Legislative previews:  ▪  It's Time to "Get It Done!"  (WSLC Legislative Update newsletter, Jan. 5)
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Seeking solutions to the health-insurance quandary -- The state has expanded Medicaid coverage for poor children, helping to whittle down the number of uninsured kids. The number of uninsured adults, however, has risen in almost all age and income groups.
▪  In today's Olympian -- Lawmakers must show leadership (editorial) -- It's imperative that lawmakers live up to collective bargaining agreements that call for a 3.2% salary increase for public employees this year and a 2% pay raise next year (and no 2-month delay for nonunion workers).
▪  In the Kitsap Sun -- In Olympia, it's caution flags all the way on NASCAR track -- If there is a legislator willing to champion the cause, that legislator’s identity is a well-kept secret.
▪  Local legislators offer priorities -- Everett Herald (Haugen: transportation priorities must be "reracked") -- Kitsap Sun (Appleton targeting predatory payday lenders) -- (Longview) Daily News (Brown expects "incremental approach" on health care) -- Bellingham Herald (Brandland on health care reform: people need healthier lifestyles) -- The Olympian (wide-ranging Q&A with Gregoire) -- AP (kid-friendly session opens)

Local news:
▪  In the PSBJ -- Historical projects creates jobs -- Renovating historic buildings is more effective at generating jobs in Washington than the aerospace industry, according to a recent state study.
▪  In today's Olympian -- Low-premium health plan proves popular -- Nearly 12,000 state workers signed up for the low-premium, high-deductible health plans offered for the first time this year.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Alaskan Way Viaduct: Forcing resolution (editorial) -- We're not thrilled with either the tunnel or viaduct, but we are relieved Gregoire is doing something to force a resolution.
▪  In the PSBJ -- Skill shortages undermine state's economy (op-ed) -- What is the solution? A "career pathways" approach, coupled with efforts to increase the affordability of education.
▪  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Beyond "Washington Learns" (op-ed) -- Washington Learns threatens to turn the state's universities into vocational schools by expanding degrees in "high-demand fields" without accounting for the importance of liberal education.

National news: 
▪  In today's LA Times -- Wal-Mart to air ads in reply to attacks -- The retailer takes its case directly to the public in an ongoing battle with unions and other critics.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Health insurers deny policies in certain jobs -- Entire categories of workers -- including roofers, pro athletes, dockworkers, migrant workers and firefighters -- are turned down for individual coverage even if they are in good health and can afford coverage, according to the confidential underwriting guidelines of four California health plans.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Workplace deaths rose in 2005 with construction surge
▪  From AP -- Raytheon has begun replacing striking workers -- Raytheon Missile Systems has started replacing factory workers (IAM) in Tucson, Ariz., who went on strike two months ago.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Private firms lure executives with top pay -- Flush with hundreds of billions of dollars, private equity firms are beginning to offer compensation on a previously unimaginable scale to the chief executives who run the once-public companies that the firms have bought out.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Bush tax cuts offer most to very rich, study says -- Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the U.S.
▪  Today from AP -- Democrats look at tax cuts for middle class -- Democrats are not ruling out raising taxes for the wealthiest people to help pay for tax cuts for middle-income families.
▪  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Dicks takes helm of powerful House panel overseeing $23B budget