Union creep raids Freedom Foundation lobby

It’s been a while since we last ridiculed the juvenile antics of the Northwest Accountability Project (NAP), a union-backed 501(c)(4) nonprofit devoted to, “shining a light on extremism and the moneyed special interests that attempt to bring an agenda of hate and division to Washington and Oregon.” It accomplishes these lofty goals largely by writing “mean tweets” about the Freedom Foundation.

This week, however, NAP really kicked it up a notch.

In the middle of the afternoon, NAP’s executive director/sole employee Peter Starzynski, (whose Twitter handle is, no joke, @Starz_InThe_Sky) decided to pay a visit to the Freedom Foundation’s Olympia office.

Casting furtive glances over his shoulder, Starzynski darted into the lobby, grabbed a bunch of publications from a display table and quickly made his escape, leaving Freedom Foundation staff dumbfounded as to why anyone in their right mind would make the four-hour-plus roundtrip drive from Portland to Olympia and back to steal the top-secret material we have sitting out for anyone to take.

The best part is that the whole episode was captured on film by the Freedom Foundation’s security system.

For verification purposes, here’s a photo of Starzynski wearing his trademark jeans and sport coat combo.

It’s too bad @Starz_InThe_Sky was too hurried to smile for the camera, but at least there’s #oneless dangerous Freedom Foundation publication out there to pollute the minds of the innocent.

Among other things, Starzinsky made off with a stack of flyers entitled, “10 Things to Ask SEIU,” which includes penetrating questions like:

• “Why hasn’t the union informed IPs of their right to choose for themselves whether to pay union dues under the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Harris v. Quinn?”
• “Why have union reps been caught on tape lying to IPs about their rights?”
• “Why are SEIU 775 dues higher than any other SEIU union in the Pacific northwest and twice as high as dues for state employees?”
• “Why did the union illegally conceal $1.4 million in political campaign contributions, leading to a $44,000 fine after it was sued by the state Attorney General?”

Perhaps, now that Starzynski has a copy of the flyer (available online here for literally anyone on earth), he can “shine a light” on the answers for us.

Starzynski also seemed especially interested in the Freedom Foundation donation envelopes. Of course we’d be happy to have his support but, for those wondering, it is possible to donate through our website; you don’t have to drive to Olympia and sneak envelopes from the lobby.
Stunts like this are pretty much par for the course with NAP.

Earlier this year, Spokesman-Review columnist Sue Lani Madsen wrote a blistering takedown of NAP, explaining:

In the eyes of the Northwest Accountability Project, those supporting a conservative worldview are extremists threatening ‘the middle class, our environment, our education, and personal freedom.’ Their website demands the ‘Freedom Foundation must reveal their true agenda and stop lying to the public.’
Here’s the irony. The Freedom Foundation is upfront about its true agenda to ‘reverse the stranglehold public-sector unions have on our government.’ It’s not hidden. You can find photos and contact information for all staff members on the organization’s website. They answer their phone. And they used to proudly post a list of trustees and major donors, until groups like the Northwest Accountability Project used it as a hit list…
It’s the ultimate irony. Finding anyone to hold accountable for the Northwest Accountability Project required digging into corporate registration records with the secretary of state. Only two names appear: Kevin Rudiger, research coordinator for the Service Employees International Union, and Andrew Biviano, an attorney who recently resigned as chairman of the Spokane County Democratic Party. The physical address matches Biviano’s work address.
Biviano was surprised to hear he was still listed, saying he has not been associated with the group since mid-2017. Phone calls to Rudiger and to the contact number for the Northwest Accountability Project were not returned, nor were emails.

Maybe next time Starzynski visits he’ll stick around for a chat. I’m sure we’d have a lot to talk about.

-- Maxford Nelsen, for the Freedom Foundation

WA Leg - End of session update

The Legislature adjourned Sine Die on Thursday, March 8. It was only the second time since 2009 the Legislature has adjourned on time. It was a fast and furious session – starting with a Hirst solution and passage of the capital budget in the first two weeks. The last few weeks were action-packed included some very interesting twists in the legislative plot. There are a number of issues to apprise you of in this email update. Let’s talk taxes first.

Property taxes

I am sure property owners have received their property tax statements by now, and there are likely some that are not happy or in a little bit of shock. Due to changes in state education funding, the McCleary fix, some are seeing substantial increases. The Legislature did pass property tax relief – but I am very disappointed on when and how much. Democrats decided to move the property tax relief to 2019. It may be difficult for many to even realize they are getting a property tax break by the time it kicks in. They also decided to use money that was supposed to go to our rainy day fund. Because they were not taking money out of the rainy day fund, they only needed a simple majority, rather than a super majority, to do it. Many of us question the constitutionality of the move.

I will remind you, I introduced House Bill 2303 at the beginning of session to reduce the property tax in 2018. We have been pushing for this since we arrived in January. With four years of record revenue increases we could have given some back this year! Since the operating budget was enacted last June, state revenue projections have increased by $2.7 billion. However, the majority party decided not to do that and instead played politics with a property tax break our taxpayers deserved, while increasing spending dramatically. I believe doing this will force a tax increase in 2019, very counterproductive to say the least.

You can watch comments I made to Q13 Fox TV in their story: Some lawmakers say property tax relief passed by lawmakers is not enough.

Operating budget

I voted against the operating budget, Senate Bill 6032. While we were able to defeat the carbon tax and a capital gains tax, the budget still increases spending substantially. Spending is up 16 percent over the last biennium. There was also no transparency in the budget process. Republicans were left out of the budget negotiations, and the budget was voted on before the ink was dry.

Tourism

After a lot of hard work, we were finally able to get a tourism bill through the Legislature. We passed Senate Bill 5251, the companion bill to my House Bill 1123, which puts a tourism marketing plan in place for the first time since 2011, when the statewide tourism office was cut out of the budget.

The bill directs 0.2 percent of retail sales taxes collected on lodging, car rentals, and restaurants, up to $1.5 million in 2019, and up to $3 million per biennium after 2019, to fund the implementation of the statewide tourism marketing plan. The bill would also require the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to evaluate the work of the WTMA.

It is a great return on investment and it is efficient. The private industry must put up two dollars for each dollar the state invests. This is a big win for our region and the tourism industry throughout Washington state.

 Rep. Cary Condotta

No choice for healthcare workers!

The Washington State legislature enacted a bill SB6699 to force home care workers to join the Service Employees International Union or not have a job. They don’t want heath care workers to have a choice – but they know they shouldn’t say that.  Washington State should have transparent government.  Forcing workers into secret, dues/bribery-paying, arrangements is the wrong way to go.

The bill is on Inslee's desk at the time of this writing  --  send the governor an email stating your opposition. This legislation has been in the works since 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Harris v. Quinn that “quasi-public” employees – like the home care workers in SEIU, many of whom take care of family members – cannot be forced to join a union or pay fees to one. They are free to leave SEIU entirely, which the union doesn’t like at all. SEIU has been working with Gov. Inslee’s office since 2014 to get around this freedom and lock workers back into the union.

All this is being done to keep a fat percentage of union dues money flowing into the hands of union bosses and crooked politicians.  Its as corrupt as things can get to be.  Unions no longer exist to advance the workers' causes, but to fatten the fats cats who run the unions and the corrupt politicians who enrich themselves off the public trust.