Across Washington there are literally thousands of government actions surrounding the coronavirus.  From rural water districts to state agencies to federal health officials, all levels of government are working to contain the spread of the virus.  Washington State media is filled with these stories.  While Shift joined thousands of Washingtonians, and newspaper editorial boards and columnists, who were critical of Governor Jay Inslee for playing politics with this issue when he should have been cooperating with federal authorities, we don’t believe this is the time for Shift to play politics with decisions government officials are currently making to protect the people of our state.  We will obviously still be critical of blatantly partisan acts – and hope those will be kept to a minimum – but otherwise we’ll save our coverage for evaluating our elected officials’ actions after this emergency has passed.

Also, while local media focuses its attention on the virus, there is nearly no coverage of local political stories and thus there will be fewer stories for us to analyze for our readers.  Once things return to normal, Shift will resume commenting on the local stories that are important to our readers. (Twitter

Of all the terrible legislation the Democrats have proposed during the current legislative session, Senator Patty Kuderer’s (D-Bellevue) bill to restore felons’ voting rights before they have completed their sentence may top the list.  Kuderer’s bill was a political play to garner votes in a most disgusting way. It failed not because the Democrats thought it was a bad bill, but because it looked bad politically. (Shift)

The Legislative Ethics Board found Senator Mona Das (D – Kent) guilty of violating ethics rules when she spoke to the Kent Chamber of Commerce last June – and gave her a slight tap on the wrist.  The board courageously avoided the fact that in the same speech Senator Das called members of her own Democrat Senate Caucus racist, sexist and misogynist. Instead, the board did find that she used legislative business for personal gain and to promote both her campaign and the campaigns of a couple Democrat colleagues.  Both are legislative ethics violations.  The Board fined Das $500 (but suspended $400 of the penalty) and required the Senator to undergo personalized ethics training. Hopefully the trainer can also talk to her about making up inflammatory stories without providing any facts. (News Tribune)

In the latest liberal proposal to make housing construction more expensive, the Washington House passed a budget which included a provision for the state to start planning for stronger environmental requirements on new construction.  Currently construction must not cause “no net loss” to habitat.  The Democrats’ latest proposal, being pushed because environmental interest groups provide them a lot of campaign cash, will require all construction projects meet a higher standard of “net ecological gain.” Jan Himebaugh of the Building Industry Association of Washington said this measure is, “not good for housing, and that’s not good for the people of Washington who need homes.” (Crosscut)

Senator Steve O’Ban (R-Pierce County) has proposed legislation to fix the frustrations many voters are expressing over the presidential primary ballot.  The current voting process was created by the Democrats (SB 5273) during the 2019 legislative session, and voters are worried it violates their right to a secret ballot. Others believe the current process  disenfranchises thousands of independent and unaffiliated voters.  O’Ban’s legislation (SB 6697) would require an additional envelope to ensure the voter’s party preference selection is not publicly visible and require votes cast by those who are independent or unaffiliated are counted. O’Ban said, “Taxpayers should not be funding a partisan primary process. And every vote matters. The wishes of people who choose not to declare a party affiliation should still be counted.”  (O’Ban Media Release and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The Tri-City Herald condemned Governor Inslee’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard proposal saying it “delivers too little environmental bang for the buck.”  The newspaper’s editorial also asserted that Governor Inslee won’t be making the sacrifice but “That honor will go to the struggling families, farmers and business owners who are barely making it month to month.” (Tri-City Herald)

One of the latest extreme proposals being advanced in Washington is to stop state spending on projects that benefit people with cars.  A disability rights advocate argues that the “car centric system” has failed us (because she believes a small group of people don’t receive the full benefit that millions of others receive from automobiles). The author argues that the next legislature should “invest in a transportation system that doesn’t rely on cars… If instead they choose to fund road building while delaying train and pedestrian projects, they will not only fail those of us who are transit dependent, but also future generations who will suffer the disparate public health and climate change impacts of auto-dependency.” (Crosscut)

Representative Norma Smith (R-Clinton) announced she will not be seeking re-election this fall and will return to teaching.  The six-term legislator said on the House floor that she will “again focus on teaching and mentoring. I am looking forward to renewing this life-long vision of investing in the hearts, minds, and faith journey of another generation.” (Washington Republican House Caucus)

While there appears to be little movement in Olympia on a bill allowing King County to tax employers to fund more housing programs, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant keeps pressing for her job-killing tax on Seattle businesses.  Sawant was joined at her latest press conference by fellow councilmember Tammy Morales as they voiced their personal greed and envy over businesses who already pay millions in taxes to fund city services.  Sawant and Morales expressed no concerns that their actions will drive businesses away from the city, and thus reduce the revenue opportunities to fund their liberal programs. (Seattle Times)

Hundreds gathered at Spokane’s Davenport Hotel to honor former Congressman George Nethercutt.  The Spokane native shocked the country in 1994 when he defeated the powerful Speaker of the House Tom Foley.  Nethercutt was honored for his public service and for the adoption work he did as a private attorney which helped thousands of local families. (Spokesman-Review)

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