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PRESS RELEASE
 December 29, 2000
EFF calls for thorough investigation of WEA Organization runs ads in major dailies around state Fearing another backroom settlement negotiation between the Attorney General and Washington Education Association officials in a recent campaign finance lawsuit, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation has taken out ads in major dailies around the state calling for a thorough investigation and a stiff penalty against the union. This is the AG’s second lawsuit against the teachers’ union for campaign finance violations. The first, in 1998, was settled behind closed doors and didn’t stop union officials from using teachers’ mandatory dues for politics without permission. Although the union was penalized, union officials paid the fine with teachers’ dues and continued with business as usual. An EFF investigation in June revealed that union officials were again violating the law. This time the WEA is in trouble for using the fees of non-member teachers to influence elections. "Union officials have proven they’re more interested in their own political agenda than serving teachers or obeying the law," said Jami Lund, a program manager at EFF. "That’s why we’re alerting the public with a statewide information campaign and asking people to let the AG know we expect her to take these violations against teachers seriously." The ads appear today. For more information, visit www.defendteachers.org. 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..." |
