A bill that would protect Washington workers from being fired and/or totally broke due to unforeseen illness and pregnancy has the overwhelming support of 73 percent of Washington state voters, according to a poll commissioned by the Economic Opportunity Institute, a local advocate for the legislation.

Loosely known as the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Proposal, the bill would offer up to five weeks of paid leave to all in-state workers who need time off to care for newborn infants, seriously ill family members, or personal medical conditions. Cash flow problems would be remedied by the state, with qualifying recipients getting up to $250 per week.

If it passes, a payroll tax of $60 per year, per worker, would be implemented to pay for the coverage.

—Paul Rice

Counsel this

A funny thing happened on the way to the mayor making his “state of the city” speech to the Seattle City Council this year: He forgot to make it to the council.

On March 7, Mayor Nickels gave his annual address to a Rotary Club gathering no doubt attended by more than a few of his political supporters at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. The problem with that, City Council President Nick Licata pointed out in a testy press release last week, is that city law is quite clear on where and to whom the mayor sums things up each year – in City Hall, to the council.

Nickels no longer gives the speech in June, as stipulated by the City Charter, but “the mayor is still obligated by Charter to directly, or through a representative, address the council each year,” Licata noted in his statement. “Addressing the Downtown Rotary is not a substitute.”

Health reformers

Hot on the heals of the state House passing a first step toward healthcare reform (in a bill that lets individuals and small businesses buy private insurance as a group), a Seattle organization has booked a forum with U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle) to discuss the real thing.

This week, Physicians for a National Health Program will host McDermott and Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) at “Health Justice in Action,” an event that will look at current efforts to get universal healthcare, such a state bill introduced by Appleton. HB 1886 would provide $50 million to start a new Washington Health Security Trust, a single-payer system that would cover everyone in Washington.

The bill is unlikely to pass in this year’s Legislature, but organizers of the event, to be held March 16 (7-9 p.m.) at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall, believe the time is right to press for change. “We are reaching a tipping point in the debate on American health care,” says a statement from the physicians’ group. “Equality and fair access for everyone must outweigh the inequities we face.”

More information is available at www.pnhpwesternwashington.org.

—Cydney Gillis