[This post talks about the law related to rape, stalking, and domestic violence]
I was thinking about the Senate voting to repeal the Seattle Sick Leave/ Safe Leave law in many cases when I read this piece from Cienna Madrid on Tom sending the Reproductive Parity Act to die in committee.
You see, as Senate Majority Leader (a position he also attained with his weasely prowess), Tom is responsible for assigning bills to the appropriate Senate committees. And instead of assigning the Reproductive Parity Act to the Senate’s Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance committee where it was promised a fair hearing and vote from the committee’s Democratic chair, Tom instead sent the bill to the Senate’s Healthcare Committee, headed by anti-choice Sen. Randi Becker (R-Eatonville).
Yeah, that’s pretty terrible. It would have been an important law to have, and would have been a step in the direction of fairness in Washington. It’s one the reproductive justice community has rightly been fighting for for years. It also would have been important to say Washington affirms that abortion is a right. But we all pretty much knew this was going to happen when they said that social issues weren’t going to be the focus of this session. So while it’s awful, it isn’t actually moving back any laws, and Tom would argue that he still supports the law and whatever other excuse.
No, for Rodney Tom’s moving us backwards on safety and decency for women, you have to look at the Sick Leave/ Safe Leave law. Specifically the safe leave portion. You see when a woman who works in Seattle is stalked, or raped or beaten by her spouse, she can take safe time off. In the rest of the state, there aren’t as many protections.**
Rodney Tom looked at the difference between Seattle and the rest of the state and decided that the problem was Seattle. He co-sponsored SB 5728 to preempt that for the whole state, and ESB 5726 to make it only apply to Seattle based employers. The later passed, and the former might still.
I know the point of these laws is just to fuck with Seattle, but I wish the people passing them would give some consideration to the people actually hurt by them. I emailed Rodney Tom to ask him what he might say to a woman in his district who worked in Seattle and didn’t have the protections if she needed them if the law passed. So far he hasn’t responded.
* Transgendered people can need abortions even if they don’t identify as women, and not just women can be raped. I hope the title doesn’t obscure that to focus on the majority of cases where these laws will hurt people.
** I tried to get specifics from the Seattle department that deals with the sick leave law. They were reluctant to be definitive as to what would happen when the law hadn’t passed the state house, and when there wasn’t an actual case.
I don’t hate women. In fact, I LOVE women!! Blondes in particular!
Carl, related… I’m watching “The Invisible War”. Recommend you see it. As a veteran, I’m outraged.
That’s easy. He wouldn’t answer her, because he’s no longer concerned about representing the people of his district. He’s got bigger, more personal goals in mind.
Okay, admittedly I am dealing in stereotypes here. But how many women in Medina work in Seattle, and can’t afford to take time off? The handful of families I know who live there have husbands and wives who don’t need to work at all, unless they choose to do so. So I have to wonder how many women in Rodney Tom’s district would care very much about this bill, except those who own or manage businesses in Seattle who don’t want to make such benefits available to those working under them.
(Why am I reminded of the incident years ago, where a Mercer Island high school baskeball team (back when M.I. was predominantly rich white Republicans) was getting beat rather badly by one of the Seattle schools with an all-black team. The M.I. cheerleaders took up a cheer, saying “That’s alright, that’s okay, you’re going to work for us some day”, while waving dollar bills at the opposition.)
From 4,
If a woman is living in Medina, WA, she’s probably doing just fine!
@4,
His district includes Redmond, Sammamish, and parts of Bellevue. I know there’s wealth in all of those communities, but there are plenty of places that are probably cheaper than much of Seattle, and since 520 runs through his district, I bet it’s just one bus for a lot of potential commuters.
Washington State Democrats hate nursing mothers.
State Democrats rush a vote as GOP Senator steps away to nurse her baby
During a mid-afternoon session, as the Senate was debating a routine series of bills, Holmquist Newbry left the floor to care for her four-month-old son Makaio, who had been brought to the women’s lounge off the Senate floor. Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, moved to excuse Holmquist Newbry from voting. That meant the majority coalition had 24 votes, not 25, and they were tied at least temporarily with the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, took advantage of the moment. He rose to demand an immediate vote on a bill sponsored by a Democrat that did not appear on the afternoon schedule.
http://mynorthwest.com/646/222.....MM.twitter
You would think that if such a sleazy move were undertaken, the Dems would at least get something out of it.
Well, they did, sorta. They got their asses kicked, and in doing so they also got their duplicity noticed.
Please, HA. Tell us eeeevvvvviiiiiillllll conservative types some more about how important it is for family leave time, sick time, private nursing rooms, etc. to be provided by employers for women with infant children. We should listen to what you say in these matters, and not watch what you do.
@Serial Conservative-
During a mid-afternoon session, as the Senate was debating a routine series of bills, Holmquist Newbry left the floor to care for her four-month-old son Makaio, who had been brought to the women’s lounge off the Senate floor. Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, moved to excuse Holmquist Newbry from voting. That meant the majority coalition had 24 votes, not 25, and they were tied at least temporarily with the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, took advantage of the moment. He rose to demand an immediate vote on a bill sponsored by a Democrat that did not appear on the afternoon schedule.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The conservatives can dish it out but can’t take it? It’s a little of Tom and Sheldon’s own medicine. It wasn’t even mendacious, as Tom and Sheldon are. It’s a procedure that the Republicans in Congress have used many times.
Good for the Democrats for giving some back to the turncoats.
Rodney Tom is a douchebag that needs to be primaried.