This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with Representative Alex Ybarra (R – Quincy).The second term Central Washington legislator has been at the forefront of the immunization efforts of farmworkers through his involvement with the Center for Latino Leadership.  Representative Ybarra has raised concerns about recent agriculture bills written and passed by Puget Sound liberals who have no experience in farming.  And what is worse, Democrat lawmakers do not feel compelled to even ask questions to those the bills would most impact.  As the Ranking Member on the House Education Committee, Representative Ybarra is one of the Republican’s leading proponents in stopping the liberal establishment from pushing their racist Critical Race Theory onto our school children.  Ybarra discusses these issues plus reforming the governor’s emergency powers, the impact of Low Carbon Fuel Standards on our state farmers, and the wildfires. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

Many law enforcement leaders have spoken publicly about the poorly constructed police reform laws written by state Democrat lawmakers as they rushed to appease the demands of violent liberal activists.  Many of the new laws passed during the 2021 legislative session went into effect this past weekend. Kent’s Police Chief Rafael Padilla said, “The laws were written very poorly, and the combination of them all at the same time has led to there being conflicts in clarity and in what was intended versus what was written.” Steve Strachan from the Washington Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said, “We owe it to the public we serve to be candid and share that we are deeply concerned that some policing reforms may have unintended outcomes that result in increased levels of confusion, frustration, victimization, and increased crime within our communities.” (Associated Press)

State transportation officials admit that they will stop using data as their primary basis for decision- making and will rely on “values” such as climate change and social equity.  Critics point out that the new approach results from facts not supporting liberal philosophies and catering to state government employees who use liberal beliefs to determine how to spend taxpayer-funded resources.  Washington State Department of Transportation officials illustrated this new reality last week when the agency decided to only remove a couple of the 1,400 homeless encampments cited as sources for debris  thrown onto Seattle freeways. Apparently, it is a liberal “value” to allow people to live dangerously close to freeways so long as encampment resident limit the number of large rocks they hurl at motorists. (Washington Policy Center)

Criticism of Seattle’s hastily developed liberal police “reform” measures continues to escalate as violence impacted several neighborhoods across the city over the weekend.  Four people were killed, and seven suffered injuries.  The recent violence is the latest result of the Seattle City Council’s decision to “defund” the police and the city attorney’s failure to prosecute repeat criminals. The tragedies serve as a reminder of the consequences of progressive politicians caving to the radical demands of violent liberal activists who rioted in the city and unlawfully took over portions of Capitol Hill last summer. Liberal antagonism toward law enforcement has already led to 270 well-trained officers leaving the Seattle Police Department, with most citing a lack of support from city officials as their primary reason for their departure.

Instead of taking responsibility (and correcting) their past actions, liberal politicians sought to deflect massive public criticism by blaming the dramatic increase of violence on guns. Conveniently, they forgot the same weapons were around when there was less violence.  It’s clear Seattle politicians are not ready to accept that liberal city policies have made Seattle a haven for criminals. The reality is Seattle politicians’ quickly developed “solutions” to the increase in violence achieve the liberal goal of increasing the size and cost of government but do absolutely nothing to decrease the violence in Seattle. (Seattle Times)

As Democrat police “reform” legislation (which will make it more difficult for law enforcement to do its job) becomes law, a Clark County Sheriff’s detective was killed while staking out criminal activity in Vancouver.  Allegedly, an individual watched by detective Jeremy Brown confronted the sheriff in his unmarked car on Friday before shooting him.  The suspect was arrested Sunday in Salem, Oregon, following the arrest of his two alleged accomplices. (The Oregonian)

Even the Walt Disney Company is leaving the Mickey Mouse operation that is the City of Seattle.  The company plans to move more than 200 downtown Seattle-based workers (the number of Disney’s Parks, Experiences, and Products division employees in the city) to a more “business-friendly climate” in Orlando, Florida.  While not yet official, the relocation is expected to occur this fall and follows the company’s earlier decision to remove 2,000 jobs in California due to that state’s anti-business attitude.  This is a predictable action by the successful business, which employs nearly a quarter-million people worldwide. The City of Seattle’s obsession with finding new methods to tax businesses and Democrats at the state level seeking ways to implement an unconstitutional income tax on Washington residents does not create a stable environment for businesses. We should note, Florida does not have an income tax.  (Geek Wire)

Frustration is growing among Ballard residents as City of Seattle officials appear to have given up on handling the large homeless encampment that took over the Ballard Commons Park.  Dozens of tents and structures took over the city-block-sized park and the sidewalks of nearby buildings, which has effectively shut down the ability of residents to enjoy the space.  City Parks Department officials recently said they would not operate the Commons’ “spray park” (an area where people and pets can play and cool down by fountains and mist) due to the encampments.  One community leader stated, “It feels like the city just threw up its hands and said we don’t know what to do, so we’re not going to do a thing. It feels like the individuals in the park are forgotten, and the people who use it all summer long are forgotten as well.”  Lame-duck Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office again refused to take responsibility for the problem by stating that the Ballard Commons problem is unfortunate. She then attempted to divert blame for the city’s growing homeless crisis on a “lack of federal resources” and not on the liberal policies that created the problem.   (Seattle Times)

Secrecy surrounds three separate solar panel farms under discussion near Badger Mountain in Douglas County, about five miles East of East Wenatchee.  Each one of the projects will take thousands of acres of natural rolling fields to construct hundreds of thousands of solar modules.  Nearby property owners are concerned about the projects and have begun to organize to fight the development. (Wenatchee World)

After a state-authorized study released last summer demonstrated that a passenger rail service between Seattle and Spokane along Stampede Pass would likely be a financial bust due to travel times, some rail advocates continue to push for state funding for shorter routes along the nearly abandoned rail lines.  While comparing a few rail routes to the Greyhound Bus service, advocates say the rail line should be reinstated due to shorter travel times between Pasco to Ellensburg and Yakima to Spokane.  Rail enthusiasts also claim that more people would be willing to fly out of Spokane Airport (instead of Sea-Tac) if the rail line (which is eight miles away from the airport) reopens.  The Spokane Airport argument seems dubious. It is  doubtful that the rail line would save travelers much time since many Spokane flights tend to go through airport hub locations (like Sea-Tac) before flying to their final destination. (The Lens)

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