Not even one of the eight Pierce County Democrats who threatened to call for a special session to implement legislative oversight on Governor Jay Inslee’s “emergency” orders actually decided to back up their publicity stunt of a statement by signing onto a bi-partisan letter from 52 legislators across the state requesting that June 15^th be established for when the state can “fully reopen.”  Last Friday, 12 members of the Pierce County legislative delegation sent their own letter to the governor over their county being treated unfairly after it was relegated to Phase 2 in his so-called “re-opening” plan, while other counties (most notably liberal King County) with nearly identical infection rates were “paused” a couple of weeks later from meeting the same fate.  The letter stated that unless the governor returned Pierce County to Phase 3 like the rest of the state, these legislators would push for a special session to “weigh legislative options.” This latest letter was the first public opportunity to signal their displeasure with Governor Inslee for ignoring their first letter and continuing his unchecked and never-ending one-man rule, and not a single Pierce County Democrat stepped up to sign the letter. Proving again that the Pierce County Democrats’ threat of a special session was insincere, and they only sent the first letter to cover their behinds from the public outcry on the unequal and unscientific process the governor used to punish their constituents.  We should also note that Washington State is lumped in with only Hawaii as a state without a set date for reopening it’s state’s economic activity. (Letter to Governor Inslee on June 15^th reopening date and Letter to Governor Inslee on unequal decision on county activity levels, and MyNorthwest)

With Governor Inslee’s unscientific and politically motivated two-week “pause” ending next week, many counties are once again concerned that their infection rate numbers might cause them to be punished by the governor.  For example, Clark County still remains well above the Inslee-mandated limit (200 per 100,000 residents) on new daily cases to stay at Phase 3, with a two-week daily average of 278.  Snohomish County is at 227 in its daily average. Franklin County is at 272, with neighboring Benton County just below the Inslee limit at 191. It is interesting to note that leaders in several counties no longer believe that the data is relevant to the process, and that the decision on whether to punish counties is totally based on the arbitrary decisions of the governor (without input from legislators or local health officials).  Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers responded to his county’s high infection rate by stating, “I cannot speak for the governor’s office, obviously, but I would expect at this point that hopefully the pause will continue as we continue on this flat trajectory and hopefully see the curve go down.”  Evidently Executive Somers is under the impression that simply “hoping” the rate will go down in more liberal parts of the state is part of the “science” the governor uses for making his decisions. (Governor Inslee media release, Battle Ground Reflector, Everett Herald, and Tri-City Herald)

KVI Host John Carlson writes that Governor Inslee should lift the lockdown orders today.  In a Seattle Times op-ed, Carlson reiterates that COVID only infects 0.008% of all people who have been immunized and there is nearly no problem for anyone to obtain the vaccine.  Carlson writes, “If you’re not vaccinated at this point, you’ve decided the risk of getting COVID exceeds the benefit of getting the shots. That’s a choice you’ve made despite a long, expensive, public education campaign and a vast network of outlets that make free vaccines available to you.” Carlson concludes by asserting, “Americans everywhere have sacrificed a lot to make it through this pandemic. We are a free people in a free country yearning to live freely again. Lift the lockdowns now.”  (Seattle Times)

Business leader Art Langlie announced he is running to become the next Mayor of Seattle.  While the current field of candidates is filled with members of the same liberal establishment which has generated five consecutive failed mayoral administrations, Langlie pledges to bring a broader perspective to the position and “slow the enormous escalation of our taxes and rethink some of the new, well-intended moves that are costing us a fortune.”  Langlie’s website states that the campaign will release weekly position papers, with his first one on the issue which is symbolic of the city’s decay under liberal policies – homelessness. His plan is centered around creating “Triage Centers” to help determine how best to help the individual, and create 600 new housing units in his first 100 days in office.  (Seattle Times and Langlie for Seattle Mayor)

Bellevue School District Superintendent Dr. Ivan Duran announced he will be stepping down at the end of June.  Dr. Duran stated, “The last year has been the most difficult in my professional life,” as he was under constant criticism from parent groups for his refusal to take a tougher stand against the teachers’ union, which selfishly delayed in-person instruction despite the poor education and mental stress for students created by distance learning.  Dr. Duran also came under criticism from parents for the district’s recent decision to reduce the safety of its students by caving in to a few liberal activists by removing School Resource Officers from junior and high school campuses. (KOMO News)

The state will increase tolls later this year to recoup lost revenue it believes it is still entitled to despite reduced traffic on toll roads during the pandemic.  Currently plans are for the rates on State Route 520 (Evergreen Point Bridge) to go up 15%, with the possibility of expanding “peak-pricing” times to include non-peak hours. Crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (State Route 16) will cost 25 cents more. Fares for the new State Route 99 tunnel under Seattle are also expected to increase 15%.  So while many thought they had saved money by not commuting to work for much of the past 15 months, the state will soon erase those savings by increasing the tolls on highways your taxes already have paid for. (KING5 News)

While Seattle City Council President (and mayoral wannabe) Lorena Gonzalez blasted the failed text and email system in the mayor’s office, it has been revealed that the city council also has serious flaws in its system.  Problems with recovering texts and emails from city officials came to light after learning that Mayor Jenny Durkan’s texts from last summer (during violent riots and creation of the CHAZ) have been erased and not available for those who have made public record requests.  While Councilmember Gonzalez blamed the lack of an independent authority to archive and retrieve Mayor Durkan’s emails, councilmembers and their staff don’t have their emails archived by an independent authority either.  Their emails and public record requests are handled by the city clerk’s office, who works for the council.  It was also revealed that Councilmember Kshama Sawant and her staff do not even use the city’s email system (with the “@seattle.gov” domain) but have set up private “gmail.com” accounts which are not managed by the clerk’s office to conduct official business. (Seattle City Council Insight)

Governor Inslee signed an agriculture overtime bill on Tuesday to reduce the pay for farmworkers.  The bill (SB 5172) was first drafted by Senator Curtis King (R – Yakima) to protect small farmers who were facing costly lawsuits due to a controversial decision by the Washington State Supreme Court.  Sen. King was trying to fix a far-Left ruling allowing farmworkers to seek retroactive overtime pay for work done in years gone by, despite the farm operators following current state and federal wage laws at the time.  Yet, once the bill was introduced, urban liberal Democrat legislators amended the bill to require farm owners to rapidly implement a costly wage rate which will likely result in fewer hours worked by individual farmworkers, and thus smaller paychecks.  On the good news front, though the governor signed the bill in Yakima, on this trip across the Cascade Mountains he followed state law and didn’t bring maggot- infested apples from his garden. (iFIBER One, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Associated Press, Shift Newsmaker Interview, and Seattle Times)

While Spokane County remains under 50% capacity restrictions, and faces the possibility that next week Governor Inslee may randomly decide to cut their capacity down to 25% again, nearby Idaho has fully reopened (while still requiring masks and social distancing) for business.  This is further harming Spokane’s struggling hospitality employers, who are seeing large gatherings take their money to Coeur d’Alene area establishments just across the state border.  A Liberty Lake restaurant manager stated, “We are a little bit concerned about that because you get the large gatherings over there, plus the employees go over there because there’s more jobs available.” (KXLY – TV)

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].