Daily Archives: 01/12/2022
WA found out the 2022 legislative session is only 60 days! workingwa.org
| Today, WA legislators kick off the 2022 legislative session. And because it’s a so-called “short session” this year, they’ll only be meeting for 60 days. That means we’ve got just two months. In that time, we’re calling on legislators to: Support workers through this ongoing crisis. As COVID surges, we’re calling on legislators to ensure we can afford to pay our bills, put food on our tables, and stay in our homes. And we need stronger health and safety protections for workers across industries — both during this crisis and beyond. Fix our state’s broken unemployment system. That means fighting for accountability at ESD and changes in the law to make sure the system does what it’s supposed to: pay benefits promptly to people who lose work. Unemployed workers, who’ve been speaking out about this system failure since the pandemic crisis began, will be demanding legislators take meaningful action to guarantee equitable access to benefits. Support undocumented immigrants who lose work. Last year, we helped win more than $460 million in relief for undocumented workers, who’ve been excluded from unemployment insurance and federal stimulus programs because of their immigration status. But immigrant workers need a permanent solution. Now, we’re calling on lawmakers to create a permanent income support system for undocumented people who lose work. Tax the richest humans in WA to fund an equitable recovery. We made tremendous progress last year when we helped pass the capital gains tax on extraordinary profits from the sale of stocks and bonds. That was an important step in the right direction—but it’s past time for legislators to take bolder action by passing a wealth tax on WA billionaires and investing in an equitable recovery. Corporate lobbyists will be out in force this year, pushing their agenda of more for them and less for the rest of us. So it’s crucial that we join together and let legislators know What Workers Want, too. We’re counting on you to step up, raise your voice, and demand what we need from our representatives. This is still a crisis for WA workers — together, we’ll make sure legislators act like it. Stay tuned, —Working Washington workingwa.org |
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1915 – The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.
1948 – U.S. President Truman signed executive orders that prohibited discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed this executive order establishing the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, committing the government to integrating the segregated military.
In 1940, the US population was about 131 million, 12.6 million of which was African American, or about 10 percent of the total population. During World War II, the Army had become the nation’s largest minority employer. Of the 2.5 million African Americans males who registered for the draft through December 31, 1945, more than one million were inducted into the armed forces. Along with thousands of black women, these inductees served in all branches of service and in all Theaters of Operations during World War II.
During World War II, President Roosevelt had responded to complaints about discrimination at home against African Americans by issuing Executive Order 8802 in June 1941, directing that blacks be accepted into job-training programs in defense plants, forbidding discrimination by defense contractors, and establishing a Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC).
After the war, President Harry S. Truman faced a multitude of problems and allowed Congress to terminate the FEPC. However, in December 1946, Truman appointed a distinguished panel to serve as the President’s Commission on Civil Rights, which recommended “more adequate means and procedures for the protection of the civil rights of the people of the United States.” When the commission issued its report, “To Secure These Rights,” in October 1947, among its proposals were anti-lynching and anti-poll tax laws, a permanent FEPC, and strengthening the civil rights division of the Department of Justice.
In February 1948, President Truman called on Congress to enact all of these recommendations. When Southern Senators immediately threatened a filibuster, Truman moved ahead on civil rights by using his executive powers. Among other things, Truman bolstered the civil rights division, appointed the first African American judge to the Federal bench, named several other African Americans to high-ranking administration positions, and most important, on July 26, 1948, he issued an executive order abolishing segregation in the armed forces and ordering full integration of all the services.
Executive Order 9981 stated that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” The order also established an advisory committee to examine the rules, practices, and procedures of the armed services and recommend ways to make desegregation a reality. There was considerable resistance to the executive order from the military, but by the end of the Korean conflict, almost all the military was integrated.
Download a high-resolution version of this document from the National Archives’ Online Public Access Database.
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