Despite a $2.8 billion deficit and the likelihood of nearly $1 billion in new taxes to stave off cutting vital services to the most vulnerable members of society (Gregoire’s favorite descriptive term), Democrat lawmakers found some money in the budget to keep funding the labor union gravy train. 

In the midst of the state’s budgetary crisis, the House and Senate are moving budget proposals that include a $6.5 million dollar giveaway to the powerful Service Employees International Union.  The money will be used to start a training and certification program for people providing in-home care services to the sick and elderly.   

Granted, the creation of such a training program was approved by voters in 2008 (via Initiative 1029).  But in 2008 Governor Gregoire was saying there was no deficit and boasting of Washington’s "fiscal discipline that has left us they envy of other states with a savings account of $850 million going into the next budget year."  

Based on that fantastical claim, voters figured there was plenty of money to fund the SEIU sponsored I-1029 (SEIU spent nearly $1 million to get their self-promoting measure passed). 

Fast forward one year and Gregoire was knee deep in a $9 billion deficit.  To her credit, she kept her campaign promise and held the line on raising taxes, instead making some cuts to state spending while relying on a chunk of one-time federal stimulus money to plug the hole.  One of the programs Gregoire put off funding was the creation of the home-care training program. 

But now that Gregoire’s no-new-taxes crazy talk is ancient history, Democrats who want the powerful SEIU on their side come Election Day are paying the piper by giving SEIU $6.5 million to train home-care workers.  But that $6.5 million will actually result in even more money for SEIU.   

As an article by Washington State Wire's Erik Smith notes, the creation of a home-training program is a way for SEIU to grow its’ union membership because the money being handed to SEIU from the state will help train only those in-home workers who are members of the union.  In-home care workers who do not belong to the union get nothing—they are on the hook to pay for the costly training themselves.  This creates an awfully strong incentive for those non-union workers (of which there are estimated to be more than 60,000, with an additional 26,000 entering the field every two years) to start paying union dues. 

Not a bad return on a $1 million investment.