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PRESS RELEASE
 May 26, 1999
New poll reveals growing support for paycheck protection OLYMPIA - A recent survey of Washington state residents conducted in mid-May reveals that 84 percent favor requiring unions to obtain permission from their members before spending dues money on political campaigns. Moore Information Public Opinion Research conducted the random survey of 500 Washington state residents on May 17 and 18. The survey was commissioned by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and has a 3 to 5 percent margin of error. The survey results demonstrate that more people support paycheck protection than in 1992 when 72 percent of Washington state voters approved Initiative 134, making the state the first in the nation with a law requiring unions obtain permission from their members before spending dues money on politics. The study also revealed that 78 percent of Washington state residents believe unions should be required to disclose political expenditures made with member dues money. The survey findings come as the State of Washington (ex rel. Evergreen Freedom Foundation and Teachers for a Responsible Union) wraps up its case against the Washington Education Association to force the union to disclose political expenditures as a political action committee. Closing arguments in State of Washington (ex rel. EFF and TRU) vs. WEA will be heard Thursday in Thurston County Superior Court beginning at 9 a.m. in Judge Thomas McPhee’s courtroom. The lawsuit marks the first time that an individual or group has sued a union to prove that it is a PAC. Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
