Braun Criticizes Cost, Secrecy of Collective Bargaining Agreement Reached Between Gov. Inslee and Union

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State Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, released a statement on Monday criticizing a collective bargaining agreement reached between Gov. Jay Inslee and the public employees union, who Braun referred to as Inslee’s “campaign donors.”

“I don’t fault public employees for wanting raises. Right now, we only know that the collective bargaining agreements will cost more than $1 billion from the general fund and $1.6 billion in total funds,” Braun said. “But there’s more than $1 billion in additional costs not accounted for yet. For what it will cost to give raises to a relative few, we could have given tax relief to everyone. Inslee and Democrats said no. Our plan to cut the gas tax would have shared the benefit among more than 7 million people statewide. Instead, the governor and the public employee unions who donate millions to his campaign crafted a raise and benefits package that rewards a fraction of Washingtonians.”

Braun said Republican demands for a reduction in the gas tax were met with claims the idea was unaffordable, something he believes was proven false by Inslee’s new agreement with the union.



Braun went on to argue Inslee’s claim a gas tax reduction would benefit oil companies was false and may have been cover to reserve money to “placate his donors.”

Adding to Braun’s frustration with the agreement is the secrecy of the negotiations. According to Braun, the Legislature doesn’t get to play a role in the negotiations and instead is given the choice to either approve or reject the final agreement.

“We can’t change any of the specifics,” Braun said. “And although the governor has pointed to the Joint Committee on Employment Relations as the mechanism for legislative oversight, the bipartisan group of members on the committee get no additional details beyond what is released to the public. They, too, must wait until after the deals are reached. Any claim that the existence of the committee means the Legislature is involved in the negotiations is nonsense.”