Representative Peter Abbarno (R – Centralia) argues that the best fix for the Democrats’ big-government Long-Term Care payroll tax is to fully repeal the disastrous plan.  Democrats concerned about re-election have recently made a big public deal about their second thoughts about the plan they first jammed through the legislature in 2019. Now, responding to the letter Democrat Senators sent to Governor Inslee last week outlining their phony concerns  for delaying the implementation of the new tax for a year, Representative Abbarno points out that he and other GOP legislators had already fully investigated the impacts of the bill and “(w)e have come to the conclusion the only real solution is to fully repeal the long-term care insurance program and the tax.” Representative Abbarno said that he has been working with Representative Joe Schmick (R – Colfax) to develop legislation to repeal the tax. (House Republican Caucus media release, KUOW/NPR, and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

Senator Jeff Wilson (R – Longview) pre-filed legislation for the upcoming 2022 legislative session to make it illegal to purchase a catalytic converter without documentation. The theft of these emission control devices has skyrocketed in the past couple of years, as thieves sell them for the palladium and platinum materials they contain.  There were 3,379 thefts of catalytic converters reported in Washington State during the first nine months of 2021, compared to 592 for all of 2020.  Senator Wilson stated that Oregon just passed a similar law, and he is concerned criminals will simply move their operations into Washington. The legislation (SB 5494) would require better record keeping of the devices and place a five-day waiting period for any cash transactions involved in the purchase of used catalytic converters. (MyNorthwest, Jolt News, and Washington State legislature Bill Summary)

To reduce high per-student overhead costs, Senator Brad Hawkins (R – East Wenatchee) has proposed a bill which encourages small school districts to merge with larger, more cost-efficient school districts. To encourage districts to give up power for this efficiency, Senator Hawkins’ bill (SB 5487) would increase the amount the state would contribute to the district’s construction funds.  The are some Washington school districts with as few as 10 students. Sen. Hawkins is the ranking Republican member of the Senate’s Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. (KPQ Radio)

Representative John Lovick (D – Mill Creek), a longtime rubber-stamp for liberal special interest groups and Democrat Party bosses, was overwhelming selected by party activists to replace Senator Steve Hobbs (after he was removed by Governor Inslee to become Washington’s Secretary of State).   All but one of the 50 PCOs made Representative Lovick their first of three nominees sent to the Snohomish County Council, which will likely quickly approve the PCO’s choice.  As Shift previously speculated, Governor Inslee sought to remove his nemesis Hobbs from the state senate since the Lake Stevens legislator often disagreed with Inslee’s higher taxes and extreme environmental proposals. By replacing him with Representative Lovick the governor will now have an easier time passing expensive and inefficient climate measures which his wealthy environmental donors are demanding. (Everett Herald and Shift)

The Washington State Policy Center has filed legal arguments pointing out the severe flaws in the Democrats’ unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains.  The documents were filed yesterday in Douglas Superior Court. The briefs outline the long history of both Washington State voters and the courts rejecting a state income tax, despite the Democrat Party’s longtime effort to jam one through, and how every other state, and the IRS, categorizes a tax on capital gains as an income tax. (Washington Policy Center)

Voter turnout is expected to be well over 50% in today’s recall election of Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant.  The deadline to return ballots is tonight at 8:00, for Seattle’s first recall of a city councilmember. Remember, when vote totals are released this evening, that two years ago Councilmember Sawant was down more than 8% to her opponent on election night, yet came back to win by 4%.  The Sawant campaign has spent nearly a million dollars (most of which has come from out-of-district and-state donors) to defend the wealthy city councilmember in the recall effort. (Seattle Times and Sawant Campaign contribution reports)

King County’s unscientific vaccine mandate on all restaurants is forcing several smaller establishments to stop offering indoor dining, because they can’t afford (or find) the workers needed to check customers’ vaccination status so they can serve them.  Yesterday the restaurants and bars with fewer than 12 seats were added to the county’s vaccination mandate, which previously applied to only larger establishments. Some of the smaller eateries decided to return to just take out and drive-through orders only, rather than lose money because of this latest government attack. (KOMO News)

This week’s Washington State Tree fruit Association (WSTFA) meeting and expo is focused on reducing labor costs, after liberal Seattle area legislators (with no agriculture experience) forced job-killing overtime laws onto the state’s farmers during the 2021 legislative session.  Unfortunately for people who care about agriculture jobs, which does not include many legislative Democrats, many of the popular exhibits at the expo are items enabling farmers to reduce the number of workers needed to grow and harvest their crops.  There are also discussions about the possibility of changes to the Democrat legislators’ overtime legislation.  WSTRA President Jon DeVaney said, “There needs to be some flexibility about the 40-hour work week in an industry affected greatly by labor shortages and weather (which affect scheduling).” WSTFA is asking state lawmakers to amend last year’s legislation to allow farm employees to work 50 hours a week, for no more than 12 weeks, before overtime pay is required. (Yakima Herald)

Governor Jay Inslee continues to raise money for a non-existent 2024 re-election campaign, yet still has announced no plans to repay Washington State taxpayers for the money he took from them to subsidize his failed 2020 presidential campaign. Governor Inslee’s campaign has emailed numerous fundraising pleas in the days leading up to Washington’s fundraising freeze on state officials, which kicks in this Saturday (30 days prior to the 2022 legislative session).

Now, you might remember, even if Inslee and the mainstream media does not, that the Washington State Patrol had to seek $4 million extra of taxpayer money to pay for their added costs of providing security to Governor Inslee during his quickly disappearing presidential campaign. Yet since the campaign only lasted five months, the state patrol hopefully spent far less than that. (We should note that the only other sitting governor in that race was Montana’s Steve Bullock, who agreed to repay his state for security costs associated with his presidential campaign.

Inslee’s 2024 campaign organization has raised over $1 million in the past year (mostly to pay high priced consultants their retainers and to stash a half million in a “reserve account.”) While the governor keeps spouting that the rich should pay their fair share, he could start with himself, and make his campaign pay back the money the state could have used to fund education, house the homeless, or reduce carbon emissions, instead of subsidizing his failed political ambitions. (Inslee campaign email, KING5 News, Montana Public Radio, and Inslee Campaign Public Disclosure reports)

Newly appointed Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs will have to stand for election next November, and many are watching how he handles the transfer of funds from previous campaigns to his latest campaign for statewide office.  State law requires that in order to transfer funds from one campaign account to another account for a different position, the candidate must receive written permission from the donor. For the past 12 years Democrat Hobbs has amassed more than $2.1 million in contributions in his campaigns for various offices, often shifting money among the many campaign bank accounts. Now that he is the state official tasked with making sure all elections are fair, will Secretary Hobbs follow the laws and provide complete transparency so voters know who is funding his campaign? (Click to read full Shift Article)

Washington State Senate Democrat “leadership” finally admitted its poorly crafted Long-Term Care Insurance payroll tax will be a disaster if it begins as scheduled next month, and asked Governor Jay Inslee to delay its implementation for at least a year (i.e. until after the 2022 elections).  Republicans have been calling for a delay (or total repeal) of the tax for months.  But it wasn’t until after the recent elections, when voters across the state clearly demonstrated their disapproval of liberal policies even in such extremist strongholds as ultra-liberal Seattle, did Democrats seriously consider delaying their latest controversial tax.  Democrats in swing districts are already very nervous facing voters after passing a “police reform” package that allows criminals to go free, ineffective and expensive (especially for low-income workers) climate bills, an unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains, and allowing the undemocratic one-man rule of Governor Inslee to continue for nearly two years. If they are successful in removing the Long-Term Care payroll tax from the public’s attention span, the Democrats have one less failed big-government program they must defend in November. (Click to read full Shift Article)

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