Once again, Governor Jay Inslee has upset both Republican and Democrat legislative leaders over his unlawful use of his veto powers and they have already announced they are taking the governor to court, again.  In order to obtain the necessary votes to pass two (expensive and inefficient) climate bills (the “Low Carbon Fuel Standard” and “Cap-and-Trade” schemes demanded by the governor), legislative leaders inserted language into the bills saying they could not be implemented until a future transportation funding package was also signed.  Wealthy environmental groups’ lobbyists convinced the governor that they cannot wait a few months for the legislature to pass an actual transportation funding package and demanded that he veto this linkage language in their climate bills.  By fulfilling their demand, Governor Inslee demonstrated that he either lacks respect for the Democrat legislators involved or that he is blissfully ignorant of the trust required for legislative process to work (or both). (Click to read full Shift article)

Governor Jay Inslee continues to reign over the largest expansion of state government in Washington State history, after he signed the recently passed $59-plus billion budget.  During the nine years Inslee has been in power, he has continued to reward the government union bosses who have funded his three campaigns for governor (primarily through forced union dues of state employees) by increasing the cost and size of state government by more than $24 billion (a whopping 69% increase!).  The money cycle continues as government employee unions support Democrat candidates for governor, who then raise taxes, and give union members more jobs and higher wages, who then complete the cycle by giving public unions more dues, so they can afford to give more money to Democrat candidates.  Unfortunately the people who lose out in this endless cycle are those who are supposed to be served by the government employees – the taxpayers, who are increasingly taxed to pay for those gold-plated union contracts. Things have changed since President Abraham Lincoln stated at Gettysburg that America possessed “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” for under Jay Inslee we now have “government of the people, by the government, for the government.” (News Tribune)

The head of the Association of Washington Business (AWB) argues that the government should stop encouraging people to take unemployment benefits and instead should provide incentives for people to seek employment.  AWB’s Don Brunell argues that the $300 a week added by the federal government to unemployment payments is discouraging people from accepting one of the many jobs that are now available as the economy is finally reopening.  Brunell suggests that more states should do as Montana has done, and refuse the feds’ extra $300 non-work incentive, and has instead provided an incentive for currently unemployed workers to accept a job.  Once a former unemployment benefits recipient has completed four weeks of work in a new job, they will receive a one-time “bonus” of $1,200 (which equals the amount the federal government would pay them not to work during that time). (Battle Ground Reflector)

University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Professor Cliff Mass says it is important to include those who have previously been infected with COVID-19 in determining when “herd immunity” is occurring.  In a blog post, the professor provides data to show that once a location reaches 70% of those immune to COVID-19 (those immunized plus those previously infected) there is a significant drop in the number of new cases. Professor Mass stated that the recent increase in the number of new cases in Washington and Oregon (in what some  called the “4^th wave”) was due to a lower infection rate in the past.  Yet now that the number of previously infected people and those who have been vaccinated is reaching 70%, we are seeing a decline in the number of new cases, as he predicted earlier this month. (Cliff Mass Blog)

Thanks to liberal policies that enabled homelessness instead solving the problem despite being declared a public emergency, the number of those without shelter has skyrocketed 42% in King County.  Further proof that current policies are only creating more homeless individuals is found in a survey conducted by Challenge Seattle (led by Democrat former Governor Christine Gregoire) reveals that King County has the second highest rate of chronic homelessness in the country.  The report also states that 91% of King County voters believe that we need to change our approach to mental health and substance abuse issues to solve the problem. Yet, at the City of Seattle, King County, and the State of Washington level we continue to hear the same old liberal mantra that we just need to increase the size and cost of government to solve the homeless problem. (MyNorthwest and Challenge Seattle’s Report)

A homeless encampment specifically condoned by far-Left Seattle School District and city officials that sits next to a Seattle school grows in size as violence and drug overdoses continue there.  Officials say that the encampment next to Broadview-Thomson K-8 school in North Seattle has grown since students returned to in-person classes last month.  Disturbingly, young students can view fights among residents, and emergency units responding to drug overdoses in the camp from their classrooms.  Meanwhile, district officials continue to do nothing about the encampment (even telling city officials to not remove the encampment), as they remain more loyal to a failed political philosophy than to the students and families they are supposed to serve.  It is no surprise that Seattle School Board President Chandra Hampton refused to respond to media inquiries about the on-going encampment problem. Even sadder is that no city official will step forward and stop the nonsense by demanding the clearing of the public-safety hazard that is the encampment. (KOMO News)

King County officials will likely impose stricter indoor requirements on local businesses for customers to wear facemasks for an additional four to six weeks.  These requirements will be required for everyone regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated.  The health officer at Public Health – King County and Seattle stated, “We can easily go another month or six weeks of masking in order to get our rates down as low as possible, reduce the risk and indoor spaces and everywhere as low as possible.” This will cause problems for King County businesses as they must enforce one set of local mandates, while the rest of country and state are being informed that if a person is fully vaccinated they are not required to wear a mask.. (KING5 News)

In a Seattle Times op-ed, two Republican Eastern Washington legislators and the Washington State Farm Bureau criticize the changes made to the recent farmworkers overtime bill by urban liberal legislators, which will likely result in more small farms closing in Washington State and smaller paychecks for workers.  Senator Curtis King (R – Yakima) and Senator Judy Warnick (R – Moses Lake) were joined by the Farm Bureau’s Bre Elsey to criticize the Democrat’s failure to understand the seasonal aspect of farming, and deny that workers need the periodic extra hours of work to make up for the months when there is little work to be done.  Even though the recently passed Farmworkers Overtime bill (SB 5172) protected farm operators from bankruptcy-causing lawsuits for retroactive overtime pay (due to a recent controversial Washington State Supreme Court ruling), the Democrats’ amendments will likely cause a reduction in both hours worked and hourly wages for most farm workers, and will likely cause many family farms to either close or be sold to corporate farm groups. Republicans and agriculture groups encouraged the inclusion of a seasonal 12-week exemption from overtime requirements, but condescending liberal Seattle legislators felt they knew what was best for those who have been involved in farming for generations, because they had shopped at a PCC last week. (Seattle Times and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

In the final installment of a two-part series, Shift examines six suburban Democrat legislators who ran as moderates, yet when they arrived in Olympia quickly joined the far-Left members of their caucuses to impose Seattle’s failed liberal policies on the rest of the state.  It is looking like 2022 could become this generation’s 1994, with Democrats being swept from office after going too far to the left by raising taxes and pushing their extreme agenda, after campaigning as moderates.  Shift reports on six Democrat lawmakers who will be among the dozen legislators that are most vulnerable in their election contests next year.  These endangered Democrats know their far-Left policies are not always popular in their district, and they will be seeking financial help from their Seattle special interest friends to push the false “moderate” narrative once again to their voters.  Yet this time, the Democrat candidates will have a record of supporting extreme policies which will provide the truth about how they will vote once they are in the legislature.  (Click to read full Shift Article)

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