
Elizabeth New (Hovde) shares an opinion column about private salary negotiations between the state and public employee unions
Elizabeth New (Hovde)
Washington Policy Center
Should salary negotiations between the state and public employee unions be private? No. They help no one. I wrote an opinion column about this with Jason Mercier, vice president at Mountain States Policy Center, and Jackson Maynard, executive director of the Citizen Action Defense Fund. It ran in a handful of publications this week. Find it here or here.
I’ll have another blog out soon about Tuesday’s “Walkout for Washington.” This public employee action was organized by the Washington Federation of State Employees to protest state salary offers. The crazy thing about the walkout is that union members involved in it don’t even know the details of the pay-increase proposals or the negotiating that is in play. Stay tuned.
Elizabeth New (Hovde) is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.
Also read:
- Opinion: A year in review of news stories from a former sports guyClark County Today reporter Paul Valencia reflects on his evolving role, revisiting major news, community debates, sports moments, and human-interest stories that shaped Clark County in 2025.
- Opinion: Ready for another pay decrease from the state? It happens Jan. 1Elizabeth New (Hovde) argues that Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave payroll tax increase will further reduce workers’ take-home pay beginning Jan. 1.
- Opinion: Justice for none – Court hands down a mandate without a dime to fund itNancy Churchill argues that a Washington Supreme Court ruling on public defense imposes costly mandates on local governments without providing funding to implement them.
- Letter: When headlines gaslight the publicVancouver resident Peter Bracchi argues that emotionally charged immigration headlines blur legal distinctions and mislead the public rather than inform it.
- Opinion: California’s unemployment debt crisis mirrors Washington’s Employment Security Department failuresMark Harmsworth compares California’s growing unemployment insurance debt with Washington’s Employment Security Department failures and argues both states must reform or risk continued economic harm.







