Legislative news:

►  In today's Olympian -- Focus turns to job creation -- To leave behind something that will be remembered more fondly than their budget work come Election Day, Democrats have given themselves a second mission for the overtime period that begins today: Create jobs in Washington. Among the proposals that remain on the table (which are all supported by the Washington State Labor Council): the Jobs Act of 2010 asking voters to create more than 30,000 construction jobs over six years by letting the state borrow $861 million for energy-efficient upgrades to public schools and colleges; the Working for Clean Water bill extending the tax on hazardous substances to clean up toxic pollution to also cover stormwater pollution cleanup and creating almost 16,000 jobs over the next 10 years; and a tax break for technology companies that build data centers to create jobs in hard-hit rural counties.

►  At Olympia Newswire -- State government size remains steady; rising costs the problem -- It’s the cost of government, not the size of it, that is out of control. The number of government employees in the state, as a percentage of the population, has remained relatively constant. 

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- State employee raises are on taxpayers' dime (guest column by Rep. Charles Ross) -- There are some state employees who will receive (step) pay raises at a time when hundreds of thousands of private-sector workers are losing their jobs. The Legislature should have made more realistic agreements with state employee unions.

►  In Sunday's News Tribune -- Privatizing liquor stores will help state budget (guest column by two Chamber guys) -- We are asking lawmakers to start efforts today to privatize this resource. There is little reason to conduct a lengthy study of this matter as there are already 42 other states that allow privately owned liquor stores. (The reason there is little reason to conduct a study is because this proposal has been studied to death over the past few decades and it never pencils out to be a cost-saver. And the potential downsides are considerable. Learn more.)

Health care news:

►  In today's Seattle Times -- House likely to pass health care this week -- White House officials predict that Obama's health-care initiative will pass the House this week, and warned Republicans if they make it an issue in November elections they do so at their political peril. "We're happy to have the 2010 elections be about the achievement of health-care reform," said the White House press secretary. "That's a debate I think we're obviously comfortable having."

►  In today's Washington Post -- Democratic leaders say health bill will pass -- Democratic leaders scramble to pull together enough support in the House for a make-or-break decision later this week, expressing optimism that a package will soon be signed into law by President Barack Obama despite a lack of firm votes for passage

►  In today's NY Times -- Millions spent to sway Democrats on health care -- The yearlong fight is drawing to a frenzied close as a multimillion-dollar wave of advertising, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that rivals the ferocity of a presidential campaign and takes aim at about 40 House Democrats whose votes will determine the fate of health care reform.

►  In the Olympian -- Health bill may not stick, says Rep. Adam Smith -- If a health care bill passes Congress, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith worries that people will pick apart what it doesn't do rather than what it does. The lawmaker says he’s worried that supporters could be voted out of office and the health care plan could be overturned in a new Congress. 

(Dear Rep. Smith: Please stop worrying about politics and elections, and vote based on the courage of your convictions. The current health care system is killing Americans and killing American jobs. Fix it!)

Boeing news:

►  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Boeing-funded study of tanker jobs doesn't add up -- The report claims a Boeing tanker would create as many as 71,000 "new U.S. jobs," but a footnote makes clear that this number is arrived at by adding up the number of one-year, full-time jobs over the contract's 18 years. Boeing could do that by hiring just 3,900 people on the program and keeping them employed for 18 years.

►  In the Seattle Times -- FAA requires inspections of 600 737s -- Its emergency airworthiness directive requiring checks of a mechanism that controls the flap on the 737s' horizontal tails.

Local news:

►  In the Tri-City Herald -- La Clinica settles over union complaints -- The clinic announced this week that it has settled with the NLRB after an investigation of OPEIU 8's allegations that La Clinica threatening employees with firings or layoffs if they didn't agree to reduce or eliminate benefits or get rid of the union and other unfair labor practices. "We found merit to a number of the allegations and (La Clinica) agreed to settle," said the NLRB's regional director.

►  In the Tri-City Herald -- Tri-City hospitals nearing capacity -- Tri-Citians can expect to see longer waits for health care or will need to travel outside the area for care as local hospitals are filled to capacity, and expansion may be years away.

►  In today's Columbian -- Heck "choked up" over Baird endorsement -- U.S. Rep. Brian Baird ended his silence Saturday on which candidate he favors to succeed him, endorsing Democrat Denny Heck for the 3rd Congressional District seat he is vacating after six terms.

National news:

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- AFGE's TSO election petition moving quickly -- Even though the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has not been confirmed, AFGE is moving ahead quickly with its plans, seeking an election so transportation security officers can join a union. On Feb. 22, AFGE filed a petition with the FLRA for an election to allow the 41,000 TSOs to vote on union representation. In 2003, the Bush administration stripped the workers of collective bargaining rights. (Also see Dec. 17 posting: "Family of labor" backs SeaTac Airport TSOs.")

►  In today's LA Times -- SAG's board makes peace with AFTRA -- Hollywood's two actors unions have officially ended their two-year feud. The Screen Actors Guild board of directors voted Saturday by a ratio of 78% to 22% to revive a joint bargaining agreement with its smaller rival, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

►  Today from AP -- Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs -- For decades, Social Security has collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits. Not anymore. This year the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes -- nearly $29 billion more. But the federal government borrowed from the program's nest egg to spend on other programs, leaving behind IOUs that must now be paid.