What's One Thing You Do to Make Ends Meet That State Politicians Don't Know Anything About?

This Monday in Olympia, the House Appropriations committee will be hearing about bills that could raise the minimum wage and provide paid sick time for workers in Washington State. The business lobby will certainly be out in force, and while some legislators own businesses, not one of these politicians lives on minimum wage. (And none of them have to worry about missing a day’s wages if they get the flu.)

So we figured it’s time to remind them what it’s really like, by asking you one simple question:

We know from experience in Seattle and SeaTac that it matters when politicians hear from regular people about living on minimum wage, or going without basic workplace protections like paid sick time. Tell us your story, and we'll bring it down to Olympia on Monday.

Callous Rep Matt Manweller loses straw-man argument with himself before House Labor Committee

Touching on the various topics of daytime TV, calloused hands, green T-shirts, and the fact that things change over the course of 30 years as well as 78 years, Rep. Matt Manweller’s out-of-touch and self-satirizing get-off-my-lawn rant is must-watch video that shows it’s actually possible to use straw-man arguments — and still lose to the straw man. Just three days earlier, his committee heard personal testimony from working people about their struggles with low-wage jobs. Manweller’s rant demonstrated he must not have heard a single world they said.

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