Legislative news: 

►  Today from AP -- Stimulus highway funds are in high gear -- With lawmakers eager to start spending the about $340 million in "use it or lose it" money on projects across the state, the House and Senate quickly approve the highway stimulus plan and send it to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign HB 1978 into law this afternoon and start the money flowing. (Also see stimulus coverage in the Everett Herald and the Spokesman-Review -- for airport expansion.)

►  In today's Seattle Times -- State Senate OKs tunnel to replace Alaskan Way viaduct -- The Senate votes 43-4 for the $4.2 billion tunnel after a short debate. Now it goes to the House, where its future is less certain. House Speaker Frank Chopp supports an elevated highway structure instead of a tunnel, but has not yet said whether he will block the tunnel bill.

►  In TheOlympian -- Make that, require teachers to consider efficiencies -- The bill requiring teachers to buy health insurance through the state employee system has been amended in a "study bill" to look for ways to reduce K-12 health costs.

►  In today's Olympian -- DSHS to eliminate 120 positions -- The largest state agency issues layoff notices to 120 workers, a sample of what could come as the recession drains the state budget.

►  In today's Seattle P-I -- Take off the mask, Governor (Joe Copeland column) -- The Legislature has been at work almost two months. Eventually, lawmakers will make real decisions about the budget. Perhaps Gov. Chris Gregoire would finally like to put down the chain saw, remove the Dino Rossi fright mask and do some constructive work on the budget?

Health Care news: 

►  In today's Washington Post -- In Obama health plan, industry sees good business -- Obama's gambit to dramatically expand the health-care system has attracted surprising notes of support from insurers, hospitals and other players in the powerful medical lobby who will participate in a White House summit on the issue today. The lure for the industry is the prospect of tens of millions of new customers: If Obama succeeds in fulfilling his pledge to cover more Americans, those newly insured people will get checkups, purchase medicine, undergo physical therapy and get surgeries they cannot afford today.

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- One-third of Americans went without health care in past 2 years -- Nearly 87 million people -- more than one-third all Americans under age 65 -- were without health insurance for at least part of the past two years. Most of the uninsured came from working families. This compelling new evidence on the need for comprehensive health care reform, including coverage for all, is contained in a new report by Families USA.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Helping laid-off workers pay for health insurance (column) -- Nationally, to maintain single coverage, the average unemployed worker would need to spend 30% of his or her unemployment insurance check on COBRA premiums, or nearly 84% to pay for COBRA family coverage. The new law allows eligible terminated employees enrolled in their employer's health plan to get a subsidy to help fund the cost. This has been set at 35% of your COBRA payment, for up to nine months. Employers will pay the remaining 65% and recoup that money by applying for a credit on their quarterly federal employment tax return. 

Local news:

►  In today's Columbian -- County revenue dwindles, more cuts possible -- With the equivalent of 1,684 full-time employees, county government is the Clark County’s 4th-largest employer. Commissioners have already cut staff by about 8% but more cuts may be needed.

►  At SPEEA.org -- Boeing engineers in Wichita vote today on contract, strike authorization -- The SPEEA negotiation team recommends "no" on the contract and "yes" on strike authorization. The company’s offer is in stark contrast to the contract negotiated and approved in December by engineers in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah. Wichita engineers were offered salary raise pools 40% lower than their counterparts at the other locations.

►  In today's Seattle P-I -- McClatchy says Seattle Times stake worth zero -- The Times is trying to cut costs wherever it can. The newspaper has asked its unions to cut wages and benefits by 12% over the next two years to stave off having to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

►  In today's Daily News -- Longview Police Guild contract headed to arbitration -- The three-year contract’s sticking points are wages and benefits. The big question is how much of a pay increase the arbitrator will grant union members, considering the state of the economy.

Employee Free Choice Act news:

►  In today's the Hill -- Union official: Al Franken is 60th vote on EFCA -- He could be the missing piece of the puzzle for passage of the labor movement’s No. 1 legislative priority this Congress. Once seated, the Democratic Minnesota Senate candidate would be the 60th vote for cloture in the Senate on the Employee Free Choice Act.

►  At WashingtonPost.com -- AFL-CIO says card-check is imminent -- Buttressed by a new statement of support from Obama, union leaders say they are confident the Employee Free Choice Act would be introduced in Congress in the next few weeks and that they had the 60 votes needed to break a Senate filibuster -- that is, if Al Franken is seated.

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- One in four chance U.S. workers will be fired when forming a union -- Every time workers try to exercise their freedom to form a union, there’s a better than one-in-four chance that a worker will be illegally fired as a result, says a new report released Wednesday.

►  At Huffington Post -- Gingrich joins Big Business "horror movie" attacks against EFCA -- The way business leaders and GOP allies like Gingrich tell it, the EFCA is an evil plot to destroy the economy and take away workers' rights to a secret ballot. It's painted as the equivalent of a "nuclear war" that will lead to the "demise of a civilization." But a new report shows why the bill is needed: the chances are one in four that a worker seeking to organize a union will get fired.

National news: 

►  From Workday Minnesota -- AFL-CIO backs reunification talks with Change to Win -- An AFL-CIO statement has given the green light to ongoing talks designed to reunify the nation’s competing union federations. As approved by the AFL-CIO Executive Council in Miami Wednesday, the statement says “now is the time to bring the union movement back together.” But the devil is in the details, especially the hurdles reunification must leap.

►  Today from AP -- Jobless claims fall more than expected -- The number of new jobless claims and the total number of people receiving benefits both dropped unexpectedly last week, though they remain at elevated levels unlikely to fall substantially in the coming months.

►  In today's LA Times -- Northrop plans to lay off up to 750 workers -- The aerospace company is consolidating administrative staffs in Redondo Beach and El Segundo, but still has more than 850 open positions for skilled, technical jobs.