Murray: Vote means ‘teachers going back to work

As the U.S. Senate cut off a
Republican filibuster and cleared for passage a $26 billion aid package
to states, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., declared: “This is not politics.
This is teachers going back to work.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would call the U.S. House
of Representatives back from its summer recess to vote final approval
for the legislation. Murray cheered the move, saying: “We can’t wait
until September.”

The legislation provides $10 billion to states and local
school districts to stop the layoff of teachers, and $16 billion in aid
to deficit-plagued states: Washington will get about $543 million, the
bulk of the dollars for Medicaid, the state and federal plan that
provides health care for the poor.

“This maintains critically important services in tough
economic times,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in an interview with
seattlepi.com.

The pricetag for the legislation is paid with cuts in other federal programs and a provision closing a tax loophole.

The aid package picked up two Republicans, Sens. Susan
Collins and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, to secure the 61 votes needed to cut
off debate and move to final passage. Murray, an architect of the
bill, explained the laborious process needed to secure those two votes.

“The question was: How do we get two Republican votes?” said
Murray. “We listened to their concerns. We went back, cut the funding
quite a bit, scaled back the package. Then, they (Snowe and Collins)
said it was not paid for. We went back and did that.”

Still, Republican leaders denounced the aid package.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, said:
“Washington needs to take care of its own fiscal mess, not deepen it by
bailing out the states.”

“When you go to the essence of what this bill is about, it’s to pay off education

unions,” Sen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, told the Washington Post.
“Lets not be coy about what’s happening around here. The education
unions are the single biggest interest group represented at the
Democratic National Convention.”

Murray, once a school board member in Shoreline, saw things differently.

“We need to move immediately,” she said. “The school
districts are trying to manage. They need to know, sooner rather than
later, how many teachers they will be able to employ.

“We’re not talking about teachers’ unions. We are talking
about kids in classrooms and the quality of their education.”

President Obama, in a statement, argued: “We know that
economic prosperity and educational success go hand in hand. That’s why
I’m urging the Senate to pass this legislation that will prevent local
budget cuts and save thousands of teacher jobs across the country.”

Murray and Cantwell were sharply critical of Republican Senate leaders for blocking legislation.

Cantwell is an architect of a $30 billion package of small business loans and aid to

community banks, stalled just short of the 60 votes needed to break a
filibuster. She is hoping one Republican, retiring Sen. George
Voinovich, R-Ohio, will break ranks to provide the 60th vote.

“Some people think we should just bail out the big banks and
let it trickle down,” Cantwell said. “Well, 80 percent of the jobs
lost have been in small business. The NFIB (National Federation of
Independent Business) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they want this.

“When you hold up job growth, for small business, it’s partisanship.”

Murray, a member of the Senate leadership, added: “We’ve
faced this for four months. Help for community banks, small business,
removing the liability cap for oil spills — the answer they give us
always ‘No’.”

– SeattlePI.com