Democrat Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins stated she was “pretty mad” when she heard that King County and others were allowed to “pause” at Phase 3, even as her own county (Pierce) had been punished three weeks earlier by Governor Inslee (moving the county back to Phase 2) with nearly identical infection rates.  Give the speaker credit for partisan consistency however, as she is still standing by her governor despite this unequal treatment and feeling that the governor’s orders have been erratic and have stopped making sense. Speaker Jinkins stated she is still unwilling to stand up for the separation of powers and call for a special session to install legislative oversight on the governor’s “emergency” powers.  Speaker Jinkins’ stance provides more validity to the belief that the now famous letter sent by 12 Pierce County legislators to Governor Inslee (to threaten a special legislative session if the governor did not “reconsider” moving Pierce County back to Phase 3) was an act of political butt-covering for the Tacoma area Democrat legislators who were hearing outrage from their constituents for standing with the governor and not those that elected them. Thus, even as Inslee ignores them, Pierce County Democrats have proven (again) that party loyalty is more important to them than serving the people who voted them into office. (News Tribune and Pierce County legislators letter to Governor Inslee)

Will the liberals’ drive for environmental justice (i.e. “equity”) actually cause harm to the environment?  In a rush to appease last year’s violent far-Left rioters, the 2021 legislature voted along party lines to pass SB 5141, which declares that the state must “use the environmental health disparities map to identify and promote the equitable distribution of environmental benefits to overburdened communities.” In order to follow this new law (assuming Governor Inslee signs the bill), the state must spend considerably more money into restoring salmon runs in the Green/Duwamish river watershed through South Seattle and not in other places (like the Skagit River) where science proves it would do far more good.  Thus by following this “equity” law, Washington State will cause further reduction of the salmon population and thus reduce further the food supplies for Orca whales. But, the Democrats will feel better about voting for “equity”. (Washington Policy Center and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Fatal drug overdoses in Washington State skyrocketed 30% in 2020, compared to 2019. Deadly opioid (prescription painkillers, heroin, fentanyl, and other similar substances) overdoses increased even more at 40% during the past year.  Meanwhile Governor Inslee has stubbornly refused to alter his mis-categorization of 12-Step groups, which are one of the most effective methods to help those struggling with addictions.  The meetings are still determined to be “group counseling” by the governor, and thus are limited to meetings of no more than 10 people (effectively shutting down almost all in-person meetings), instead of categorizing them as “faith-based” groups, which would base the limits on the size of the room (allowing 50% capacity in Phase 3 counties) and not the type of meeting.  (Lewiston Tribune)

In order to impose even more budget cuts on the Seattle Police Department, vindictive Seattle City Council members argue that the significant increase in 911 response times was not due to 250 officers departing the force in the last year, but that officers still on the force are slacking in their performance in order to increase the response time statistics. The timid souls on the council clearly cannot admit that their errors have reduced public safety. Thus, while more than a couple hundred police officers have left the force due to the lack of support from elected officials, these same misguided politicians are now questioning the work ethic of the officers who have remained. This is called poisoning your own well. Why would any qualified recruit want to come to Seattle in this type of atmosphere? And a corollary to ask council members – will public safety improve or worsen due to the city being unable to attract top candidates?  Average response times have increased to 11 minutes, while before the pandemic and riots the department had previously met its stated goal of arriving on the scene within seven minutes of an emergency call. This afternoon the council’s Public Safety Committee is considering a proposal to cut an additional $5.4 million and place some of the funds in unestablished and unproven “community solutions” (i.e. projects operated by liberal special interest groups which will return the favor with campaign contributions). (Seattle Times)

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant has admitted to breaking the law, in a settlement with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC), but her website still claims she is innocent.  Clearly facts do not matter to the Socialist city councilmember, even when she is responsible for the facts. This contradiction was pointed out by the Recall Sawant campaign attorney (and former U.S. Attorney) John McKay, during the commission’s meeting to approve its settlement with Sawant over her and her staff illegally using city resources to promote a proposed ballot measure. Sawant admitted guilt and paid a $3,516 fine (which will likely be paid for by her campaign, which is mostly funded by non-Seattle contributors) to the commission, even as Sawant’s campaign website still claimed on Monday evening that “Kshama did not break the law or use City resources to promote a ballot initiative.” Due to this being pointed out, this morning the campaign removed this sentence and replaced it with a long-winded hyperbole stating the councilmember admitted to breaking the law because she “would far rather prioritize the fight to win rent control and workers’ rights.”  Does this mean that anyone could accuse the councilmember with either breaking the law or committing ethics violations, and she would immediately admit to them in order to keep fighting for rent control and workers’ rights? (Seattle Times and Kshama Solidarity web page)

Because the Seattle mayor, police chief and fire chief failed to provide texts in response to public records requests, Seattle’s far-Left elected officials propose the only answer they have to any problem – make government even larger and more expensive.  In light of the recent disclosure that Mayor Jenny Durkan, then-Police Chief Carmen Best, and Fire Chief Harold Scoggin all have significant missing gaps in the availability of their texts during the days surrounding last summer’s violent riots, Seattle City Council President (and candidate for mayor) Lorena Gonzalez and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes (who is up for re-election) have proposed establishing a new government office to specifically handle public record requests made of the mayor’s office.  No word on whether new unionized government employees will also be needed to respond to records requests of the police chief, fire chief, and Seattle City Council members. But we can guess this will occur soon. (My Northwest and Seattle Times)

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries and the Washington State Department of Health finally issued a new set a rules to protect farm workers living in temporary housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The state finally agreed to change a previously contentious rule, which required workers who had been exposed to COVID to be placed in isolation with twice a day in-person examinations.  Farm operators stated this was overkill and needlessly expensive.  State officials relented to simply requiring isolation and a once-a-day examination by a health worker, which could be conducted through a telemedicine visit. (Columbia Basin Herald)

As Shift reported in the Rumor Mill last week, there continues to be serious discussion among Governor Inslee’s staff to have him unlawfully line-item veto the linkage language within both the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (HB 1091) and Cap-and-Trade (SB 5126) bills which requires the passage of a 5-cent a gallon gas tax for road funding before the end of the 2022 legislative session before Inslee’s two priority bills can be fully implemented.  We have heard from several Olympia insiders that there is a 50/50 chance the governor will overreach his executive authority to remove this part of the law, which was necessary for the bill to get the votes to pass in the State Senate, and allow for the immediate implementation of his expensive and inefficient climate policies.  While Washington State governors do have the ability to veto parts of a bill, it can only be used to eliminate full sections, not individual lines or words within a bill. Shift readers will recall that, in 2019, both Democrat and Republican legislators successfully sued Governor Inslee for overstepping his authority by vetoing sentences from that session’s Transportation bill.  (This case is currently before the Washington State Supreme Court, with arguments scheduled for June.) The question remains, if Governor Inslee does veto the linkage language, will legislative Democrats again join in a legal challenge, or will they continue to let Inslee steal legislative branch authority, as they have with continuing to allow the governor to have unchecked and unlimited “emergency” powers?

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

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].