#Washington house of representatives

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

WA Senate passes bill to bar hiring discrimination for cannabis use

BY CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE

Washington employers would be prohibited from refusing to hire a potential worker solely because of a drug test showing they had used cannabis under a bill that passed the state Senate on Wednesday.

Washington voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012 through Initiative 502. More than a decade later, though, as more states have moved to legalize the drug, Washington employers can still screen out applicants who use cannabis.

If Senate Bill 5123 becomes law, Washington would join several other states that have enacted laws shielding employees from workplace penalties for off-duty cannabis use. The bill passed the state Senate on a 28-21 vote Wednesday, sending it to the House for further consideration.

In 2019, Nevada became the first state to stop employers from rejecting an applicant because of a drug test showing cannabis use. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill barring discrimination in hiring, firing and other conditions of employment if a worker uses cannabis while off duty.

The Washington bill’s sponsor, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, introduced a similar proposal last year, but it didn’t get to the floor for a vote. Washington’s bill only covers drug tests before hiring, Keiser said. An employer could still test you for cannabis once you have a job, and could still make a hiring decision based on a drug test that doesn’t include cannabis.

“If your employer wants to test you every week after you’re hired, they’re still able to do that,” Keiser said. “This is simply opening the front door of getting into a job. Because too many people who see that they have to take a drug test to even apply, don’t even apply.”

Certain jobs are excluded from the bill, including in the airline and aerospace industries and those requiring a federal background investigation or security clearance. Employers could still screen workers for cannabis after an accident or if they suspect impairment on the job.

Thanks to an amendment from Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, the bill also excludes professions where impairment on the job means “substantial risk of death.”

A central challenge in regulating cannabis use in the workplace is that a test that measures impairment from the drug is not yet available. That poses a problem especially for workers and employers who are subject to federal regulations, including through contracts with the federal government or because workers must have commercial driver’s licenses.

Burl Bryson, executive director of The Cannabis Alliance, told lawmakers in a public hearing Jan. 10 that potential candidates can consume cannabis legally “and still test positive for weeks later.”

“If the same approach were applied to alcohol, employers would refuse employment to anyone who enjoyed a beer or glass of wine on the weekend,” Bryson said.

“It simply doesn’t make sense to base an employment decision on that kind of unreliable outcome and test,” Keiser said on the Senate floor just before the vote Wednesday.

The bill had drawn some opposition from business lobbyists, who expressed worries about employers’ responsibility for safety problems in the workplace.

Bob Battles, general counsel and government affairs director for the Association of Washington Business, which has 7,000 members including major employers Boeing and Microsoft, said Wednesday the organization shifted to a more neutral position, citing changes clarifying that it covered only preemployment screening, as well as King’s amendment to exclude positions where impairment could be deadly.

[its-murderous-business]

Has anyone done this yet

[kiralou02]

A small boy asks his Dad, "Daddy, what is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me Capitalism.

Your mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government.

We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the People.

The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class.

And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future.

Now, think about that and see if that makes sense." So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. The little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father having sex with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in Deep Shit."

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[nando161mando]

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is another great column by Dana Milbank about how Republicans are now mimicking Trump as they circle the wagons to protect him, how they are “weaponizing” the power of the House to try to interfere with Trump’s indictment, and how they are pursuing ridiculous “investigations” with their new House majority. 

The link above is a gift 🎁link, so you can read the entire article, even if you do not subscribe to The Washington Post.  Below are some excerpts on how Republicans are imitating Trump in his defense:

It’s no surprise that House Republicans leaped to Donald Trump’s defense after news of his indictment broke late Thursday. What was striking, though, was how many elected GOP officials now sound like Trump.

“Political Persecution,” Trump alleged in his statement.

“Political persecution,” parroted Reps. Diana Harshbarger (Tenn.), John Brecheen (Okla.), Claudia Tenney (N.Y.), and Paul Gosar (Ariz.).

“Blatant Election Interference,” Trump announced.

“This is unprecedented election interference,” echoed GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.).

“An attempt to interfere in our Presidential election,” echoed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).

“Witch hunt,” complained Trump.

“Witch hunt,” repeated Reps. George Santos (N.Y.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and more, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.).

“Weaponizing our justice system,” Trump inveighed.

“Weaponizing,” chorused Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Reps. David Rouzer (N.C.), Austin Scott (Ga.), Rich McCormick (Ga.) and more.

Trump blamed George Soros. Reps. Wesley Hunt (Tex.), Mike Johnson (La.), Harshbarger, Gosar and Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) blamed Soros.

They aped Trump in other ways, too.

In their vulgarity:

“Enough of this witch hunt bulls---,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.)

“This is complete and utter bulls---,” asserted Rep. Brian Mast (Fla.).

In using ALL CAPS:

“WITCH HUNT!” screamed Rep. Ronny Jackson (Tex.) and “Alvin Bragg is a NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT.”

In demanding vengeance:

“Hunter Biden: Call your lawyers,” suggested Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.).

“The House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account,” declared McCarthy.

“When Trump wins, THESE PEOPLE WILL PAY!!” tweeted Jackson.

In voicing deep-state conspiracy theories:

“The Regime occupying our country and systematically killing America is most afraid of President Donald J. Trump,” warned Gosar.

And in stoking paranoia among the unstable:

“If they can come for him, they can come for anyone,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.). [emphasis added]

Most prominent Republicans today seem to have no shame. Unless they are stupid, they have to know that Trump is guilty as sin of not only the Stormy Daniels payoff but of all the other charges being considered in Georgia and by the DOJ. 

But they don’t care.

Winning is everything for them, no matter the cost to their integrity.

[thoughtsafter3am]

The Speaker of the House vote almost ended in fisticuffs between Florida rep Matt Gaetz (🤢) and Alabama rep Mike Rogers so the current state of US politics has less of a professional decorum vibe and more of an MTV’s Floribama Shore one.

So it’s safe to say that we should change the US national anthem to Entrance of the Gladiators or some other circus music because we are truly a country of clowns. 🤡

[xtruss]

Behind Maui Wildfires: US is Never a Positive Agent in Climate Change Fight

— Anthony Moretti | August 16, 2023

Illustration: Xia Qing/Global Times

Maui, one of the most awe-inspiring places on Earth, has been devastated. Horrible fires - exacerbated by increasing temperatures and drought associated with climate change - have turned this paradise into something resembling a war zone. The pictures do not lie.

Fair or not, because climate change showed up in such a brutal way on Maui, a place the rich (and perhaps not so rich) consider one of their playgrounds, the challenge to re-create paradise will be carefully watched. Much like the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, damaged by fire more than four years ago, it has to be repaired perfectly - because global audiences are demanding it - Maui will have to be made perfect, or as close to it, because global eyes are watching.

This is the short-term problem: Make Maui great again. And compared to the long-term problem, it will be the easier one to handle. The more vexing, time-consuming and difficult challenge is combating climate change, and there is legitimate worry across the globe that the US is not committed to addressing it.

Unfortunately, President Joe Biden and his administration are not doing enough to be a force for good as burning wildfires and intense heat continue to define the summer of 2023. Yes, his administration has committed $370 billion to clean energy and other climate-supporting projects, which have also spurred job growth. On top of that, one of the more symbolic, but important, steps the White House recently took was sending climate envoy John Kerry to China. There, he examined with Chinese officials a variety of ways the two countries can ensure a safer climate for decades to come.

Yet, Biden has not used his so-called Bully Pulpit, the power that comes with being president and therefore framing the narrative on specific issues, to spur oil companies to do the right thing. A recent New York Times editorial called out big oil for "prioritizing dividends, share buybacks and continued fossil fuel production over increasing their clean energy investments" as this fact "suggests they are unable or unwilling to power the transition forward." Audiences must ask if those words "unable or unwilling" also apply to the president: Why is he not saying forcefully and often that oil companies must champion newer and cleaner energies? If he will not demand more, then who will? And if he will not do it now, then what will the ramifications be in the years to come?

And remember that there are darker clouds on the horizon. On the one hand, results from a recent Pew Research Center poll indicate Americans are aware of the problems associated with climate change and the opportunities the US could take to address it. However, almost one-in-three respondents still wanted the US to continue investing in what can be described in 20th century energy sources such as oil and coal.

Let's take these somewhat sanitary data and summarize them this way: Should Republicans are given the majority in the House of Representatives and Senate in 2024, the US will not be at the epicenter in the fight for a healthier, greener and sustainable planet.

With Republicans running Washington, the aforementioned climate envoy John Kerry will be sent into retirement. The global community, including organizations such as the United Nations, will be laughed at when it calls on the US to engage in meaningful conversations about the climate.

Not possible? It is definitely possible. Forget for a moment whether Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. Keep in mind that he maintains a vise-like hold on the party; even if someone else is chosen to challenge President Biden in the general election, no Republican who hopes to maintain his or her political power can stray from Trump's beliefs. And one of those beliefs is that climate change is nonsense.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that climate change is real and is causing havoc across the globe and despite America clinging to an outdated idea that it is a place of "exceptionalism," there is no promise that political elites will lead on the issue. Closely related to this, there is no certainty that the public will rally to the cause. If the world's current No.1 economy draws a conclusion that it can remain in that spot by ignoring climate change, then the world can forget about the US being a positive agent in the fight against climate change.

— The author is an Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

House Democrats launch probe of Trump’s dinner with oil executives | The Washington Post

House Democrats are launching an investigation into Donald Trump’s meeting with oil executives last month at his Mar-a-Lago Club, where the former president asked the executives to steer $1 billion to his 2024 campaign and promised to reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental policies.

The probe comes after The Washington Post on Thursday first reported the fundraising dinner, where Trump said that giving $1 billion would be a “deal” because of the taxation and regulation the oil companies would avoid thanks to him, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.

In letters sent Monday evening, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked nine oil executives to provide detailed information on their companies’ participation in the meeting. The Democrats voiced concern that Trump’s request at the dinner may have been a quid pro quo and may have violated campaign finance laws, although experts say his conduct probably did not cross the threshold of being illegal.

Lawmakers sent the letters to the CEOs of Cheniere Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Continental Resources, EQT Corporation, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and Venture Global. They also fired off a missive to the head of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbying arm in Washington.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, asked the executives to provide the names and titles of any company representatives who attended the Mar-a-Lago dinner, copies of any materials shared with the attendees, a description of any policy proposals discussed at the event, and a list of any contributions to the Trump campaign made during or after the event.

Raskin also asked the executives to provide a copy of any draft executive orders or policy paperwork that their companies have prepared for Trump or his campaign. Politico reported that oil industry lawyers and lobbyists have drawn up executive orders for Trump to sign in a possible second term, including directives aimed at boosting natural gas exports and offshore oil drilling.

Asked about the letter, Andrea Woods, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, said in an email that the group “meets with policymakers and candidates from across the political spectrum on topics important to our industry that range from strengthening energy security to addressing persistent U.S. inflation.”

A Venture Global spokeswoman said of the meeting with Trump: “Venture Global regularly engages with government officials — both past and present — on a bipartisan basis and this meeting was no different. We would welcome a similar conversation with President Biden at any time.”

A spokesman for Cheniere Energy declined to comment on the letter. Spokespeople for the other oil companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Democrats on the Oversight Committee lack certain investigative powers because Republicans control the House. If the oil companies decline to turn over the information, Democrats will not be able to subpoena the firms, stymying their investigation.

Yet Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a vocal climate advocate who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, which wields subpoena power, has voiced interest in launching his own probe.

Trump’s comments at the dinner are “practically an invitation to ask questions about Big Oil’s political corruption and manipulation,” Whitehouse said in an emailed statement.

“Fossil fuel malfeasance will cost Americans trillions in climate damages, and the Budget Committee is looking at how to ensure the industry cannot simply buy off politicians in order to saddle taxpayers with the bill,” he added.

At the Mar-a-Lago meeting, Trump promised to immediately end the Biden administration’s freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in a second term, according to people who attended. He also pledged to start auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and to reverse restrictions on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic.

Experts said Trump’s remarks at the dinner probably didn’t violate campaign finance laws as currently interpreted by the Federal Election Commission and the Supreme Court. They said a violation would need to involve a clear quid pro quo in which Trump promised to take a specific policy action in exchange for a specific campaign contribution.

“This alone is probably not enough to indicate the existence of a quid pro quo,” said Dan Weiner, director of elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school.

Trump “was doing what candidates often do, which is saying, ‘Please give me money, and I will do the things that I know you want,’” Weiner added. “The brazenness is still quite astonishing, and it certainly flies in the face of the spirit of the law, if not the letter.”

Former Obama White House ethics adviser Norm Eisen, a Trump critic and prominent supporter of the four criminal cases against him, agreed.

“I’m not saying it’s a violation of the law,” said Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House’s first impeachment of Trump. “But it raises serious questions, and it’s a reminder of why we have those laws on the books.”

[yz]

The United States Capitol Building. The rear view.

[elijones94]

👊🏾✊🏾 “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” ~ Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) 🇺🇸

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

December 23, 2022

Heather Cox Richardson

Today, by a vote of 225 to 201, the House passed the 4,155-page omnibus spending bill necessary to fund the government through September 30, 2023. The Senate passed it yesterday by a bipartisan vote of 68–29, and President Joe Biden has said he will sign it as soon as it gets to his desk. The measure establishes nondefense discretionary spending at about $773 billion, an increase of about $68 billion, or 6%. It increases defense spending to $858 billion, an increase of about 10%. Defense funding is about $45 billion more than Biden had requested, reflecting the depletion of military stores in Ukraine, where the largest European war since World War II is raging, and the recognition of a military buildup with growing tensions between the U.S. and China. Senators Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) and Richard C. Shelby (R-AL) and Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) hammered out the bill over months of negotiations. Leahy and Shelby are the two most senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and both are retiring at the end of this session. Shelby told the Senate: “We know it’s not perfect, but it’s got a lot of good stuff in it.” House Republicans refused to participate in the negotiations, tipping their hand to just how disorganized they are right now. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) insisted that the measure should wait until the Republicans take control of the House in 11 days. This reflects the determination of far-right extremists in the party to hold government funding hostage in order to get concessions from the Democrats. But their positions are so extreme that most Republicans wanted to get the deal done before they could gum it up. Indeed, right now they are refusing to back Republican minority leader McCarthy for speaker, forcing him to more and more extreme positions to woo them. Earlier this week, McCarthy publicly claimed that if he becomes House speaker, he will reject any bill proposed by a senator who voted yes on the omnibus bill. After the measure passed the House, McCarthy spoke forcefully against it, prompting Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) to say: “After listening to that, it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes yet.” The measure invests in education, childcare, and healthcare, giving boosts to the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and investing in mental health programs. It addresses the opioid crisis and invests in food security programs and in housing and heating assistance programs. It invests in the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service and makes a historic investment in the National Science Foundation. It raises the pay for members of the armed forces, and it invests in state and local law enforcement. It will also provide supplemental funding of about $45 billion for Ukraine aid and $41 billion for disaster relief. It reforms the Electoral Count Act to prevent a plan like that hatched by former president Donald Trump and his cronies to overturn an election, and it funds prosecutions stemming from the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “A lot of hard work, a lot of compromise,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY) said. “But we funded the government with an aggressive investment in American families, American workers, American national defense.” Schumer called the bill “one of the most significant appropriations packages we've done in a really long time.” And so, members of Congress are on their way home, in the nation’s severe winter storm, for the winter holiday. It is a fitting day for the congress members to go home, some to come back in January, others to leave their seats in Congress to their successors. On this day in December 1783, General George Washington stood in front of the Confederation Congress, meeting at the senate chamber of the Maryland State House, to resign his wartime commission. Negotiators had signed the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783, and once the British troops had withdrawn from New York City, Washington believed his job was done. “The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulation s to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country,” he told the members of Congress. “Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence.” “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.” In 1817, given the choice of subjects to paint for the rotunda in the U.S. Capitol, being rebuilt after the British had burned it during the War of 1812, fine artist John Trumbull picked the moment of Washington’s resignation. As they discussed the project, he told President James Madison: “I have thought that one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world, was that presented by the conduct of the commander-in-chief, in resigning his power and commission as he did, when the army, perhaps, would have been unanimously with him, and few of the people disposed to resist his retaining the power which he had used with such happy success, and such irreproachable moderation.” Madison agreed, and the painting of a man voluntarily giving up power hangs today in the U.S. Capitol, in the Rotunda. It hung there over the January 6 rioters as they tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and put in place their candidate, who insisted he should remain in power despite the will of the American people. Yesterday’s release of the report of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol reviewed the material the committee has already explained, but it did have a number of revelations. One is that former president Trump was not simply the general instigator of the Big Lie that he had won the election, and the person egging on his violent supporters, but also that he was the prime instigator of the attempt to file false slates of electors. This puts him at the heart of the attempt to defraud the U.S. government and to interfere with an official proceeding. On page 346, the report says: “The evidence indicates that by December 7th or 8th, President Trump had decided to pursue the fake elector plan and was driving it.” In that effort, he had the help of Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, even after White House lawyers had called the plan illegal and had backed away from it. Committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS)’s introduction to the report put Trump’s effort in the larger context of a history that reaches all the way back to the American Revolution. “Our country has come too far to allow a defeated President to turn himself into a successful tyrant by upending our democratic institutions, fomenting violence, and…opening the door to those in our country whose hatred and bigotry threaten equality and justice for all Americans.” “We can never surrender to democracy’s enemies. We can never allow America to be defined by forces of division and hatred. We can never go backward in the progress we have made through the sacrifice and dedication of true patriots. We can never and will never relent in our pursuit of a more perfect union with liberty and justice for all Americans.”

—

Notes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/18/us/politics/defense-contractors-ukraine-russia.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/12/22/omnibus-bill-senate/

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HIGHLIGHTS%20DOCUMENT%20FY%2023.pdf

Ed Markey @SenMarkeyI was proud to vote for this package, but I won't stop fighting for bold, progressive legislation that reigns in the greed of Big Oil and Big Tech and ensures we create an economy that works for all.

8:58 PM ∙ Dec 23, 202280Likes5Retweets

https://www.govexec.com/management/2022/12/house-approves-omnibus-spending-bill-funding-agencies-through-september/381282/

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mccarthy-makes-impossible-promises-as-he-scrambles-to-shore-up-conservative-votes

Connor O'Brien @connorobrienNHAfter McCarthy’s speech railing against the omnibus, Jim McGovern rolls his eyes and says: “After listening to that, it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes yet.”

4:48 PM ∙ Dec 23, 20223,304Likes407Retweets

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/23/us/january-6-committee-final-report.html#page-367

John Trumbull, Autobiography, Reminiscences and Letters of J. Trumbull, from 1756 to 1841, p. 263, at https://archive.org/details/autobiographyre01trumgoog/page/262/mode/2up

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-06-02-0319-0004

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/january-6-committee-final-report/2095325cbebd8378/full.pdf

https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/General-George-Washington-resigning-his-commission-in-Annapolis,-Maryland/

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[aanews69]

Immerse yourself in the high-stakes world of political strategy as we delve into the gripping narrative behind the latest government shutdown threat over a f...