living liberty sept 2021 by Freedom Foundation

Union shill lies on tape about Freedom Foundation ...

4 5

Boardman appeal still evolving as SCOTUS considers .. Are teachers unions evil? Judge for yourself ...............

SEPTEMBER 2021

LIVING LIBERTY A Publication of the Freedom Foundation

of the

TAXPAYERS’ TAXPAYERS’ MONEY MONEY

Motion to dismiss capital gains tax lawsuit long on hubris, short on legal substance

Electronic Service Requested

Freedom Foundation PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507

hallenges to the state of Washington’s planned capital gains tax — including a lawsuit filed by the Freedom Foundation — got their first real airing in court on Aug. 18 as Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber heard arguments on the state’s motion to dismiss it out of hand. The request, filed in July, asserts the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because the tax is not scheduled to go into effect until next January, thus no one can predict with certainty at this point whether they will even have to pay it, let alone suffer damages. “It’s the plaintiffs’ burden to prove standing,” said Washington Assistant Attorney General Noah Purcell. “Because of the way the tax is structured, 99.9 percent of state residents won’t have to pay it. If that’s not speculation, I don’t know what is.” The state, of course, has no trouble speculating that 7,000 residents will start paying the tax in four months, or that it will cost them $500 million each year. Its argument about standing is simply a crude attempt to avoid challenges to the tax by anyone prior to imposition. The capital gains measure, passed by Washington’s Legislature during the 2021 session, taxes the sale of certain property

By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information

exceeding $250,000 per year at 7 percent and clearly violates Washington’s constitution, which prohibits income taxes that treat earners differently. Proponents of the tax insist that distinction doesn’t apply in this case because the new assessment is an excise tax rather than an income tax. But state law clearly treats property as income. The legislation also contradicts the will of the voters, who have rejected numerous attempts to levy a statewide income tax over the years. The Freedom Foundation, in conjunction with the Seattle law firm of Lane Powell, filed suit in Douglas County to fight the tax even before Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill into law during May. Its plaintiffs include Seattle business owner Suzie Burke, Chris Quinn of Cherry Hill Investments in Wenatchee and Maryhill Winery co-owner Craig Leuthold. The Freedom Foundation’s case was later merged with a separate lawsuit whose plaintiffs are making essentially the same arguments. “The state’s motion to dismiss the case just shows how reluctant its lawyers are to take ownership of their own arguments,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “I guess when you have unlimited amounts of the taxpayers’ money to spend and Jay Inslee’s pet tax project to defend, there’s no reason not to waste the court’s time with as many frivolous motions as you can think up.” Judge Huber asked why standing hadn’t been an issue when Seattle attempted to levy a similar tax on its high earners in 2017. Purcell noted the state was not involved in that case, while fellow WashSee CAPITAL GAINS Page 10

VOLUME 32, ISSUE 10

Our mission is to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.

Publisher: Tom McCabe Editor: Jeff Rhodes

Freedom Foundation PO Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507

(360) 956-3482 FreedomFoundation.com

“Quote” ~ of the month ~

[2 ]

LIVING LIBERTY

A PUBL ICAT ION O F THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION

CONTENTS

PAGE 3

LEADERSHIP MEMO By TOM McCABE The Left uses COVID to disguise the same power-grabbing tactics it’s relied on so many times before.

PAGE 5 LITIGATING FREEDOM

PAGE 4

FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM By MAXFORD NELSEN Union shill caught on tape lying about the Freedom Foundation.

INITIATIVE

1501

By JEFF RHODES Boardman appeal still taking shape even as SCOTUS considers hearing.

PAGE 6-7 THE CASE FOR FREEDOM By HUNTER TOWER

Reprinted from the EPOCH TIMES

CRT flap exposes teachers unions as the unprincipled extremists they are.

ARE TEACHERS’ UNIONS EVIL?

STEVE FORBES Forbes magazine June 28, 2021

Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the election of any elected official or candidate.

By BEN STRAKA Modest win on information request could yield big result.

PAGE 8

PAGE 9

Reprinted from the ASSOCIATED PRESS Freedom Foundation files suit to block unionization of Oregon’s legislative aides.

By RACHEL WEIGEL Freedom Foundation message gets a warm reception at UCLA.

OREGON UPDATE

“The behavior of the teachers’ unions ... in much of the country has been a disgrace. They have repeatedly and unncessarily kept kids out of the classroom. Their unconscionable actions will, over time, lead to radical changes in how American children are educated. The traditional public-school system will go the way of landline telephones, fax machines and typewriters.”

What They Said & What They Meant

By JEFF RHODES Oregon sheriff blasts governor’s reinstatement of COVID regs, says she doesn’t care about kids.

SPOTLIGHT ON CALIFORNIA

By TIMOTHY R. SNOWBALL If students are kept out of class again, it’s just because teachers’ unions need a bargaining chip.

PAGE 10 FREEDOM IN ACTION By MATTHEW HAYWARD Still-pending mask litigation could play a deciding role in vaccination court cases to come.

PAGE 11

FREEDOM IN THE NEWS

PAGE 12

ACTION TIMELINE

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT’S

The left uses COVID to disguise the same power-grabbing tactics it’s relied on so many times before e’re being Fauci’ed. As happened back in the 1980s with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, the last name of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the gadfly director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has evolved into a verb in the American popular lexicon. And for much the same reason — to camouflage a naked grab by the left for power it can’t win openly or fairly. Bork, a spectacularly accomplished federal judge and the former Solicitor General of the United States, was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, who had no reason to suspect his choice was any more controversial than the dozens of names sent to the Senate over the years and confirmed unanimously in the expected gesture of collegiality. But by 1987, liberals had figured out that advancing their radical political agenda required majorities in both houses of Congress, in addition to a president willing to sign it into law — a difficult proposition under the best of circumstances and a near-impossibility while the popular Reagan occupied the White House. On the other hand, finding a way to seat five activist liberals on the Supreme Court seemed a much lower bar to clear. In the short term, all it took was for the Senate Judiciary Committee under the leadership of then-Chairman Joe Biden, to browbeat Bork into withdrawing by engaging in a jaw-dropping display of lies and character assassination even by the standards of Congress. Ever since, when liberals attempt to defeat a nominee by innuendo and fraud rather than honest debate on the substance of their record (think Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh), he or she is said to have been “borked.” Likewise, when liberal governors and their bureaucratic cohorts seek to usurp individual rights and freedoms by fearmongering and pseudo-science, it can now be said they are trying to “Fauci” their constituents. And just like the namesake of the phenomenon, who lived every day of his life prior to the COVID outbreak in well-deserved obscurity, governors like Washington’s Jay Inslee, Kate Brown in Oregon and California’s Gavin Newsom used to be more or less limited to the powers set forth in their respective state constitutions. Until COVID came along, that is. Unfortunately, the same mystery virus that made a rock star out of the charisma-challenged, ever-equivocating Fauci also empowered these banana republic dictators-in-waiting to claim almost limitless “emergency powers” the founding fathers never even anticipated, let alone described. By definition, an emergency refers to an unexpected and temporary catastrophe. In a political context, governors have the right to declare a state of emergency in order to authorize unusual actions that can’t wait until the legislature has an opportunity to weigh in on the crisis. COVID, however, has been with us for a year and a half, during which time Washington’s Legislature, to cite one egregious example, has met

MEMO

LIVING LIBERTY

for one entire session and part of another. The fact that its memBy TOM McCABE, President bers have almost completely abdicated their responsibility to curb Gov. Inslee’s obvious power grab in no way justifies their actions. Or inactions, to be more precise. Emergency powers aren’t a blank check a state’s most senior executive can invoke to do things the constitution doesn’t permit indefinitely. U.S. District Court Judge William Stickman IV minced no words last year in making that point to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. “(E)ven in an emergency,” he wrote, “the authority of government is not unfettered. The liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms — in place when times are good but able to be cast aside in times of trouble.” Predictably, Pennsylvania’s uber-Leftist Supreme Court subsequently overturned Stickman’s ruling and left the Keystone State to the tender mercies of a corruptible — and thoroughly corrupted — human rather than objective law. A year later, the same path is being followed in other parts of the country. Here on the west coast, Kate Brown on Aug. 13 reinstated Oregon’s indoor mask “As long as it gets mandate just a few weeks aftheir names in the ter finally doing away with it. Brown cited the Delta variant paper, stokes of the virus for her decision. their egos and In California, meanwhile, Gavin Newsom hasn’t yet feeds their brought back his state’s mask requirement, but health ofinsatiable thirst ficials in numerous counties for power, you can — including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Yolo and seven bet (Inslee, Brown, more in the Bay Area — have Newsom, Wolf, taken the initiative to impose their own Fauci, et al) couldn’t Likewise in Washington, Jay Inslee has apparently delcare less about your egated the dirty work to local life, your business, health departments — including Thurston, where these your savings or words are being written — your civil rights” thus allowing him to continue exercising unconstitutional powers seized on his behalf by his loyal minions. Public health officials, of course, have no authority to enforce the arbitrary dictates of their governor — let alone their own — on anyone. But as long as it gets their names in the paper, stokes their egos and feeds their insatiable thirst for power, you can bet your life the Inslees, Browns, Newsoms, Wolfs and Faucis of the world couldn’t care less about your life, your business, your savings or your civil rights.

D O S O M E T H I N G F O R F R E E D O M T O D AY

SUPPORT THE FIGHT!

The Freedom Foundation is the only organization on the West Coast that

takes on the hard fights. Every day we stand up to ensure freedom for future generations. Every gift is an investment in the future.

CALL (360) 956-3482, OR VISIT WWW.FREEDOMFOUNDATION.COM

LIVING LIBERTY

A P U B LICAT ION O F T HE FR EED OM FOUNDAT ION

FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM

Union operative caught on tape lying about Freedom Foundation

By MAXFORD NELSEN, Labor Policy Director

ideo and audio recording recently obtained by the Freedom Foundation exposes paid union organizers employed by the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) attacking the Freedom Foundation by name and at length as part of a virtual new employee orientation program conducted by the state’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). In the recording, full-time WFSE organizer Matthew Reiter decries the Freedom Foundation as an example of the “dark forces aligned against us” in his pitch to get the new state workers to sign up for WFSE membership and authorize the automatic seizure of 1.5 percent of their wages for the union. In 2018 — just months before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory dues requirements for public employees as unconstitutional in Janus v. AFSCME— the Democrat-controlled Washington State Legislature passed SB 6229, which required all government employers in the state to permit union organizers to have at least 30 minutes with new hires during the employees’ orientation process. At the time, Sen. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim), the bill’s sponsor and self-described “union firefighter,” argued the orientations would merely cover employees’ rights and workplace policies, such as the “process for disciplinary action,” to the benefit of both employees and their government employers. However, the Freedom Foundation opposed the legislation, explaining that such captive-audience meetings were increasingly part of unions’ playbook for coercing or deceiving public employees into signing up for union membership. Major government unions like the National Education Association, for example, openly advocated for such meetings as a way to boost recruitment after Janus. And during committee hearings on SB 6229, even union lobbyists admitted the legislation would aid them in getting employees to sign up for union membership. Since the law’s passage, these captive-audience union presentations have typically occurred in person, though they’ve generally been conducted virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, as was the case with the L&I orientation. The recording doesn’t capture Reiter’s full remarks, but most of what was recorded and intelligible consisted of outright lies about the Freedom Foundation’s mission and work in a transparent attempt to portray the organization as a nefarious bogeyman, justifying WFSE’s existence and the necessity of union membership. Reiter repeatedly and egregiously misrepresented the Freedom Foundation’s positions on various matters of concern to state workers in order to emphasize the importance of “preventing the Freedom Foundation from influencing state policy.” Among other things, he falsely and without substantiation claimed the Freedom Foundation, n attempted to “defund the contract” negotiated between WFSE and the state of Washington and approved during the 2021 legislative session; n wants to “remove spouses from healthcare insurance for state employees”; n and even “tried to privatize this agency

(L&I) a couple legislative sessions ago and outsource all of your jobs.” According to Reiter, the Freedom Foundation wishes to return to “the Wild West,” where “the free market reigns” because — as “a union, basically, of millionaires… or billionaires, really” — it wants to allow its wealthy backers to take over the provision of public employee benefits and, in so doing, increase profits. Regarding state employees’ healthcare, for instance, Reiter stated that, “Because it is such a robust healthcare plan, there’s a lot of money in there if they can privatize it.” One of the many problems with Reiter’s reasoning is that, while paid for with tax dollars, private companies — such as Kaiser Permanente and Regence Blue Shield — already manage public employees’ health benefits. And when it comes to money, there’s simply no comparison. WFSE’s annual revenue is about four times that of the Freedom Foundation. Combined, just eight of the prominent government unions in Washington, including WFSE, have annual revenue topping $160 million, more than 24 times that of the Freedom Foundation. Several times, even Reiter acknowledges that his explanation of the Freedom Foundation’s allegedly greed-driven goals doesn’t even make sense to him. At one point, he describes “the billionaire agenda” as “cruel and unnecessary” and asks rhetorically, “If you had a billion dollars, why do you care if unions are stronger? Like—what is—that would be one of the last things I would care about if I was a billionaire.” Reiter’s comments were accompanied by a slide in his PowerPoint presentation listing 10 items that purportedly constitute the Freedom Foundation’s “Wish List for State Employees.” While Reiter claimed the list was, “taken straight from their [the Freedom Foundation’s] website,” the graphic was actually created by the Northwest Accountability Project, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit based in Portland which is funded almost entirely by labor unions, including WFSE, and exists purely to attack and spread misinformation about Freedom Foundation staff and supporters. But WFSE’s narrative doesn’t need to be correct or reasonable; it just needs to paint the picture of the union as all that stands between state employees and exploitation at the hands of villainous robber-barons.

In Reiter’s words, “The unions are the only backstop to preventing, like, total takeover of, you know, our lives, basically. It truly is, like, an us-versus-them situation.” At this juncture, Reiter’s anti-Freedom Foundation rant predictably pivoted to a pitch for employees to join WFSE. “Signing a (membership) card really is the basis of participation if you really want a strong, robust, fighting union,” he told his audience. After all, as Reiter explained, “No workforce has more at stake in decisions made by elected leaders.” As an added bonus, he continued, signing a card unlocks access to “special, member-only benefits.” And signing up could hardly be easier. Just text the union’s number and “Boom, you become a member,” Reiter explained. Nowhere during the recording did Reiter explain that joining the union was optional, that employees had a constitutional right to decline membership and dues payment, or that cancelling dues deductions could only be accomplished in writing during an arbitrary, 15-day annual window determined by the union. Reiter and another WFSE organizer named Margarett concluded by generally attempting to pit employees against L&I management, telling the new employees that, “You are at the same level as management,” and claiming the employer will attempt to “gaslight” employees. After such a screed, it is supremely ironic that the L&I HR employee conducting the new employee orientation resumed the program by thanking the union organizers for their “time and all this information” about the “juicy goodness that is our collective bargaining agreement.” She then proceeded to actually walk employees through the agreement’s terms, describing the union only in positive terms along the way. The episode adds to the growing pile of evidence that union participation in government new employee orientation programs is nothing more than an opportunity for a wealthy and politically influential private, special interest group to pitch membership in captive-audience settings with the state’s imprimatur and at taxpayer expense. And the fact that the state permits unions to use such opportunities to lob false accusations at the Freedom Foundation in an attempt to prevent it from “influencing state policy” is both troubling and potentially raises constitutional concerns.

LIVING LIBERTY

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION

LITIGATING FREEDOM INITIATIVE

Boardman appeal still taking shape even as SCOTUS considers hearing

What They

1501

he Freedom Foundation continues to refine its arguments in Boardman v. Inslee weeks after filing its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to consider the case during the session scheduled to begin in October. On July 21, the organization submitted a brief in response to issues raised by attorneys for the state of Washington and Gov. Jay Inslee about the Freedom Foundation’s March 23 request to SCOTUS for a writ of certiorari. In it, Freedom Foundation attorneys assert the Boardman ruling issued last October by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was profoundly (and predictably) wrong — not only because it flies in the face of court precedent, but also because the appeals panel had an obligation to protect the constitutional rights of in-home care providers SCOTUS emphatically affirmed in Harris v. Quinn (2014) and Janus v. AFSCME (2018). Instead, the 9th Circuit’s ruling seemed calculated to preserve the very scheme banned in Harris and Janus under which government can compel individuals to financially support and associate with public-sector unions simply because they accept a stipend from Medicaid in return for providing basic homecare for a friend or loved one. The petitioners — Brad Boardman, Deborah Thurber and Shannon Benn — are Washington residents and Medicaid-compensated homecare providers who sought to contact other caregivers represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to inform them of their First Amendment rights to decline to union membership, dues and fees. The Freedom Foundation does the same work on a much broader scale. But before anyone can be informed of anything, it’s necessary to first obtain a list from the state including the caregivers’ names, contact information and date of birth. Such information has always been available to anyone requesting it under Washington’s Freedom of Information Act. But knowing the workers would likely leave the union en masse once they found out they could, SEIU and other unions authored, sponsored and funded a 2016 ballot initiative, I-1501, under which union-represented care providers would be exempted from existing public disclosure laws. And Washington voters, deceived by the initiative’s title into believing they were actually cracking down on identity theft, ultimately passed I-1501 with a 60 percent majority. Within weeks, Boardman, Thurber and Benn filed a lawsuit against Inslee to invalidate the measure. The case eventually made its way to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a split panel last fall ruled that I-1501 violated neither

By JEFF RHODES VP for News & Information

Washington law nor the state constitution. However, Judge Daniel Bress correctly observed in his dissent that the measure made “state-controlled, speech-enabling information” available only to the “incumbent public-sector union that serves as the exclusive bargaining representative employees paid with public funds” while denying that same information to everyone else. The Freedom Foundation’s subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court, supported by 13 amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs submitted by a diverse and distinguished group of First Amendment advocates, challenges the fundamental viewpoint discrimination manifest in I-1501. In response, the state and union-backed initiative campaign abandoned their previous position that the initiative is “beyond First Amendment scrutiny.” Instead, they now assert that I-1501 only makes a permissible “status-based” distinction between speakers. As exclusive bargaining representative for the employees, they claim, the incumbent unions are somehow entitled to a monopoly over access to the information needed to communicate with the employees. The Freedom Foundation’s reply motion noted that, in fact, it is being denied access to what should be public information solely on the basis of its pro-employee viewpoint. Silencing one side of a debate on an issue of public importance is one of the chief evils the First Amendment guards against. Employees can learn of about the rights affirmed by Janus and Harris only if Boardman, Thurber and Benn — to say nothing of the Freedom Foundation — know who those employees are, and by keeping public information secret the state actually does stifle public debate. Boardman is just one more, albeit very important, step in a long process of freeing public-sector workers from union oppression. The essential issue in Boardman v. Inslee is whether the caregivers’ contact information must be made readily available to everyone who requests it — as public disclosure laws require for nearly all public employees — or whether unions alone deserve exclusive access to it. Controlling access to the means of communication with union members is just one more way the unions seek to suppress freedom of speech. And unless the court wants to see its earlier rulings in Harris and Janus eroded to the point of irrelevance, it needs to hear (and rule correctly on) Boardman.

What he said: “The Freedom Foundation uses the legal system as a weapon to advance the agenda of their corporate funders by attacking organizations like SEIU 503 who fight for workers on the BEN MORRIS Communications front lines.” What he meant: “I

director, SEIU 503 Interview, KTVZ March 30, 2021

have no idea whether or not corporations actually fund the Freedom Foundation. And since the group’s focus is limited almost exclusively to unions whose members work for local, county and state government, it doesn’t make much sense for them to. But in my job, telling the truth isn’t a big item.” n n n What he said: “They’re welcome to make their case. We assume this will make it to the state Supreme Court.” What he meant: “In other words, the Washington State Legislature doesn’t have REP. PAT SULLIVAN a mind of Washington its own. It State House exists solely to Majority Leader rubber-stamp Discussing Gov. Jay the Freedom Foundation’s capital Inslee’s halfbaked ideas gains tax lawsuit April 8, 2021 and then pass the buck to the state Supreme Court. However it turns out, though, don’t blame me.” n n n What he said: “ Let those opposed to Critical Race Theory learn what it’s about so they might frame their criticisms in some reality.” What he meant: “They know what it’s about. It’s about divisiveness, victimIVAR HUSA hood and hate. It’s Richland about assigning guilt Tri-Cities on the basis of skin Herald color. It’s about Facebook comment, teaching students they can never have July 17, 2021 pride in their country because of a practice that was ended 160 years ago. It’s about never letting scars heal. And at this point, it’s about indoctrinating their children with lies. That’s the reality.”

LIVING LIBERTY

A P U B LICAT ION O F T HE FR EED OM FOUNDAT ION

THE CASE FOR FREEDOM By PHILLIP CARL SALSMAN Reprinted from THE EPOCH TIMES JULY 15, 2021 merica has faced great challenges during the past year and a half: the CCP virus, deep political division, and the aggression of communist China. How have our teachers’ unions responded to these challenges? During the pandemic, front-line workers, such as doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers, dealt directly with sick and contagious patients, while other front-line workers, such as grocery store clerks and truck drivers, kept the material necessities of life available for all citizens. Many other workers retreated to home to work at a distance, while yet others lost their jobs and had to make do without an income. Not the teachers. Public school teachers’ unions refused to return to class even when religious and private school teachers were back in class. The evidence quickly showed that distance-learning was an abject failure. Public school unions didn’t care what harm was being done to the children that they were supposed to serve. These unions decided to serve the preferences of their duespaying teachers, who preferred to stay at home and get paid for doing so. No one could accuse public school teachers of rushing to the front lines. While the teachers refused to go to class, they nonetheless demanded vast sums of additional money for schools and for their own benefits. It was not exactly blackmail, but it was shameless. However, the unions didn’t stop there. They meddled in domestic politics. The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) demanded as a condition of returning to the classroom that Los Angeles defund the police. According to a Freedom Foundation report about a teacher suing the UTLA: “Defunding the police was one of several informal conditions UTLA claimed the school district would have to meet before its members would agree to resume in-school instruction. And like the union’s demand that charter schools be abolished, it had nothing whatsoever to do with making teachers safe during the COVID pandemic … The union wasn’t asking for better wages, benefits or working conditions. Instead, it had prioritized the radical liberal agenda of its leaders above the legitimate workplace concerns of its members — and was willing to hold the parents hostage until it got what it wanted.” Not satisfied with making de

Are Teachers’ Unions

cy, the teachers’ unions now wish to determine foreign policy. The United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) have adopted an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction policy within a broader “Resolution in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Perhaps the UESF would like to join Hamas in lobbing thousands of rockets at Israeli citizens. The UESF, as so many on the far left and far right, single out for condemnation the sole Jewish state in the world; apparently, they don’t care about the slaughter of Syrians, Iranians, Afghans, and Uyghurs that cannot be blamed on Jews. This is reminiscent of the Black Lives Matter movement that cares only about the dozen blacks killed by police but not the thousands killed by other blacks. Very selective “morality.” In response to the clear and hostile division of the two halves of the country, teachers’ unions have explicitly rejected being a unifying force, choosing to adopt the extremist critical race theory approach in their teaching. Their plan for children is to force them into racial divisions, berating the despised white race as “oppressors,” and enabling blacks and other minorities to write themselves off as “victims” with no hopes, because — you know — “systemic racism.” Second- and third-graders are segregated into races and must confess their “privilege” or “victimhood.” This isn’t just anti-American; it’s child abuse. Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), claims, along with various Democrat media figures, that Critical Race Theory is not being taught in schools — “Let’s be clear,” she says. “Critical Race Theory is not taught in elementary schools or high schools” — but, she warns, the AFT has a ready defense fund to use against anyone who tries to stop teachers from teaching critical race theory. The National Education Association has dedicated itself not only to teaching critical race theory in all 50 states, but also to crushing any opposition to critical race theory. Note what’s happening here. As the New York Post headline has it, “Embracing critical theory, teacher’s union says they — not parents — control what kids learn.” The teachers’ unions have gone

war against parents, and usurped parental authority over the education of children. While American teachers are obsessed with race and gender, students’ achievement in reading, math and science is mediocre. While Chinese students rated best in the world with a combined score of 1,731, U.S. students ranked 26th in the world with a combined score of 1,489, according to the World Population Review. Teachers don’t seem to care that America’s greatest adversary is outstripping the United States in education. The transfer of raising children from the family to the state and its agencies, in this case the teachers’ unions, is a dream of Marxism, a fulfillment of the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” which in practice means the dictatorship of the Communist Party. Teachers’ unions, with their advocacy of racism and their rejection of parents’ rights, are playing a major role in “divide and conquer,” the conquest of America by Democrat socialism. Philip Carl Salzman is professor emeritus of anthropology at McGill University, senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, fellow at the Middle East Forum, and president of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.

LIVING LIBERTY

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION

THE CASE FOR FREEDOM

By HUNTER TOWER Reprinted from BROADANDLIBERTY.com July 30, 2021

ennsylvania parents and grandparents: You’ve been lied to for months by the teachers’ unions, the media and politicians about whether Critical Race Theory is being taught in our Commonwealth’s schools. But the teachers’ unions may have overplayed their hand by streaming radical race and gender ideology directly into our living rooms and kitchens — and into the ears of parents, who previously had been largely unaware of what was being taught. Many across the state (and country) were not happy about what they heard. Nor should they be. First, we were told Critical Race Theory is a legal theory that is only taught in law schools. But after months of viral school board meeting videos in which parents called out board members over their displeasure at the radical curriculum, this lie would no longer suffice. Next, we were told that it wasn’t really Critical Race Theory, but rather “honest history” that examines “how today’s racial inequality is a systemic legacy of this country’s history.” But parents were having none of the semantic games. A philosophy that was meant to divide younger Americans and teach them to filter every aspect of their lives through the prism of race and oppression has, in fact, united parents and grandparents to oppose it. And it’s not just staunch conservatives who oppose CRT in classrooms, as reported recently by Politico. No well-meaning parent of any race wants their child to be taught to judge themselves and their classmates by their racial background instead of by the content of their character. Whatever vocabulary the classroom ideologues are using, the real goal is to turn Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech on its head. And it is so unpopular that currently 26 state legislatures, including Pennsylvania’s, are working on legislation to ban the practice. So how are the teachers’ unions and Leftist politicians responding? By brazenly announcing that they’re going to teach this poison to America’s children whether their parents want it or not. So says the head of the American Federation of Teachers, at least. The National Education Association (NEA), America’s largest teacher union, recently pledged $127,000 to promote Critical Race Theory and to fight the legislative attempts to ban it in K-12 schools. The NEA shockingly went further, also

CRT flap exposes teachers’ unions as the unprincipled radicals they always were

pledging $56,000 to find and distribute opposition research on organizations that oppose Critical Race Theory. This shows just how far the teachers’ unions have moved from actual education. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teachers’ union in the country, announced plans to beef up its legal defense fund with $2.5 million more to legally defend teachers who suffer consequences for teaching CRT in violation of state law. These aren’t the teachers’ unions’ dollars alone. That’s your money, in the form of taxpayer dollars that go to pay teachers who, in turn, are forced to hand over a portion of their paychecks to teachers’ unions. The unions then use it to fund a political agenda many teachers themselves oppose. But wait, there’s more. The left- leaning Zinn Education Project, an organization founded to promote the socialist vision of revisionist historian Howard Zinn, has created a pledge asking teachers to commit to teaching children that America “was founded on dispossession of Native Americans, slavery, structural racism and op-

pression; and structural racism is a defining characteristic of our society today.” More than 5,500 teachers across the country have signed this pledge, including some Pennsylvania activist teachers. What is their plan for the country when an entire generation of children have been taught that its foundations are evil? For more than a year now, teachers’ unions have made it clear they are political entities first and foremost, and their priority is not our children’s education. But many teachers disagree with the political agenda, and CRT was the last straw. The Freedom Foundation has heard from numerous teachers in recent weeks and months who are tired of supporting these unions with their taxpayer-funded paychecks and are opting out of union membership. This includes teachers in Pennsylvania. We’re here to help. For all their progressive rhetoric, teachers’ unions are among the biggest bullies in the country, silencing teachers who disagree into compliance — and working hard to maintain a failing monopoly on our kids’ education. But they’ve overplayed their hands, and many parents and teachers are finding their voice Hunter Tower is the Pennsylvania state director for the Freedom Foundation.

Modest win on records request could yield big results

ot all battles are won on the center stage. Indeed, sometimes the biggest victories are seen by the fewest sets of

eyes. Case in point: This past week, the Freedom Foundation’s Pennsylvania outreach team received great results from an appeal of a right-to-know law (“RTKL”) request filed in early July. On Aug. 5 — warp speed by government standards — we obtained all of the requested records from Lehigh County. The appeal was made to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (“OOR”) against Lehigh County for denying disclosure of the Freedom Foundation’s right-to-know request. In June, we had sought information regarding public employees working in and for Lehigh County. The Freedom Foundation needs this con-

By BEN STRAKA, Policy Analyst

tact information in order to inform public employees that, under the First Amendment, they can no longer be forced to join a labor union or support one with their dues or fees. Lehigh County officials denied the release of the requested information for three flimsy reasons: n they claimed the information is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and disclosure would violate an employee’s right to freedom of association; n they asserted employee payroll deductions are protected personal identifiers under the RTKL; and, n lastly, they argued that union dues

information may be redacted because it is personal financial information, also protected under the RTKL. The Freedom Foundation appealed this blanket denial to the OOR, laying out its responses in opposition to Lehigh County’s position. Lehigh County saw the writing on the wall and, 23 days after filing the appeal, the county sent a letter acknowledging its “error” in denying the original request and releasing all the requested records. While not exactly a banner-headline win, from tiny acorns do mighty oaks grow. Likewise, a quiet, administrative decision made deep within the bowels of an obscure Pennsylvania public agency has the potential to mean freedom from union servitude for hundreds — if not thousands — of government employees.

LIVING LIBERTY

A P U BL IC AT I ON OF T HE FREEDOM FOUNDAT I ON

Freedom Foundation files suit to block unionization of state legislative aides Reprinted from the ASSOCIATED PRESS Aug. 10, 2021

nlawsuit filed in Oregon Appellate Court in early August is challenging the efforts of staff within Oregon’s Legislature to unionize. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Freedom Foundation — a

group that combats public-sector unions in Oregon, Washington and California — is seeking judicial review of the state Employment Relations

Oregon Update

A closer look at the successes being achieved by the Freedom Foundation’s office in the Beaver State.

A GRANDE, Ore. — Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen didn’t come right out and threaten not to enforce Gov. Kate Brown’s reinstated COVID mask mandate, but he came about as close as he could without actually saying the words. “As sheriff of Union County,” he wrote in a letter to the governor on Aug. 13, “I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and stand up and defend the people of this beautiful county we call home. “We have a God-given right to freedom,” Bowen continued, “and the God-given right to choose what is best for ourselves and our children. Let us do so.” Two days earlier, citing a spike in the number of hospitalizations and the emergence of the COVID Delta variant, Brown and Oregon Health Authority leaders announced that indoor mask use would be mandatory starting Aug. 13. Bowen noted the virus hasn’t caused as much trouble in the state’s more rural areas, and argued his county shouldn’t be treated the same as those where its impacts are being felt more acutely. “You sit on the other side of the state and dictate with a heavy hand,” Bowen told the governor. “You ramble off your orders to the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education, telling them to carry out your mindless orders or face the consequences of your threats. “You are causing more damage to our children than any virus ever could,” he wrote, “and you hide behind the misrepresentation that you care for us all. You, ma’am, care nothing about the children or the people of eastern Oregon.” Freedom Foundation Oregon director Jason Dudash believes Bowen isn’t the only government official in the state who disagrees with Brown, and encouraged

Board’s ruling that cleared the way for legislative staff to vote to unionize in late May. Jason Dudash, Oregon director of the Freedom Foundation, said he believes the idea of a union is “fundamentally incompatible” with the work of the Legislature. “Unionizing legislative assistants will compromise the integrity of the legislative branch and erode trust by the people toward their elected lawmakers,” Dudash said in a statement Friday. The group argues that the bargaining unit representing legislative assistants is in conflict with the state law dividing power between Oregon’s three branches of government. The argument is nearly identical to one made by the Oregon Legislature itself last December when it objected to unionization efforts organized by staffer. According to court documents, the petition lists State Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, and Sarah Wallan Daley — Wallan’s daughter and legislative director — as petitioners. In May, legislative employees within Oregon’s Capitol voted to become the first in the nation to unionize, after a 75-31 vote by staff. The unionization, which has been informally discussed for years, meant that 180 Capitol aides would be joining International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 89 and can begin taking steps toward bargaining with the Legislature on a contract for the first time. Legislative aides help lawmakers with scheduling, keeping track of bills and votes, community relations, policy work and serve as liaisons between state agencies. The hours they work can be extended beyond the typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as floor sessions and committee meetings can carry on into the night.

Oregon sheriff blasts governor’s reinstatement of COVID regs, says she doesn’t care about kids

By JEFF RHODES, VP for NEWS & INFORMATION

others to engage in the same sort of principled resistance to her mandates. “Gov. Brown has only been consistent about one thing throughout the entire pandemic,” he said, “and that is that she does not trust Oregonians to be able to

make the best decisions for themselves and for their families.” Dudash continued, “This isn’t leadership. It’s a direct assault on individual liberty, and it’s despicable.” “Will raise our children as we see fit,” Bowen concluded. “We will choose to wear a mask or choose not to wear a mask. We will choose to be vaccinated or not to be vaccinated. Your mindless dictates will no longer be tolerated.”

LIVING LIBERTY

A PUBLI CATION OF THE FREED OM FOU NDATION

Freedom Foundation message gets a warm welcome at UCLA

n June 28 — or, as we like to call it, Janiversary — canvassers from the Freedom Foundation’s California office marked the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME by spreading its message of worker liberation all over the UCLA campus. Equipped with Opt Out Today handouts and a passion for freeing public employees of union bondage, all of our LA area team members came together to reach every corner of the school’s southern California home. With predictable results. Within the first hour, one woman came running out of a building flailing her arms and yelling incoherently at the canvassers. Anticipating a pro-union tirade, the canvassers were shocked to discover she welcomed their visit. After introducing herself as Judy, she explained that she works in one of the medical buildings on campus and is a shift lead in her department. She said her entire team vents its frustrations about their union to her regularly, but she did not know how to help them. After learning the Freedom Foundation was on campus, she ran out to

collect literature and opt-out forms she could take back to her department break room to spread the word to all her coworkers. It’s encounters like this that fuel the fire for Freedom Fighters across the nation. As one of the largest universities in California, UCLA has more than a dozen different public-sector unions representing campus employees from the education departments to the janitorial and maintenance

If students are kept out of class again, it’s just because teachers’ unions need a bargaining chip Note: This is the first in a three-part series considering the justifications, costs, and alternatives to continued unjustifiable school closures due to COVID-19.

ith the rise of the so-called “Delta variant” of COVID-19, the threat of public schools once again eliminating in-person instruction looms over the coming school year. Besides wondering how this continued reliance on remote video conferencing software will affect the price of ZOOM stock, the most obvious question is whether COVID-19 even presents a statistically significant risk to our children that would justify the previous or upcoming closures. Not even close. Of all segments of the population, school-age children and the relatively young and healthy are by far the least at-risk of serious illness or death due to COVID-19. As revealed by the following data compiled by the New York Times, American youngsters are far more likely to die of drowning or in a car accident than they are from COVID-19. But we don’t hear lawmakers, bureaucrats or the ever-shifting Dr. Fauci calling for the closure of swimming pools or improving the design of children’s car seats. So if it’s statistically almost impossible for kids to die of COVID, how likely is it they’ll even contract the virus? According to hard numbers following data, of the tiny group of children who could potentially even catch COVID-19, barely

By RACHEL WEIGEL, California Outreach Director

staff, to the researchers working on numerous studies. Then, too, there is the Ronald Reagan Medical Center right in the center of the campus where thousands of unionized public employees and healthcare workers are employed. All of this together creates a target-rich environment for the Freedom Foundation in California to do what we do best — educate public employees about their constitutional rights and help workers opt out of government unions. In just a few short weeks of canvassing, we’ve already seen a significant number of UCLA employees cease their union dues, and we’ve met many employees like Judy who are grateful to learn they do not have to be stuck with a union that does not support them.

Spotlight on

California

By TIMOTHY R. SNOWBALL, Litigation Counsel

one in 50 will show any long-term symptoms. In fact, there is a 50 percent likelihood that children with COVID-19 will be totally asymptomatic, and of those with any symptoms, the most common are headache and fatigue. Compare these risks with those presented by the flu or, again, motor vehicle accidents. A final remaining question might be whether the tiny number of kids who will even catch COVID-19 are capable of spreading it to more vulnerable mem-

A closer look at the successes being achieved by the Freedom Foundation’s office in the Golden State.

bers of their family or community. Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, the answer appears to be no. A recent study in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that not only are young children at low risk for catching COVID-19, but also don’t play a significant role in spreading the virus by attending school. So where does this leave us? Unfortunately, while children make a very poor case in point for COVID scaremongers, they are excellent pawns for those who have no qualms about trading their education in exchange for gains at the bargaining table. In a word, teachers’ unions. We can only hope that school boards across the country will resist the pressure exerted by local bureaucrats and their allies in organized labor to make decisions that not only are unsupported by science, but in the short- and long run cause our children more harm than good.

LIVING LIBERTY

A P U B LICAT ION O F T HE FR EED OM FOUNDAT ION

FREEDOM in ACTION

Letter to the Editor: Seattle Times reporter Joseph O’Sullivan’s Aug. 2 article (“How unions are racking up new wins in Democratic-controlled Washington state,”) documented the control government unions exert over public policy in Olympia, but the coercive source of that influence deserves more attention. For decades, public employees could be fired for not paying union fees. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down such laws in 2018, holding that unions must secure employees’ voluntary authorization before deducting dues from their paychecks. Unions turned to state lawmakers to unionize more workers and shore up their coercive dues-collection scheme. The Democratic majority delivered. Public employees are now routinely unionized without the opportunity to vote in secret-ballot elections. New hires are subjected to coercive, captive-audience membership pitches with union organizers. While dues deductions can be authorized in writing, electronically, or over the phone at any time, deductions can only be canceled in writing during arbitrary escape periods. When these heavy-handed tactics fail, some unions have even been caught forging employees’ signatures on membership forms. Still, with Freedom Foundation assistance, tens of thousands of public employees are successfully finding the exits. In June, more than one-third of the 36,000 Washington Federation of State Employees-represented employees at state agencies had no dues deducted from their paychecks. MAXFORD NELSEN, Labor Policy Director The Freedom Foundation, Olympia

Still-pending mask litigation could play a deciding role in vaccination controversy

f Govs. Jay Inslee and Kate Brown get their way, COVID vaccinations will soon be a condition of employment for public employees in Washington and Oregon. This week, Inslee and local officials announced that the state of Washington, King County and the city of Seattle would require their employees to either be fully vaccinated against the virus or face possible termination. Oregon’s Brown quickly followed suit, announcing all public employees under the state executive branch of government would also be required to vaccinate or lose their job. In response, the Freedom Foundation has been flooded with phone calls, emails and messages through social media asking for assistance. “Who, if anyone, is going to stand up and fight back against this government overreach?” they ask. Last year, the Freedom Foundation filed lawsuits up and down the west coast to address the unconstitutional COVID-related overreach of liberal governors. In addition to filing lawsuits, we discovered through public records requests that Washington health officials were using faulty reporting methodology in order to inflate the number of COVID deaths. In several cases, Washington even classified gunshot victims as COVID deaths. The first lawsuit we filed was against Thurston County, one of the initial counties in Washington to require masks in public. The Freedom Foundation was successful in that lawsuit, but a few days later Inslee imposed a statewide mask mandate. The Freedom Foundation responded by fil-

CAPITAL GAINS From page 1

ington attorney Charles Zalesky said the statute he was relying on did not apply to the city tax. Nonetheless, the Court of Appeals ruled on the constitutionality of the Seattle tax in 2020, and the decision striking it down was issued before any tax had been imposed or paid. Nor is paying the tax the only possible form of injury. Even Purcell conceded the new tax will undoubtedly force the plaintiffs to engage in financial planning this year to decide whether to acquire or dispose of taxable assets. He suggested they could obtain standing by selling

By MATTHEW HAYWARD, Outreach Director

ing a lawsuit against the governor for abuse of his emergency powers. That case is still pending. Known as the Sehmel case, it was originally filed in Lewis County, but the state wanted it to be heard in Thurston, with the judge’s ruling now on appeal to Division II. Our opening brief is due Sept. 13. Another lawsuit challenging Washington’s mask requirements was filed in Skamania County. The Freedom Foundation filed a reply brief in the Court of Appeals, Division II, challenging a similar request by the state to move the case to Thurston County Superior Court because we believe the case should stay in Skamania County, where our clients — the actual victims of Inslee’s dictates — live and work. In Oregon, the Freedom Foundation launched a similar legal battle in July 2020 over abuse of Brown’s emergency powers in Mooney v. Oregon . The legal process is a long one, and while the concern of the day for many is related to forced vaccinations, the Freedom Foundation’s current litigation may end up being crucial in limiting the governor’s ability to parlay emergency powers into a monarchy. The Freedom Foundation is not anti-vaccine, but believes strongly in individual liberty and choice. We will continue to actively work to hold government accountable, and to question the legitimacy of what appears to be clear overreaching of authorities.

off property closer to the end of the year and paying the tax early to determine just how damaging it would be. Alternatively, Purcell said, the plaintiffs could simply move to a state with no capital gains tax and pay nothing at all. Lane Powell attorney Callie Castille argued the state’s motion to dismiss was simply a ploy to divert attention from the more pressing issue. “This is a challenge to the constitutionality of legislation passed by the state,” she said. “It doesn’t have to take effect or harm the plaintiffs in order to be unconstitutional.” Huber announced at the hearing’s conclusion that he would spend the next week or so working on his response to the state’s motion to dismiss, as well as a motion to hear the case in Olympia rather than Douglas County.

LIVING LIBERTY

A PUBL ICAT ION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION

FREEDOM in the NEWS IN PRINT

AUG. 9, 2021

Freedom Foundation Files Suit to Block Unionization of Oregon’s Capitol Staff “Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Freedom Foundation — a group that combats public sector unions in Oregon, Washington and California — is seeking judicial review of the state Employment Relations Board’s ruling that cleared the way for legislative staff to vote to unionize in late May. Jason Dudash, Oregon director of the Freedom Foundation, said he believes the idea of a union is “fundamentally incompatible” with the work of the Legislature.”

ON LINE

Aug. 2, 2021

Critic of Guaranteed Income Fears Payout Will Lead to Inflation, Dependency and Precedence “Once you establish a policy like this and extend a benefit, people become reliant upon it and you are never able to modify it,” said Timothy A. Snowball, litigation counsel for the Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. “If California signs this thing into law, we will never not have a basic income like this.”

ONLINE

AUG. 18, 2021

Court Battle Over Capital Gains Tax Could Rewrite Washington’s Tax Code “The conservative Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit over the tax even before Gov. Jay Inslee signed the legislation. Supporters of the tax created in SB 5096 describe it as an excise tax on the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets above $250,000, excepting real estate and family-owned small businesses.

IN PRINT

How Will Critical Race Theory Arguments Affect the Next School Year in Ohio? “Different people can disagree about the phraseology or the semantics of what we’re calling it,” said Ashley Varner, vice president of the Freedom Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank. “But parents across the country and across all socioeconomic backgrounds, races and political ideologies are saying they do not want this taught to their children.”

Two nights.

Two iconic speakers. Kayleigh McEnany, press secretary for former President Donald Trump, will be the keynote speaker at the Freedom Foundation’s 2021 annual Oregon banquet on Sept. 25 in Hillsboro, Ore. Meanwhile, columnist, author, educator and conservative legend Victor Davis Hanson

Aug. 6, 2021

will speak at the Freedom Foundation’s 2021 annual banquet on Oct. 22 in Bellevue, Wash. Tickets for both events will go on sale Aug. 2. Call (360) 956-3482 for information or go online to www.freedomfoundation.com. Links to both events are now up on the website.

LIVING LIBERTY

A P U BL IC AT I ON OF T HE FREEDOM FOUNDAT I ON

ACTION TIMELINE SPOTLIGHTING SOME OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION’S NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PAST MONTH JULY 21 Freedom Foundation attorneys file a response to questions raised by attorneys for the state of Washington and SEIU in Boardman et al v. Inslee, currently on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet announced whether it will consider the case. Boardman seeks to overturn Initiative 1501, which Washington voters passed overwhelmingly in 2016, believing it would beef up penalties for identity theft. In fact, the measure was intended solely to deny the Freedom Foundation access to the contact information for thousands of union-represented homecare providers in order to keep them from hearing about their right to decline union membership and dues. AUG. 5 Following an appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, the Freedom Foundation obtains all of the records it had earlier requested from Lehigh County. The appeal came when Lehigh County refused to comply with a right-toknow request in June seeking information regarding public employees working in and for the county.

The Freedom Foundation appealed the county’s blanket denial to the OOR and, 23 days later, Lehigh County sent a letter acknowledging its “error” and releasing all the requested records AUG. 10 A lawsuit is filed in Oregon Appellate Court challenging the efforts of staff within Oregon’s Legislature to unionize. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Freedom Foundation is seeking judicial review of the state Employment Relations Board’s ruling that cleared the way for legislative staff to vote to unionize in late May. AUG. 18 Douglas County Superior Court considers a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Freedom Foundation and the Seattle law firm of Lane Powell challenging Washington’s recently passed capital gains tax. The plaintiffs argue the tax is actually an income tax because it taxes property, and income taxes that treat taxpayers differently are banned by the state’s constitution. Lawyers for

Leaving a

Legacy of Liberty Freedom Foundation Chairman of the Board Steve Neighbors passed away suddenly last fall, but he did more in his lifetime to advance to cause of freedom than most Americans could do in 10. As a tribute to Steve’s enduring impact on the organization he loved, his widow, Betty, decided to create an annual award to be presented — along with a cash prize — to the Freedom Foundation staff member who best personified Steve’s devotion to the cause of freedom. Fittingly, it will be called the Freedom Fighter of the Year Award. Please consider making a donation in Steve’s name to honor his legacy and reward a stalwart warrior in the fight for freedom. Call:

(360) 956-3482

By the numbers Opt outs reached an all-time one-day high for 2021 on Aug. 17, when 264 public employees from around the nation chose freedom thanks to the Freedom Foundation’s expanded outreach efforts. The state of Pennsylvania alone accounted for 100 government employees who opted out their unions. the state say the plaintiffs lack standing to file suit because the tax won’t actually be collected until 2023, so no one knows yet the extent to which they will be damaged by the tax — or if they will have to pay it at all. AUG. 19 The Freedom Foundation reveals it has obtained an audio tape from a meeting between employees newly hired by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) and a representative of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WSFE) in which the union operative repeatedly lies and disparages the organization. By law, unions are given exclusive access to new state hires for what is clearly a 30-minute recruiting pitch. Other voices are excluded from the presentations, enabling the union to lie with impunity. The

Freedom Foundation is considering filing a lawsuit to expose how these captive-audience meetings violate the law.

AUG. 19 Washington Gov. Jay Inslee reinstates statewide COVID mandates including requirements that private citizens wear masks for any indoor activity and mandatory vaccination for all state teachers. His actions come a week after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown reimposes similar mandates in her state. “We’re a year-and-a-half into this virus and Washingtonians just want to be left alone to go about their lives and make their own choices about their health and their children’s education,” said Aaron Withe, Freedom Foundation CEO. “By now, they know the facts at least as well as the governor. And they’ve demonstrated far more concern for the welfare of themselves and their families than he has. It’s time to trust the free will of the people rather than morphing into the nanny state Jay Inslee wants so badly to create.”