1. Mike McGinn will announce he’s running for mayor today.
2. Environmentalists and Democratic leadership in Olympia will reach a compromise on the I-937 bill this week.
3. The state Senate will not release its budget this week.
4. Testifying in court papers in a case about the Building Industry Association of Washington’s workers comp fund, a dean and professor of accounting at the U.W.’s business school accuses the BIAW of things like “misappropriating” and “commingling” funds, and he says he has “found that the Trust’s practices described herein may have deprived the beneficiaries of as much as $4.9 million…”
It’s already well-known that the BIAW spent workers’ money from the fund on political campaigns—and the state House is hearing a Senate bill today to correct the problem. But the prof’s testimony implies something else entirely: Even if spending fund money on political campaigns was legal, raising the money through things like misappropriating and commingling funds—was not.
Aaron Ostrom, the director of Fuse, the liberal activist group that’s promoting the lawsuit against the BIAW’s controversial workers’ comp fund, says: “The conventional wisdom in most circles is that the basic setup for how they [the BIAW] divert money from workers comp is actually legal. The problem here is how they are raising money, beyond the basic 20% cut. If you steal it, it doesn’t matter how you spend it—it’s illegal.”
5. If the polling is accurate, Mayor Nickels won’t make it through the primary.
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Is that from a source or hunch on #3?
On #5, you have to be kidding. Details already.
On #4, the BIAW combined finds in the millions and placed them into first one “shell” PAC and then transferred them into another. Some 90% of the combined laundered funds were then paid out to a single California consultant who did all the media buys and political work. Many of the checks received by BIAW and deposited into these funds were deposited even though the payees did not match up. Some were even payable to Dino Rossi.
The point here is that the BIAW played loose with many laws in its administration of its campaign project over the past few years. With this in mind and with over ten million dollars going through one consulting firm, a firm with a profoundly loosing record, it makes one curiouse of what benefit caused the BIAW to stick with them.
Josh, you are such a tease! #5 Spill it before someone gets a Page to hide your new credentials like an Easter egg!
Is that from a source or hunch on #3?