If you’re like me, you probably think that your legislators are working for you. Nothing could be further from the truth. A great many of our legislators are members of or are supporters of the American Legislative Exchange Council, including members of our local delegation. And, yes, they are all Republicans.
There are currently two bills in the Washington state Senate that affect policy.
Senate Bill 6300 will impose new and unneeded financial rules on unions that are not imposed on any other business or organization such as the Freedom Foundation, which keeps all its finances secret.
Senate Bill 6307 attempts to nullify the minimum wage hike approved by the voters in SeaTac and make it illegal for other cities and counties to enact pro-worker policies.
What these bills have in common is that they are part of the manifesto sent to Republican legislators along with a pledge to support the policies in it. When these legislators sign this pledge, and they will, they are no longer working for us, they are working for the far right-wing Koch brothers. These brothers funded ALEC, and with dozens of other millionaires and billionaires who fund it, they push anti-worker agendas across the country. These are the people ALEC supporters really represent, not the voters.
