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Washington State
Labor Council, AFL-CIO
a weekly report on the 2003 session
(Previous
editions)
FRIDAY, MARCH 14 (download and print a PDF version of this newsletter)
Just when you thought the "competitiveness" rhetoric that substitutes for honest debate in Olympia couldn't get any more simplistic and vacuous, the right-wing extremists who have seized control of this state's Republican Party lower the bar again. Now the Mother of All Talking Points is "job-killer."
Minimum wage? "Job-killer." Prescription drug bill? "Job-killer." Ergonomic safety rule? "Job-killer." Injured worker benefits? "Job-killer." Unemployment benefits for people whose jobs have been killed? "Job-killer."
Business lobbyists got the "job-killing" memo, too. In fact, they probably wrote it.
Building Industry Association of Washington literature calls L&I's proposed workers' comp premium increases "job-killers." The Association of Washington Business actually has a website that includes a list of "job-killer" bills—ranging from HB 1428 raising certification standards for electricians to HB 1830 requiring Wal-Mart and other large companies with employees on the state's Basic Health Plan to partially reimburse the state. (The site's JobMaker® bills include SB 5161 repealing the ergonomics rule. How many jobs do ya think will be created by repealing a workplace safety rule that isn't even being enforced yet?)
HB 1869 is a common-sense bill sponsored by Rep. Jim McIntire (D-Seattle) to require independent performance audits of the more than 400 tax exemptions on the state's books. Deciding which tax breaks work is an obvious response to public outcry for government efficiency and accountability for how it spends our money. Under the bill, a citizens' commission would analyze tax breaks at least once every 10 years to see if the corporate lobbyists' job-creation and job-maintenance promises are kept. The commission would recommend which tax breaks should stay and which are a waste of taxpayer dollars. It would still be up to the legislature whether to repeal them or not.
The bill passed the House Finance Committee on a strict party-line vote Monday. Which means, it's likely to pass the House along similar lines, and then never even get a hearing in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 25-24 majority.
Why? It's a "job-killer."
"This bill would kill jobs," says Rep. Jack Cairnes (R-Covington), the Finance Committee's ranking minority member who retained his seat last fall by a full 90 votes. Then he unleashes the final rhetorical nail in his argument, saying our state's businesses shouldn't have their special tax breaks subjected to the whims of "a huge liberal committee."
As a public service, let's give Cairnes the benefit of the doubt and explain his argument in detail not always available in media coverage (although that consideration deserves to be forfeited for his lame invocation of the L-word). Some businesses decide where they will move or whether they will stay based on what incentives they are offered by competing state governments. In order to promote economic development, Washington can't afford to have its hands tied by a citizens commission when it offers tax breaks with no strings attached. Even though that panel would not have the authority to revoke a tax break, the mere public pressure their analyses might generate constitutes an unacceptable challenge of state legislators' authority. It is, therefore, "a job-killer."
How's this for a sound bite? "Bulls---."
The truth is, now that budget times are tight and the public trough cannot be lapped at so easily, even business lobbyists are conceding they should be accountable for their promises. Last year on a 91-7 vote, the House passed a tax break aimed at saving Goodrich, which at the time employed 2,000 workers in Washington, some $500,000 annually. What was unique—perhaps even unprecedented—about the bill is that the company would have to report back to the legislature in three years what they did with the money and justify the tax break's reauthorization.
Prominent business lobbyist Steve Gano told the Everett Herald, "If we can’t convince the Legislature that we did some good with that, then we don’t deserve it."
This year, semiconductor companies in Clark County are pushing HB 1751, a tax break with accountability strings attached. They include an annual report available to the public on wages and benefits of the jobs created, and a sunset on the tax break when the legislature's fiscal committees must report on its effectiveness.
The strings now willingly sought by business interests are exactly what McIntire's HB 1869 seeks. To argue against the bill is to say that every single one of the 400 tax breaks, including the infamous bull semen (not censored!) exemption, is more important than the Basic Health Plan, or services for the developmentally disabled, or nursing home assistance or foster care funding, all of which are victimized in the governor's extreme all-cuts budget proposal.
When somebody gets a tax break, everybody else picks up the slack. That includes the businesses that apparently don't merit special treatment, but more often than not, it means you and me.
It's time for someone to stand up and say, "If businesses don't want to be here unless we absolve them of their responsibility to be good citizens and neighbors, which includes paying their fair share of taxes, then good riddance."
Well, now someone has.
As for all this "job-killer" nonsense, it's more than just an irritating way to evade defending your position on important issues. It's a cynical calculated attempt to play on the fears of all of us who have watched our job security vanish in this Bush economy. The right-wing agenda to privatize government services, deregulate business, shift the tax burden from businesses to individuals and destroy unions hasn't changed for a century. But now it's cloaked in language designed to instill fear in working people.
Anybody who reads the newspaper knows what really killed the jobs in this state and nation: corporate greed and corruption that has decimated the stock market, destroyed the retirement savings for millions and extended a national recession. That and a minority president so out-of-touch with the lives and struggles of everyday working (and not-working) people that what passes for his economic policy is more massive tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy.
Meanwhile, Bush's latest project, "mini-lateral" preemptive war, is not only tearing this country and the international community apart, it is preventing an economic recovery that could put some of us back to work. The airline industry crippled by the 9-11 terrorist attacks says war may doom the industry. Now that's a job killer, especially in Washington.
Here's a final sobering thought: By the time you get our next Legislative Update that war is likely to have begun.
What happened this week
Now that we've gotten that off our collective chest, little space remains for Legislative Updating. So here are some quick bullets on this week's developments (get more detail on a daily basis at www.wslc.org):
SB 5971, closing Fircrest School, passed the Senate Friday afternoon on a 36-13 vote (roll call not available at press time) after being unanimously approved Monday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The WSLC joins the Washington Federation of State Employees in opposing this closure that would unnecessarily disrupt the lives of developmentally disabled citizens.
SB 5697, freezing the minimum wage (and defying voters), passed 25-24 in the Senate on Wednesday. As reported earlier this week, three Democrats—Sens. Marilyn Rasmussen, Jim Hargrove and Tim "Call Me Maverick" Sheldon—sided with majority Republicans in support, and three Republicans—Sens. Pam Roach, Shirley Winsley and Luke Esser—broke with their caucus and voted no. The other two bills attacking the minimum wage, SB 5768 (tip credit) and SB 5681 (freeze with a teenage sub-minimum and living wage ordinance ban), could be voted upon at any time.
SB 5378, slashing workers' compensation benefits, also passed 25-24 Wednesday on a party-line vote, except GOP Sen. Shirley Winsley voted no and Tim "Maverick Like James Garner, Not Mel Gibson" Sheldon voted yes.
SB 5728, an omnibus tort reform bill that includes the "worker blacklisting" language, passed Friday by a 28-21 vote. This would grant legal immunity to employers who show reckless disregard for the truth when providing negative references about former employees.
HB 1777, implementing the Home Care Worker Contract, passed from House Appropriations on a strong bipartisan vote 19-6 on Wednesday and is ready for floor action.
HB 1065, the apprenticeship utilization bill, has passed two committee votes and faced possible House floor action today, but no word at press time.
SB 5904, the pharmaceutical industry placebo bill, is also expected to come up for a Senate vote at any time. This bill would do nothing to assist the people of this state in dealing with the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
The next cutoff is Wednesday, March 19
The next cutoff is Wednesday, March 19. (Is there an echo in here?) Bills not related to the budget must have passed the house of origin by 5 p.m. that day. It's a pretty safe bet that a flurry of floor action will happen in the hours leading up to that cutoff, so next week we should be able to offer a more comprehensive roundup of bill status.
PREVIOUS EDITIONS of the WSLC Legislative Update:
March 7 -- What a Difference a House Makes
Feb. 21 -- Workplace safety in jeopardy (re: BIAW ergo initiative, blocking WISHA inspections)
Feb. 14 -- MORE business tax breaks?! (re: digging a deeper budget hole with no accountability)
Feb. 7 -- Commerce and ANTI-Labor? (re: workers' comp, minimum wage and transportation)
Feb. 3 -- Now is the time... to pay less? (re: workers' comp and minimum wage)
Jan. 24 -- Drug bill off to a strong start; competagogues go after ergonomics rule again
Jan. 17 -- It's the Economy, Stupid! (re: "competagogues" and Washington's business environment)
Jan. 10 -- A Question of Priorities (re: explosion of corporate influence on government)
Copyright © 2003 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO