#michael baumgartner

[politicaldilfs]

50 Under 50 #13: Michael Baumgartner

Mm, sexy. Apparently hangs out on Grindr too! 😍

[seattlish]

The Washington State House made a shitty modification to the pregnancy accommodations bill

Jessyn Farrell, like a rock star, introduced an incredible pregnancy accommodations bill to the Washington State House this session. It passed the house yesterday—which is great! But before it passed, it was watered down below the standard of similar anti-discrimination bills.

While most anti-discrimination legislation applies to employers with eight employees or more, the bill was amended to match a Senate bill co-sponsored by Confirmed Douchechill Michael Baumgartner (and a-ok Karen Keiser), which only keeps employers with 15 or more employees on the hook for the legislation.

It’s a weird carve-out, giving employers with anywhere from eight to 14 employees special permission to not give reasonable accommodations like, say, bathroom breaks. Or letting pregnant people keep water at their desk. Or giving them less-strenuous work instead of making them take leave.

The revised bill gets far more specific than the original bill, as well—which sometimes in labor protections can be good, like providing a specific amount of leave. In this case, “reasonable accommodation includes, but is not limited to” got replaced with “reasonable accommodation means,” limiting the scope of the legislation. The revision only requires employers give “reasonable consideration” into other accommodations.

NARAL points out that while some argue that the legislation can be modified later, that doesn’t usually actually happen:

Supporters of the "compromise" bill pointed out that it can be amended to include all women at some future date. In our experience, these kinds of assurances have been empty promises. Washington state passed a law banning some, but not all, forms of marital rape in 1983. At the time, advocates were told it would be a simple matter to amend the law to make clear that marital rape is illegal under all circumstances. It took 30 years for legislators to make good on that promise. Washington women can't wait another 30 years to get workplace accommodations during pregnancy.

Like, it’s hard enough to get a bill passed, much less do housekeeping on that bill in a timely manner.

Congrats to Jessyn on getting a super-cool bill passed—along with a whole package of badass bills that provide increased access to both birth control and pregnancy leave! But boo on WALeg for modifying a great bill in a not-great way.

[floorcharts]

Who: Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-Washington)

X: https://x.com/RepBaumgartner

When: July 2025

What: Brycen Phillips

Watch on C-SPAN

Read the Congressional Record

[drcococalico]

So I've been spending several hours each day sending emails to congresscritters. The joy of retirement - time to be a pest! Today I'm working though, so I decided to call Rep Baumgarten while driving to town. (Yes, handsfree, no dialing while driving, all safe-like.) I thought it was early enough that I could just leave messages, but no - an actual person answered. Guy did not identify himself, just the office. Asked if he could get my name and email address so Rep can reply. Sure - but I've emailed probably a few hundred times already, and he's never replied to a single one of those, so... Oh. Well, okay, can I get that email address anyway? So we went through hell on this. Said it out. Spelled it out. Corrected spelling. Explained it's a phrase, with real words, spelled normally. Said each word individually. Corrected spelling. Corrected words again. Corrected spelling again. Finally he says "yeah, we have contact information associated with that email". No shit, honey. Would it have been easier or harder to find me by street address? who knows. Down to it now though. Why have I called? I am appalled and disgusted at the number of blatantly illegal things that Trump and his "first buddy" Musk are doing. This is unacceptable and they are trampling constitutional norms as well as breaking laws. I expect Mr Baumgarten, as my rep, to be standing up against this outrageous behavior. Guy sounds actually taken aback, like this is is a total surprise? "I'll pass that along to the Rep, is there anything else you wanted to say?" "Oh, yes, I've got a whole list. How many topics do I get per call?" "Is that an actual question?" "Yes it is, I've got many things." "Uh..." "Well, for one thing, the bill introduced, I believe from Arizona, to abolish OSHA is an assault on worker safety. If this bill is passed, people will die. It's a horrid joke of a bill and I expect my representative to vote against it for the safety of his constituency." "Uh, I'll pass that along, if that's everything ..." "AND, I find unacceptable any budget that cuts Medicaid, Medicare, even touches Social Security, decreases SNAP and child care, and so also should he, because those things affect the majority of his constituency. "OkI'llpassthatalonghaveaniceday" click

So I guess the answer is 3 topics. Also, I do not think this is likely at all but would be hilarious - I used to answer with the clinic name and not identify myself when helping reception, so clients didn't know they had the doctor. I doubt he's answering his own phone, but ...

[scottbcrowley2]

Michael Baumgartner, David Green differ on role of Spokane County treasurer - Mon, 24 Sep 2018 PST

Both candidates for Spokane County treasurer have lots of experience. But they differ on the kind of experience that’s better suited for the job and how to use that experience. Michael Baumgartner, David Green differ on role of Spokane County treasurer - Mon, 24 Sep 2018 PST

[wherethespiritmeetstheboneposts]

Michael Baumgartner

[wherethespiritmeetstheboneposts]

Michael Baumgartner

[scottbcrowley2]

Michael Baumgartner, Jack Thompson call on WSU officials to reinstate player Robert Barber and review student-conduct process - Mon, 31 Oct 2016 PST

A Washington State University student group, a state senator and one of the most decorated quarterbacks in WSU history held a news conference in Seattle Monday to urge the school president to intervene in the case of Michael Baumgartner, Jack Thompson call on WSU officials to reinstate player Robert Barber and review student-conduct process - Mon, 31 Oct 2016 PST