National news:
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Union workers vote down Qwest contract offer -- More labor unrest bubbles up as unionized workers (CWA) for Qwest Communications International Inc. vote down a three-year contract offer to cover 20,000 workers in 13 states, including Washington and Oregon.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- At the GAO, a union first -- For the first time, the GAO has reached a tentative collective-bargaining agreement with its employees. About 1,800 analysts are in the IFPTE, and unlike most unions in the federal workplace, the union can negotiate pay.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2008
Rossi attempts to skirt law banning coordination with BIAW PAC

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi faces new evidence that he actively coordinated with the Building Industry Association of  Washington on its illegal fundraising activities in 2007. The state attorney general has filed suit against the BIAW for illegally funneling money from its subsidiary organizations into a political "war chest" to elect Rossi. 

In addition, the new evidence suggests Rossi illegally coordinated activities with an independent expenditure campaign: BIAW's ChangePAC, which has already spent more than $2 million on ads criticizing Rossi's opponent, Gov. Chris Gregoire, and plans to spend at least $1 million more.

Minutes from the May 2007 meeting of the BIAW-affiliated Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (excerpted below) indicate Rossi called the MBA urging the group to shift workers' compensation rebate money to the "BIAW's war chest."

Rossi claims he didn't call to solicit money (although these minutes suggest otherwise). He says he called on behalf of the BIAW to mediate in a dispute between the two organizations. But the dispute appears to be over whether the MBA should funnel money into the BIAW's expenditures on his behalf.

Rossi also claims that, regardless of what he said, he isn't guilty of any infraction because he wasn't officially a candidate at the time he called the MBA. 

Rossi has traveled the state virtually non-stop promoting himself and his ideas for state government since losing his 2004 bid for governor. But until he officially announced his 2008 candidacy in October 2007, he did so under the auspices of a non-profit foundation he formed called Forward Washington. Therefore, Rossi says, at the time he called the MBA, apparently to solicit money for the "BIAW's war chest," he claims he wasn't technically a candidate yet, so he wouldn't be subject to the prohibition against candidates coordinating with independent expenditures on their behalf.

"Part of (the phone conversation with the MBA) was participation, but we never talked about dollar amounts and I never asked them to put money here or there. Part of it was them coming together with their political efforts," Rossi told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "This was in 2007, long before I was a candidate for governor. I didn't ask them to put money anywhere but it would have been perfectly OK for me to do that because I wasn't even a candidate."

Rossi also faced criticism for concealing who financed Forward Washington, a group that The Seattle Times described as "keeping Rossi's potential gubernatorial candidacy alive through speeches and travel." Because Forward Washington was a non-profit organization, as opposed to an official campaign, it was not compelled to disclose its contributors, nor was it bound to adhere to the state's campaign contribution limits.

Again claiming he was not yet officially a candidate, Rossi refused to voluntarily disclose the names of the businesses and individuals who contributed to Forward Washington. The Seattle Times criticized this concealment in its July 2, 2007 editorial, "Rossi's race: Questions for the quasi-candidate:" "Voters have a right to wonder why Rossi invented a group and pretends it is not part of a campaign."

What does the staff of WSLC Reports Today think about today's revelation?

The whole thing stinks to high heaven and demands prosecution. 

Rossi admits he called BIAW affiliates about "participation" in BIAW's supposedly independent political activities, but because he didn't mention a dollar amount or specific accounts he's off the hook?! 

Every single person in this state knew Rossi was running for governor again since 2005 when he started touring the state to be a full-time critic of Gov. Gregoire. It's an absolute joke for him to claim he wasn't yet a candidate, so it's okay for him to conceal who his contributors were and it's okay to illegally coordinate fundraising and independent expenditures with his political supporters.

Who was Rossi urging BIAW members to pony up money (or "participation") for, if not himself? And if he was just "mediating" an internal dispute at the BIAW as he claims... is he on their payroll or something? The guy the BIAW spent millions to try to elect in 2004 and again in 2008 also happens to be the go-to mediator for internal BIAW disputes?! 

Even if Rossi successfully avoids legal prosecution (and he absolutely shouldn't), what he has done is grossly unethical and speaks volumes about the kind of governor he'd be: a guy who skirts the law via technicalities so he can support the most notorious right-wing nutters in Washington state.

Copyright © ^{2008 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}