UPDATED BELOW WITH THE LATEST NEWS RELEASE

I am posting this unedited from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.  I offer the disclaimer that I do not generally like unions a whole lot.

Governor Gregoire “preserves union power” at the expense of teachers and voters; signs union “baill-out” bill into law

Today, Governor Gregoire signed House Bill 2079. The bill amends a statute that requires unions to get permission from nonmembers before spending their fees on political activity. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of this statute in two cases brought by teachers and the state Attorney General against the Washington Education Association.

During committee hearings legislators disregarded the Attorney General’s office warnings that the bill is vulnerable to a Constitutional challenge. In a letter sent to lawmakers, the Office of the Attorney General warned that HB 2079 could expose the state to further litigation by adopting a “constitutionally forbidden” accounting practice.

The law uses a flawed accounting system that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in both the cases of International Association of Machinists v. Street (1961) and Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977).

File this under “Cha-Ching!“.

The New Deception Direction Democrats made ethics and lobby reform a central campaign point, vowing to end the culture of corruption.

Well, apparently not.  I had previously blogged that the Democrats were rolling in Special Interest cash.  Well they have taken it one step further by suddenly losing interest in lobbying reform.

Apparently they kinda like the culture of corruption when the checks are made out to people with a (D) behind their name.

Lobbying Reform Losing Steam in House

House Democrats are suddenly balking at the tough lobbying reforms they touted to voters last fall as a reason for putting them in charge of Congress.

Now that they are running things, many Democrats want to keep the big campaign donations and lavish parties that lobbyists put together for them. They’re also having second thoughts about having to wait an extra year before they can become high-paid lobbyists themselves should they retire or be defeated at the polls.

The growing resistance to several proposed reforms now threatens passage of a bill that once seemed on track to fulfill Democrats’ campaign promise of cleaner fundraising and lobbying practices.