A group has been formed to encourage Governor Inslee to veto the controversial seXXX education bill recently passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature. Parents for Safe Schools has been formed in response to the passage of SB 5395.  If the group is unable to convince the governor to veto the very divisive bill, then the group will mount a referendum campaign to have the voters overturn the lawmakers’ misguided actions. The group will need to collect nearly 130,000 valid signatures to place the seXXX education bill onto the November ballot. You can click here to sign the group’s online petition to overturn SB 5395.  (Nisqually Valley News, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Parents for Safe Schools’ petition)

In promoting the extreme seXXX education bill that was strongly opposed by parents across the state, Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal is once again in the negative spotlight.  Remember it was Reykdal who responded to the voter approval of I-976 last November by tweeting that Democrat legislators should punish voters for expressing their views by voting (he since has deleted his anti-democracy tweet, but we kept a copy).  Reykdal is a clear example of the Democrat belief that citizens should serve the financial needs of the government and parents should be sidelined from their children’s education.  (KIRO Radio and Twitter)

The Walla Walla Union Bulletin condemned legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature that gave members of the media special privileges which regular people do not receive.  The paper’s editorial board was critical of HB 2020, which prohibits members of the public from receiving the birth dates of government employees via a public records request, but allows members of the media to request and receive that information.  Democrat lawmakers, who are doing the bidding of their major donors in the public employee unions which want to limit communication with their members regarding paying union dues, struck the deal with media representatives.  The Union-Bulletin said, “it is absolutely imperative that a special case not be made for the media to have access to information that the public does not. It is not appropriate for one entity to have more control over personal information than another.” (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The Washington State Senate passed legislation that removed a portion of Boeing’s state tax exemption which made the company vulnerable to increased European Union tariff hikes. The company asked to have the tax break removed. Yet before the legislation (SB 6690) was passed, labor unions were able to blackmail the company and secure more money for themselves by requiring Boeing to hire more union apprentices. (Everett Herald and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The vote in the Washington State presidential primary between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden (both around 32.5%) will likely be too close to call for a few more days.  The initial numbers show that more than one-third of the ballots cast thus far in the election were wasted on candidates (mostly Democrats Warren, Buttigieg, Bloomberg, and Klobuchar) who had dropped out of the race in the last 10 days.  However, none of the former candidates are approaching the 15% minimum needed to receive delegates at the Democrats’ national convention. Still unknown is the number of ballots thrown out due to voters failing to select a party preference. (Washington Secretary of State tabulations of Democrats presidential primary)

The Washington State Legislature will adjourn immediately if a legislator or staff member is diagnosed with the coronavirus or if health officials recommend the action. The members could potentially complete business remotely, via video or teleconferencing.  There is also the possibility of calling a quick special session once the current health concerns have passed. (Pew)

Due to coronavirus precautions, legislators have either cancelled or reformatted their post-session town hall meetings. Many Washington State legislators regularly schedule in-district town hall meetings after the close of the session.  Some members have already cancelled their town hall meetings, while many, including the legislators from the 25^th Legislative District (Senator Hans Zeiger, Representative Kelly Chambers, and Representative Chris Gildon), have decided to interact with constituents over the phone.  Also, with the end of the session, state lawmakers will be free to start fundraising again.  The coronavirus is forcing all candidates to cancel events and re-think fundraising strategies. (Senator Hans Zeiger email)

Many restaurants are having difficult times during the coronavirus outbreak in the Puget Sound region.  Most are shortening hours, while others are closing for a week or two.  Those not in the prime demographic likely to be impacted by the COVID 19 (those over 60 or those with other health concerns) are being encouraged to support these businesses, many of which provide take-out and/or deliver meals. (MyNorthwest)

The formula used by the Washington State Democrat Party to select its national convention delegation reveals that only 7 of the 107 delegates (6.5%) must come from Eastern Washington.  Despite nearly 25% of the state’s population residing east of the Cascades, the Democrats have chosen to discriminate against those who do not reside near Seattle. According to the Washington State Democrats webpage, only three delegates will come from the 4^th Congressional District (Central Washington) and four delegates will come from the 5^th Congressional District (Eastern Washington). Meanwhile the 7^th Congressional District (mostly Seattle) has been allocated 11 delegates.  There might be a couple more delegates from Central Washington if the King County Democrats who control the 8^th Congressional District allow an individual from Kittitas or Chelan County to be a delegate. There are some “at-large” delegates available, but since those electing the delegates mostly come from the Puget Sound region, it is a good guess they will mostly vote for their westside neighbors. (Washington State Democrat Party National Delegate Selection FAQ)

Representative Joe Schmick (R-Colfax) is encouraging individuals in the agriculture community to comment on the recent federal study which determined that the four lower Snake River dams should not be breached.  Schmick said the dams are too important to the region’s economy and removing them would be devastating to many farmers.  You can comment on the dams here. (Washington AG Network and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Without providing a reason why an increase in registered voters is a problem, or how the 2019 Voters’ Rights Act will solve the issue, 10^th District Congressional Candidate Marilyn Strickland is encouraging her followers to blindly support the partisan federal legislation.  It appears Strickland has hired national fundraising consultants who are blasting multiple emails every day to fill her supporters’ inboxes with boilerplate liberal pablum attempting to raise money. Now, maybe if she actually moved into the district, and started talking to voters… (Strickland email)

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