Legislators aren’t surprised by the chaos around the state as teachers unions and school districts negotiate new contracts. With the Legislature providing $1 billion for teachers’ salaries and making huge changes to education funding to satisfy the McCleary court decision, teachers unions around the state were seeing green. The only problem is that the cash infusion is short-lived, and many contracts are making districts see red within just a few budget cycles. (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz says that smoky summers don’t have to be the new normal. She points to a changing climate which is causing less rain, hotter summers and drought conditions as causing longer fire seasons. Gov. Jay Inslee says the solution is a carbon tax…but B.C., where the fires are that are causing most of our summer smoke, has a carbon tax. Franz says she will go to the Legislature for funding to better manage forests in the coming years. (The Olympian)

Seattle is still a union town and Washington state has more individual unions than almost any other state. Unions around the state flexed their muscles this Labor Day, with crane operators on strike in downtown Seattle and on WSDOT highway projects as well as teachers unions around the state threatening strikes. Even with adversity from the Janus decision and declining membership, some leaders have their eye on organizing inside Amazon. (The Seattle Times)

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner, gave $100K to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Protect the House PAC for Republicans. In a move likely to draw ire from Seattle liberals, Allen made the contribution in June with the largest chunk, $33,900, going to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Allen has otherwise given fairly equally to candidates on both sides of the aisle and has given large sums to pass liberal ballot measures in Washington. (Geekwire)

Cong. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and her opponent, former state senator Lisa Brown, have agreed to four debates. McMorris Rodgers has typically only participated in three debates in previous elections but acknowledged that the primary turnout and results showed that this isn’t an ordinary election year. (The Spokesman Review)

The Wapato School Board authorized the school district to take legal action in response to the local teachers union and individual employees who strike. The resolution would allow the district superintendent to seek an injunction to prevent students from being impacted by an illegal strike. The union and the district reached a tentative agreement over the weekend, so this resolution likely won’t be enforced. (KAPP 35)

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