Washington's problems are bigger than our short #WALeg sessions can address. Not only that, but when you make lawmakers part-time and underpaid, you ensure that only the independently wealthy can hold office.
How about a trade? #WALeg works full time for us & they get paid a normal wage.
"When a hedge-fund billionaire named Brian Heywood, working hand in glove with the state Republican party, sought to overturn a state capital gains tax introduced three years earlier... the voters upheld the tax, by a resounding margin."
This is great coverage of how we got a Millionaires Tax in WA
The wealthy few and big corporations love to talk a big game about what they'll do if WA makes them pay what they owe in taxes. But look no further than Amazon's faltering "HQ2" in Virginia to see how little all that talk amounts to:
In 2024, we fought hard to elect Sal Mungia to the WA Supreme Court over conservative Dave Larson, and Sal won by only 0.51% of the vote
@gramsofgnats.bsky.social is right, these races are a BFD, and we will be laser-focused on them in our Progressive Voters Guide this year.
Our 2024 Progressive Voters Guide entry recommending @organizewithshaun.bsky.social over Suarez: "Suarez & her problematic right-leaning group that has dehumanized people experiencing homelessness without offering real solutions... would be a significant step backward for the progressive 43rd LD."
Donald Trump threatening the destruction of an entire civilization is madness.
He is completely unfit to serve as President of the United States.
Invoke the 25th Amendment. Or Republicans must stand up with us to impeach him. We cannot allow him to set fire to the world.
How do you think the officers who work for these sheriffs feel about their bosses suing to prevent the sheriffs from having to pass the same basic standards that the officers have to?
Seems like it'd be pretty bad for morale!
Know a young person who is interested in building a representative, multi-racial democracy that reflects the needs of youth?
@washingtonbus.org is hiring a Western High School Organizer as part of their mission to politically activate young people: www.fuseinnovation.org/jobs/western...
Washington is back in court co-leading a lawsuit to defend our state’s safe and secure vote-by-mail system.
Washington state elections are convenient and secure. We will stand up for the right of Washingtonians to vote, including by mail.
A photo of the Pike Place starbucks in Seattle Washington
We, the partners at Pike Place #301, are excited to announce our intent to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. As partners of the first Starbucks, we’ve decided to form a union to uphold the core values of our company and the Pike Place Market: fair and equal treatment, respect, and dignity for every single partner who makes this store so special. Thousands of partners around the country are working together to fight for a better workplace, and we look forward to joining them. Starbucks as a company was built on the core pillars of belonging, courage, and joy. Sadly, under your leadership – in our store and so many others – Starbucks has lost its way and veered from the core values that defined us. Store partners are the most important part of the Starbucks experience. We open the stores every morning and close them every night. We greet customers, make the coffee, clean up the spills, and remember our regulars’ names and favorite orders. But beneath the veneer of the excellent experience we craft for visitors every day, partners do not feel a sense of belonging and joy – unequal treatment is the norm, not the exception. When we speak up, that courage is punished, not rewarded. That has been most evident with Starbucks dispatching two national labor relations personnel to our store to surveil partners after the company heard we were discussing unionization, raising tension in the store that can be felt by both workers and customers. The market's founding gave us clear directions: "It is for you to defend, to protect and to uphold, and it is for you to see that those who occupy it treat you fairly; that no extortion be permitted and that the purpose for which it was created be religiously adhered to." The path to our union may be challenging, but we know this: We are better working together as a team, we have each others’ backs, and we respect everyone’s right to make their own choice. We call on Starbucks to live up to the core values of courage, joy, and be…
Today, the "original" Starbucks at Pike Place Market in Seattle, is announcing they're organizing their union. ✊
Read the letter workers addressed to CEO Brian Niccol about why they're joining thousands of workers nationwide fighting for a better Starbucks:
Watching the Governor sign the Millionaires Tax into law on Monday, we couldn't help but think of Senator Emily Alvarado's speech on the #WALeg floor where she pointed out that it is exactly the things this tax funds: schools, health care & childcare, that build a strong economy for working people.
One of the more popular right-wing myths about the #WALeg Millionaires Tax is that relying on billionaires giving away a tiny fraction of their wealth is somehow a sustainable way to fund a society.
Just ask the kids in overcrowded Bay Area schools how that plan has worked out for them.
Photo of Bob at bill signing. Excerpt from Wall Street Journal article: "Washington will also use the extra revenue to provide free breakfast and lunch to all kindergarten through 12th grade students, to reduce taxes for an additional 138,000 small businesses and to eliminate sales tax on diapers, over-the-counter drugs, and hygiene products."
Proud to sign the Millionaires' Tax earlier this week. As the Wall Street Journal reports, it will get money back in the pockets of working Washingtonians.
What a vibe ✨
There's no feeling in the world like seeing a #WALeg bill to make the ultra-rich pay what they owe in taxes get signed into law after fighting hard with your best buds @balanceourtaxcode.bsky.social to make it happpen.
(shoutout to @washingtonbus.org for the 1st photo!)
Meanwhile Mass. passed a similar tax a few years ago. The result? No capital flight. Revenues higher than projected. Win-win-win.
Washington state passed a tax on millionaires. A lot of the usual suspects have been screaming & tearing their hair out & warning of apocalypse.
But the actual rich people of Washington? Turns out they are mostly Democrats & they mostly support it!
Rick Steves is a real one.
"You don't want to be filthy rich in a society with a huge gap between rich and poor. It's just not a nice place to raise your kids. And remember: Shrouds have no pockets...especially if you're a multimillionaire with no heart for your neighbors."
Fuse staff at our booth in Seattle Center at NO KINGS
Marchers carrying a blue banner saying "We say no kings"
A protest sign from Human Rights Campaign that says "Protect Trans Youth"
A crowd listening to speakers at Cal Anderson Park
#NoKings Seattle was such a wonderful, empowering event of our neighbors coming together and speaking out against the MAGA regime's masked ICE agents, costly tariff chaos, and illegal war.
Today, we're celebrating #TransDayOfVisibility, & that the #WALeg you elected defeated all four anti-trans bills this year. We're working to defeat Brian Heywood's transphobic initiatives to force invasive inspections on children, because all trans kids deserve to play sports with their friends ❤️
AFT Washington President Jacqui Cain and our VP for COPE were in attendance - they said it was a great time, and there was lots of energy in the room!
While the Governor signed the bill, Fuse also co-hosted a bill-signing watch party with our labor partners in Spokane.
A big thank you to the hard working folks at TVW for live streaming all #WALeg happenings!
Washington State passed an income tax on people earning over $1m a year. Among other plans, it will use the revenue to remove the sales tax from diapers and menstrual products. Yay, reproductive and period justice!
Here's the historic moment of Bob Ferguson signing the Millionaires Tax with #WALeg leaders and advocates:
Congratulations!! Such great work by the people of Washington! 🎉
Millionaires Tax signed into law in Washington State in 3, 2, 1....
Last up is @governorferguson.bsky.social who thanks @noelframe.bsky.social and April Berg for their leadership again, and then signs the Millionaires Tax into law!!! 🎉 #WALeg
Al millionaire Bryan Kirschner: "For too long rich people like me haven't paid what we owe in taxes to do right by all people. Any millionaires who leave will be replaced, WA is on brink of creating massive wealth thru AI. Fixing our tax code, creates the kind of communities we all want to live in.
Filipinotown magazine creative Terrance Jeffrey Santos: "So many of us working 50-70 hours a week still seeing the wealth gap widen, generational wealth slipping away, but I have hope today. This bill will bring us to a place of not just surviving but thriving"
Dunn continued: "I can now buy school supplies for my kids to keep their learning on track. The Working Families Tax Credit isn't just support for families like mine, it's an investment in all families working hard to build a better future for yourself and our kids." #WALeg
