Democrats want to stay home and watch TV instead of solving Washington State’s financial crisis. The next state revenue forecast is scheduled for release on Wednesday, June 17^th and is expected to be one of the most dismal in state history.  Estimates put state tax revenues down almost $7 billion over the next 3 years.  Knowing the state is facing a massive budget shortfall, any sane individual would be planning and reducing state government spending now. This is not the approach Governor Jay Inslee and the Democrat leadership is taking. They prefer to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the problem. (Shift and Seattle Times)

Last Friday’s Newsmaker Interview was with Senator Steven O’Ban (R – Pierce County), one of the most effective members of the Washington State legislature.  A state senator since 2013, O’Ban was quickly recognized as a knowledgeable source on a wide array of subjects and a valuable advocate on mental health issues.  In his interview with Shift, Senator O’Ban grades Governor Jay Inslee’s actions during the coronavirus crisis, calls for ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine to resign, provides his thoughts on a legislative special session and the pending 3% pay raise for state employees, and describes why it is “absolutely necessary” for there to be an independent review into the death of Manuel Ellis.  (Shift)

A group calling itself the Political Consultants of Color Coalition is calling out the hypocritical actions of Washington state’s Democrat party organizations.  While many state Democrat party politicians and organization have been proclaiming their support for the Black Lives Matter protests, the coalition claims that Black consultants have been kept off the “preferred” lists of businesses that are handed out to potential candidates.  Specifically, the group claims that the Washington Senate Democrat Committee and the House Democrat Campaign Committee have been discriminatory in only recommending more established, non-minority owned firms to legislative candidates. (Crosscut)

Washington State’s testing of the coronavirus has remained flat, while other Western states have greatly increased the number of tests that are performed.  Since May 1st, Washington has only improved its testing ability by a paltry 3%.   Governor Inslee continues to blame the federal government for the lack of improvement in testing in Washington State.  Yet Inslee’s excuse fails to explain that California’s testing rate has doubled, and Oregon’s has increased by 77%.  (Todd Myer’s Twitter)

The Seattle Times has joined the loud chorus of voices asking Governor Inslee and Democrat legislators to provide responsible leadership, by eliminating or postponing the second 3% pay raise in 12 months for state employees, which is schedule to take effect July 1^st.  Because government employee unions contribute so heavily to Democrat campaigns, voices not impacted by this conflict of interest have largely been ignored by the Democrat lawmakers.  While hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs were eliminated by Governor Inslee’s emergency orders, nearly all state employees kept receiving paychecks – even the tens of thousands who were charitably described as  “non-essential.”  With the state government expecting to cut services to those in need due to an estimated $7 billion drop in tax revenue, it is cruel to expect those struggling economically to have to pay more in taxes to fund a pay raise for those who never lost their wages. (Seattle Times)

A survey of Washington State day care centers finds that 40% are in danger of permanently closing.  With many parents either losing their jobs or now working from home, there is less demand for day care.  Once businesses can re-open, many parents will not be able to afford childcare, while others will have adapted to working remotely and thus not require the service. (Everett Herald)

Vandals used an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protest march as an excuse to spray paint graffiti and cause other property damage in Olympia over the weekend.  One of the many homes that was damaged belongs to Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby.  The mayor’s husband said he is concerned about the safety of his family.  After last week’s embarrassing confession by Governor Inslee that “It is news to me” that Seattle protestors had taken over six blocks and forced the abandonment of a Seattle police precinct, there is no word yet if the governor was informed of the vandalism which occurred near his state-funded mansion. (Q13 News and Rebecca Perry Twitter)

Speaking to a national audience, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said we are “in a pivotal moment in history” and that changes will need to be made in law enforcement.  Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Best appeared resigned to the fact that the protests will significantly impact how police will protect the public. As city councilmembers are working to cut the department’s budget by 50%, Best said, “We are going to move in a different direction, and policing will never be the same as it was before.” (Face the Nation)

Discrimination allegations against leaders of the Spokane County Democrat Party, and a subsequent botched “investigation” by State Democrat Chair Tina Podlodowski, has led to the mass resignation of Spokane Democrat officers.  The Democrat’s county chair, vice chair, and two state committee members said they were resigning due to how Podlodowski was handling an investigation into claims the party was not “safe” for people of color or those from the LGBTQ community.  The resigning chair said the Podlodowski’s claim that she had properly notified the local party of the investigation was “an out-and-out lie.” (Spokesman-Review)

At a speech in Idaho, soon-to-be-ex-State Representative Matt Shea said he plans to place a measure to form a new state on every Eastern Washington county ballot this November.  Shea imagines the state will be made up of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho and be called “Liberty.” After being kicked out of the Republican House caucus earlier this year, Shea decided not to run for re-election for his legislative seat this year. (YakTriNews)

One of the most ill-informed and bizarre defenses for keeping Washington State businesses closed comes from billionaire Nick Hanauer’s Civic Action.  The group claims that those who have been pushing to re-open the state’s economy are promoting an “economic myth” because there will be no customers wanting to purchase goods or services.  They ignorantly make this claim even though many retailers who are currently open are having difficulty keeping products on the shelves.  Civic Action also fails to understand that many individuals want to resume working before making non-essential purchases   It is interesting that Civic Action did not promote this ignorant theory when tribal casinos throughout the state ignored Governor Inslee’s emergency orders and opened their doors to provide jobs and wages for their communities. (Civic Action email)

Do you like The Daily Briefing?  Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected]