Murray, Cantwell were pressed on vote

WASHINGTON — Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell were the focus of heavy lobbying over the Senate bill that tied an estate-tax cut to an increase in the federal minimum wage.

"We definitely were being phone-banked on this," said Murray's press secretary, Alex Glass. "Our phones lines have been clogged the past few days with calls from labor people urging the senator to oppose this."

Both Murray and Cantwell voted against the bill Thursday. The two Washington senators have said they favor increasing the federal minimum wage and some form of change in the federal estate tax. But they said they couldn't support the present bill, which they said would have cut the wages earned by employees who receive tips as part of their pay.

The bill also contained tax breaks for timber companies, deductibility of Washington state's sales tax and other tax benefits as enticements for Murray and Cantwell.

The sweeteners didn't work.

Cantwell called the GOP plan "a perfect storm" for her state.

"It cuts salaries for Washington state's minimum-wage tip workers, it does not make permanent the state sales-tax deduction and it would not make permanent the R & D tax credit," she said in a statement.

Republican Mike McGavick, Cantwell's expected opponent in the November election, said he supported the measure.

"Simply put, Senator Cantwell today announced that she will side with her party's leaders over the interest of our state," he said in a statement.

United for a Fair Economy, an advocacy group that backs the estate tax, said it helped mobilize a large number of people to urge Cantwell and Murray to vote against the bill.

Lee Harris, a tax analyst for the group, said it lobbied both senators in cooperation with labor unions and the Washington state ACORN, a nonprofit group that works with residents of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Responsible Wealth, a national network of wealthy individuals who favor the estate tax, also lobbied the senators to oppose the legislation.

But Dan Clifton, chief economist for the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, said his group urged Cantwell and Murray to vote for the bill.

"All the business groups — the National Wholesale Distributors, the Chambers of Commerce, the American Family Business Institute — I know that they've all been on the phone these days, as well," Clifton said.