Health care news:

►  In today's NY Times -- Governors fear costs in health plan -- The nation’s governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voice deep concern about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them. “As a governor, my concern is that if we try to cost-shift to the states we’re not going to be in a position to pick up the tab,” says Gov. Chris Gregoire.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Obama to "take the baton" -- With skepticism about Obama's health-care reform effort mounting on Capitol Hill, the White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to dramatically increase public pressure on Congress: all Obama, all the time.

►  In today's NY Times -- White House less firm on date for health care bill -- Budget director appears to soften on the administration’s insistence that a reform bill be delivered by August.

►  In today's Washington Post -- The cost of taxing benefits (op-ed by president of AFL-CIO and American Benefits Council) -- One of the persistent misconceptions about the "tax-favored treatment" of employer-sponsored coverage is that it leads to overconsumption of health services. With rising health costs burdening businesses and families alike, does anyone really believe that employers or workers lack incentive to hold down costs? The tax treatment of health benefits no more contributes to high health-care costs than the deduction for mortgage interest is responsible for housing costs. Clearly, both are affected by far more complex factors.

►  In today's NY Times -- Costs and benefits (editorial) -- The bills do an excellent job of providing insurance for the uninsured, but Congress must address the rising cost of health care itself.

Legislative news: 

►  See the 2009 WSLC Legislative Report and Voting Record summarizing this year's session and outlining the WSLC's new strategy for political endorsements and advocacy.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Unions ask: Who has the guts to stand up to Boeing, big business? -- Washington state's unions are teaming to support politicians who will fight for worker rights and stand up to big business. The unions include the two largest private-sector unions in the state -- UFCW Local 21 and IAM District 751 -- which have a combined membership close to 70,000. The unions have beef with state Democrats, whom they say have kowtowed to business priorities over workers.

►  At TheOlympian.com -- Labor forms "Don't Invest in More Excuses" PAC -- Business groups cleaned organized labor's clock in the 2009 session. Looks like the unions, bruised and presumably smarter for the beating, are going to get off the mat and get even, or at least quit blindly supporting Democrats. The Washington State Labor Council issued its report on an "unfriendly labor climate," playing off the stock claim of business groups that Washington has an "unfriendly business climate."

►  At TheNewsTribune.com -- Labor will pick, choose own candidates in wake of '09 session -- UFCW Local 21 and IAM District 751: "The DIME PAC is a way for unions to be able to control how and where our political contributions are spent. Up until now we have often given money to the Democratic Party’s various political funds, and then the Party leadership has determined who gets it or how it should be spent. It has proven to be a failed model."

►  In the Olympian -- State jobs cuts defended -- One job-cuts critic tells a legislator that the state would save a bit more than $1 million with the cuts at the DSHS Office of Financial Recovery while losing more than $50 million in overpayments that won’t get collected. DSHS's chief financial officer says the risk of such a shortfall is real, but he doesn’t think it will happen. 

►  In the Everett Herald -- Feds look like they'll snub state's education requests -- Washington will likely come away with zilch in the first round. Why? Duncan intends to reward states allowing and encouraging charter schools, offering merit pay for teachers and gathering data to track student performance with instructors deserve reward. Washington does none of those things.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- State Rep. Mark Ericks nominated to be U.S. marshal -- Sen. Murray has submitted his name and Obama’s staff will check his background before forwarding his name to the U.S. Senate for confirmation hearings. The process could stretch into next year.

Local news:

►  In the PS Business Journal -- South Carolina might have allure for Boeing, but charms are limited (if you can't read it, email us for a copy) -- Despite a growing manufacturing base, the Charleston region lacks the depth of engineering experience, education and supplier infrastructure that has grown up with Boeing over its 93-year history. The area is good for low-cost assembly, but perhaps is not quite ready to host more of Boeing’s commercial airplane division. (But) South Carolina is a right-to-work state, and that may become a carrot for Boeing that will override any of the area’s shortcomings.

►  In the Bellingham Herald -- BPA proposal looks like it will keep Intalco smelter going -- The path to continued operation of Alcoa Intalco Works and its 500 jobs appears almost clear after the BPA announced the framework for a long-awaited power supply deal with the smelter. "We believe this framework gives us the opportunity to survive," says the plant manager.

►  In the Tri-City Herald -- Strategic Composites looks at putting plant in Tri-Cities -- The firm has scratched plans to manufacture wind turbine blades in Dayton at a plant employing up to 600 and says now it's looking to run two plants in Moses Lake and possibly one in the Tri-Cities.

National news: 

►  In today's Wall St. Journal -- Labor Department nominees signal more regulation -- Obama's choice of a longtime union official and mine-safety advocate to head the federal mine-safety agency is the latest in a string of appointments that signal stepped-up regulation.

►  In today's LA Times -- Highway spending isn't stimulus it was envisioned to be -- As of July 10, more than 3,600 of the 5,600 road projects approved by Washington, DC -- including six of the 10 largest approved projects -- had not been given the green light to start construction.

►  In today's LA Times -- Port "casuals" have sinking feeling amid cargo woes -- Facing steep declines in maritime trade, waterfront work has dwindled, leaving "casual workers," nonunion workers designated to take jobs unfilled by the ILWU, "a few steps away from the poorhouse."

►  In the USA Today -- Hispanic worker deaths up 76% since 1992 -- The number of Hispanic workers who die on the job has risen, even as the overall number of workplace deaths has declined, according to federal statistics. Lack of training, poor communication skills and exploitation of workers also lead to accidents and deaths, says an AFL-CIO representative.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Outside world turns blind eye to North Korea's hard-labor camps -- Some 200,000 political prisoners are estimated to be in the camps, eating a diet of mostly corn and salt, they lose their teeth, their gums turn black, their bones weaken and, as they age, they hunch over at the waist. Most work 12- to 15-hour days until they die of malnutrition-related illnesses, usually around the age of 50. The camps are not much of an issue for the American public, although annotated images of them can be quickly called up on Google Earth and even though they have existed for half a century, 12 times as long as the Nazi concentration camps and twice as long as the Soviet Gulag. Although precise numbers are impossible to obtain, hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have died in the North Korean camps. 

Employee Free Choice Act: 

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- Sweeney: We'll win fight for labor law reform --  Despite speculative news reports, momentum for real labor law reform is still going strong, and we can still be optimistic that a bill will be signed into law this year giving workers -- not their bosses -- the choice about how to form a union.  Speaking to The Real News during the America’s Future Now! conference last month, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney discussed the EFCA and described how growing corporate abuses have betrayed the purpose of the National Labor Relations Act. 

►  In Sunday's St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times -- EFCA provides welcome reforms for labor (editorial) -- A group of senators supportive of the labor movement smartly dropped the card-check provision. Now the bill is expected to include a provision directing that union elections be held within five or 10 days after at least 30% of workers sign union cards. Shortening the time for an election would prevent employers from spending weeks inundating workers with antiunion messages and threats. This seems like a reasonable middle ground. As amended, the EFCA will give workers a fairer opportunity to organize and bargain collectively.