicted a "mind-blowing tax-increasing orgy."
6. In response to a recent AP report that companies across the country are asking for login information for applicants' Facebook accounts, State Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-44, Lake Stevens), who's running for the new 1st Congressional District seat, has proposed legislation that would bar employers from requesting Facebook password information.
According to the AP, Maryland, Illinois, and California have introduced similar proposals, although those bills only apply to public employers.
1. The Republicans in Olympia are making a lot of noise about the reforms they must have for a budget deal, blaming Democrats for watering down reform legislation.
But one of the key reforms the Republicans claim to want is a state takeover of the K-12 employee health care system. If Fizz's memory is correct (and it is ), the Republicans are the ones who scotched that legislation when the Democrats, with the votes lined up to pass it, brought it to the senate floor.
Why would the GOP balk at their own reform bill? After all, the teachers' union, one of the GOP's main adversaries, is dead against the bill. Here's why the GOP won't back up its reform rhetoric with votes: Insurance giant Premera is also against it . The current teachers’ health insurance model funnels 60 percent of its members to a Premera/WEA health care plan.[pullquote]Here's why the GOP won't back up its reform rhetoric with the votes: Insurance giant Premera is against the bill.[/pullquote]
Fizz wonders if Republican senate budget chief Zarelli can actually back up his reform talk by delivering the GOP votes on the K-12 plan.
2. A cast of high-profile candidates have lined up to run for the 36th District state house seat being vacated by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson. The field includes three well-known women---Progressive Majority leader Noel Frame , Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton, and Mike O'Brien aide Sahar Fathi, who, while not initially as well-known, scored a profile in The Stranger. Also in the mix: Brett Phillips, the son of a King County Council member Larry Phillips.
One lesser-known contender made his candidacy official yesterday: Evan Clifthorne, a 28-year-old aide to state Sen. Paull Shin (D-21, Edmonds).
Clifthorne, who previously worked in D.C. for a group that advocated for the rights of women in the Middle East, says his work for Shin over the past couple of years uniquely qualifies him for the job of representative. "I am the only person in the race that has any legislative experience whatsoever," he says. "There's no other person in the race who has an understanding of how things actually work in Olympia." He says that if he's elected, he plans to focus on reforming the state's tax policy (particularly by closing tax loopholes) and improving education, including teacher salaries.
Asked whether, given the retirement this year of several prominent female legislators, the legislature needs to elect more women, Clifthorne says that while women should "play an important role in the legislature, at the same time it's important that we evaluate candidates based on their qualifications, not based on their gender."
3. The Seattle Times has more on the news first reported by the AP yesterday: A state senate GOP staffer is seeking a $1.75 million settlement from the state after the GOP allowed formerly-banned and volatile state Sen. Pam Roach (R-31, Auburn) back into the caucus.
Roach, who was particularly abusive to the staffer, Republican Senate Counsel Mike Hoover, was allowed back in the caucus in exchange for her key 25th vote on Republican budget chief Sen. Joe Zarelli's budget coup.
4. There's been a mini-wave of staff departures at the city council in recent months, including the departures of Jean Godden aide Tom von Bronkhorst, Sally Clark aide Dan Nolte, Bruce Harrell aide Michael Jarrett, and central staffer Kieu-anh King. That's an unusually high number of staffers to leave the council in a short time.
Two, King and Jarrett, have gone on to other city departments---King to the City Budget Office in mid-February ("I wasn't planning on leaving, but I was asked to come on board"), Jarrett in January to Seattle City Light. Von Bronkhorst reportedly plans to return to campaign work at least part-time, and Nolte says he plans to move to New York City for a change of scenery. When he gets there, he'll be rooming with another city hall veteran---Jesse Baumgartner, the onetime campaign manager for Tom Rasmussen.
5. Initiative hawker Tim Eyman announced yesterday that he plans to move forward with his ballot measure (Initiative 1185) that would renew 2010's I-1053, which requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes. In January, I-1053 will have been in effect for two years, after which legislators will have the ability to repeal it by a simple-majority vote. Without the two-thirds limit, Eyman predicted a "mind-blowing tax-increasing orgy."
6. In response to a recent AP report that companies across the country are asking for login information for applicants' Facebook accounts, State Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-44, Lake Stevens), who's running for the new 1st Congressional District seat, has proposed legislation that would bar employers from requesting Facebook password information.
According to the AP, Maryland, Illinois, and California have introduced similar proposals, although those bills only apply to public employers.
