Legislative news:

►  In today's Columbian -- Budget cuts hinder clinic serving poor -- About 2,200 Clark County residents lost Basic Health coverage as a result of last year’s cuts. If the program for the working poor is eliminated, as it would be under Gov. Chris Gregoire’s all-cuts budget, another 4,500 county residents will lose coverage. “For Clark County, we are the safety net,” says the director of Vancouver’s Sea Mar Community Clinic. “We are just barely keeping our nostrils above water. You can’t keep increasing the volume and decreasing the funding. You have to reduce the number of people you can see. Who in that lobby do I point to and say, ‘Sorry, this door is closed to you’? We may end up doing that.”

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Will Chopp move to halt 520 construction? -- The House speaker has joined Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and others in objecting to the preferred replacement option for the 520 bridge. Gov. Chris Gregoire has said construction should begin as soon as possible because of safety concerns and to take advantage of one bonus of bad economic times -- low construction costs.

►  In today's (Everett) Herald -- "Roadkill caucus" seeks voice for centrist Democrats -- Frustrated that their ideas and voices are routinely mashed by the Legislature’s liberals and conservatives, about eight senators and 16 representatives are banding together. (Who are they, and what issues will they push? The article doesn't say.)

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- State must assure safety of its most vulnerable citizens (editorial) -- The ball's in the governor's court and the Legislature's to hold DSHS accountable and make sure the agency makes good on its promise to strengthen oversight of the adult family-home industry.

►  In today's Olympian -- Bill would spotlight money's role in politics (editorial) -- If you want to know how many times Boeing lobbyists have taken House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt (R-Chehalis) to dinner or how many times lobbyists for the state Labor Council have entertained Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia), you have to check individual lobbyists’ reports. That’s why the PDC is solidly in support of HB 1436, which would allow the state agency to develop a lobbyist database. It’s a good bill because it brings more transparency to the influence lobbyists have in the lawmaking process.

►  In today's Columbian -- State jobless benefits plan hurts employers, economy (Don Brunell column) -- To replenish the unemployment insurance fund, the state is increasing taxes on employers. Higher taxes make it harder for those employers to create jobs.

(Once again, our state's Chamber Boss dismisses the economic job-saving benefits of a system that pumped about $6.5 billion in spending onto Main Street in Washington. That money is not only keeping people from losing their homes, it is mitigating the harmful effects of recession by saving businesses and savings jobs, just as it was intended to do. As for the volatile spikes in employers unemployment insurance rates, you asked for this rate system, Mr. Brunell, and you got it -- despite labor's warnings that rates would skyrocket at the worst possible time, when employers are struggling and forced to lay off workers. So now it's all the guvmint's fault?!)

Local news:

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Rep. Dicks next in line for defense panel chairmanship -- With the death of Rep. John Murtha on Monday, Washington state Rep. Norm Dicks is likely to become chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending -- gaining power to direct the biggest discretionary purse in the federal budget. The new post would put Dicks, a fierce Boeing supporter, in charge of a subcommittee that will spend some $650 billion in fiscal 2010. 

►  In today's News Tribune -- It's Super Tuesday for the schools -- That crunching noise you hear? It’s the sound of knuckle-cracking, teeth-gnashing and other signs of anxiety as officials and citizens in school districts across the state await the results of today’s levy and bond elections. Local levies make up an estimated 20% of most school district operating budgets.

►  In today's (Everett) Herald -- Boeing hopeful as the 747-8 takes its first flight -- Tracy Anderson, who works in engine performance for Boeing, explained some of the 747-8's new features, including fuel-saving GEnx-2B engines and the 747-8's new wings are major draws for the jumbo jet's customers. “The freighter companies love this airplane,” he said.

►  In today's Spokesman-Review -- The high cost of free -- Local governments often turn to grants to supplement tight budgets, but Spokane County is so broke it can’t even afford “free” money. Facilities Director Ron Oscarson recently had to give back a $500,000 state grant to renovate the county courthouse because he couldn’t come up with $1 million in matching funds.

►  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Injunction granted in Hanford subcontracting dispute -- A federal judge has prohibited a Hanford subcontractor from hiring or even contacting employees of another company that has accused it of "hijacking" employees it found for Hanford jobs.

►  In today's Spokesman-Review -- BPA expects revenue drop -- The federal power marketing agency on Monday cut its revenue forecast for the fiscal year by about $240 million -- from nearly $232 million in net revenue by the end of the year to a $6 million loss.

Dysfunctional contest: Senate vs. NLRB

►  At Huffington Post -- Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson to filibuster key Obama NLRB nominee -- Says the Nebraska Democrat: "The nominee's statements fly in the face of Nebraska's Right to Work laws, which have been credited in part with our excellent business climate that has attracted employers and many good jobs to Nebraska. Considering these matters, I will oppose the upcoming cloture motion and the nomination."

►  From AP -- Vote on NLRB nominee first test of GOP's new power -- Republicans have held up Craig Becker's confirmation for months, saying they fear he will push a union agenda at the agency. A vote will finally occur today and Democrats appear to lack the 60 votes they need.

►  From AP -- Alabama senator releases hold on Obama nominees -- Sen. Dick Shelby (R-Ala.) had placed "holds" on 70 Obama nominees, delaying Senate action on them, because he wants the Air Force tanker contract and other federal spending in his state. His spokesperson says he has dropped the holds having succeeded in getting the White House's attention.

Health care crisis STILL not fixing itself:

►  In today's NY Times -- Bills stalled, hospitals fear rising unpaid care -- The cost of doing nothing translates into tens of billions of dollars each year in medical bills that go unpaid by patients with little or no insurance. Nationwide, the cost of unpaid care for hospitals, which includes charity care as well as money that could not be collected from patients, was around $36 billion in 2008. It is expected to spiral higher. The number of people without insurance in this country could increase to as high as 58 million by 2014, from about 49 million now.

►  In today's LA Times -- Obama official 'very disturbed' by California insurer's 39% rate hikes -- State regulators asked Anthem Blue Cross to delay its controversial rate increases, which have triggered widespread criticism from subscribers and brokers -- and now from the feds.

►  From AP -- GOP wary of pitfalls in Obama's health-care summit -- Even as Republicans publicly welcome President Obama's call for a bipartisan confab on health care, some privately worry that he might be laying a trap to portray their ideas as flimsy. If so, a shaky showing by GOP leaders could possibly embolden congressional Democrats to make a final, aggressive push to overhaul the nation's health care system, with or without any Republican votes.

►  In today's NY Times -- On health care, GOP's road is a new map -- They have ideas they say will make insurance more affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net. But it is not clear that Republicans and the White House are willing to negotiate with each other.

National news:

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- Judge to Pratt & Whitney: Keep Work in U.S. -- A federal court has issued an injunction against jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, preventing the company from moving work and equipment out of their Cheshire and East Hartford, Conn., plants and keeping 1,000 hourly and salaried workers on the job. Machinists District 26 had filed suit, saying the decision to move the work violated their contract. IAM officials say the union is gearing up for a fight to preserve these jobs in the next contract.

►  At Huffington Post -- What the iconic labor struggle at Hugo Boss means for our economic future (by Robert Creamer) -- Just after Christmas, Germany-based high-end apparel company Hugo Boss messengered pink slips to the 400 employees at its Cleveland manufacturing facility. The employees were told that they were being laid off and the plant was being closed. They were fired not because the company is unprofitable. The workers at the plant refused a company demand that their wages be cut by almost a third -- from $12 per hour to $8 and change.

►  In today's LA Times -- Ports of L.A., Long Beach expected to see imports surge -- Overall, imports into the nation's major container ports are forecast to rise 25% during the first six months of the year compared with the year-earlier period.