Democrat Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is continuing his exploitation of his taxpayer-funded office staff to beg for even more money for his campaign for governor.  Despite more than $3 million spread across various campaign accounts, AG Ferguson flooded email boxes last week (prior to the pre-legislative session freeze) pleading for even more contributions so that he can continue using his office to further his partisan goals (such as attacking flower shops and going after Greyhound Lines for following federal immigration laws).  One thing we will be watching is whether the Ferguson campaign will follow state election laws and obtain permission from each of his past donors to move his vast fortune from his Attorney General and “surplus” accounts to his campaign for governor. (Click to read full Shift Article)

The Democrats’ anti-police legislation became a sad reality for a Lakewood auto repair shop, as criminals stole a high-priced car and its clearly marked company van.  Responding police officers (including the Lakewood chief of police) spotted the van as it was fleeing the scene, but they were unable to pursue the subject due to restrictions included in the Democrats’ legislation.

The shop’s service manager expressed her concerns about the impact of the Democrats’ legislation, saying “It’s escalating. The crime, I think daily, because as the criminals advance in things they are doing, they know what they can do and what they can’t do.”  The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force reported that there were 798 vehicle thefts in November, twice the amount over last year, after state Democrat lawmakers hastily passed one of the worst pieces of public safety policy ever in our nation’s history (as they rushed to reward the political violence conducted by liberal rioters in 2020). (FOX13 News)

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson has launched a non-partisan campaign to become Washington’s next Secretary of State.  This makes the 2022 special election to fill out the remaining two years of Kim Wyman’s term even more interesting, after she  resigned from the position last month to oversee election security at the federal level.  Governor Jay Inslee appointed Democrat Senator Steve Hobbs to the Secretary of State post primarily to remove him (and his pro-transportation votes) from getting in his way of passing higher taxes in the Senate.  Republican Senator Keith Wagoner (R – Sedro Wooley) announced he was running for the office a couple of weeks ago. It is expected the far-Left will likely dredge up a candidate against Hobbs, as he has voted against taxes favored by labor unions in the past, while those on the far-Right who support Loren Culp’s unproven conspiracy theories might rally behind a campaign for one of their own for the office.  This race will certainly be worth watching next year. (Washington Observer)

Republican Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Lacey) outlined how his party would increase funding for transportation projects without raising the gas tax.  In a Seattle Times op-ed, Representative Barkis, who is the ranking Republican member of the House Transportation Committee, stated that in the past two decades the legislature has passed three major transportation packages increasing the state’s gas tax by 26.4 cents a gallon to 49.4 cents, making Washington State’s gas tax one of the highest in the country.

The 2022 legislature is planning to pass another transportation package with a minimum 5-cents-a-gallon tax price tag.  Representative Barkis suggested that some projects funded by the transportation budget, such as improving fish culverts ($714 million), multimodal/transit projects ($226 million), and Amtrack ($80 million), should be paid for out of the general fund’s expected $8.8 billion reserve.  He also said revenues from sales tax collected from the sale of cars and from costs associated with construction of transportation projects should be moved from the general fund to the transportation budget. Representative Barkis states that these proposals would add $3.2 billion to transportation projects without raising a single tax.  (Seattle Times)

Republican Senator Ann Rivers (R – La Center) has reversed her plan to retire from the legislature.  The Southwest Washington state senator said that her new position as the community development director for the City of Longview will not take as much time as she previously believed, and that she plans to remain senator for the 18^th Legislative District “for the foreseeable future.” Her term expires in 2024. (Vancouver Columbian)

With great fanfare last week the City of Seattle finally cleaned up one of the largest and most prominent homeless encampments (at the Ballard Commons).  For nearly two years, pleas from nearby residents and businesses were ignored by city officials (including the seemingly worthless Seattle City Councilperson Dan Strauss) as the encampment became the scene for numerous disturbances and fires, and made the park unusable for neighbors to enjoy. The city states the park will be closed for up to a year longer as it plans to make some “improvements.”

Meanwhile, Safe Seattle has posted a video of a growing homeless encampment just up the street outside the Crown Hill Safeway (a similar scene can be found outside the Ballard Fred Meyers). It appears as if the expensive clean up process at the Ballard Commons simply shifted the problem to other neighborhoods. Those residents and businesses can now expect to have their concerns and complaints ignored by city officials like Councilmember Strauss for many months and years. (KOMO News and Safe Seattle Facebook video)

Left-wing extremists continue to demonstrate their control over local liberal organizations and institutions by forcibly removing yet another prominent female leader from the region’s liberal establishment. After being responsible for ending the tenure of Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, the extremists can now add Planned Parenthood’s CEO Chris Charbonneau to its list of Democrat women they have forced from their positions.  Charbonneau, a 40-year leader in the region’s pro-abortion movement, was fired from her position for allegedly not admonishing an individual severely enough for using a racially derogatory term.  The six-state organization under Charbonneau’s administration has also been criticized for not having enough people of color in top management positions and “perceived microaggressions throughout the organization.” (Seattle Times)

The King County Council voted 7 – 2 to proceed with a land swap with the City of Seattle which would allow the county to take possession of City Hall Park just to the South of the King County Courthouse. The park had been the location of a growing homeless encampment and the source of criminal activities until it was cleaned-up in August.  It is not certain that the Seattle City Council will accept the land swap (which would provide the city with 13 smaller Seattle properties currently owned by the county) when it votes on the proposal next month. King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, who co-sponsored the proposal, lashed out at City of Seattle officials who want to keep the property by stating, “The city of Seattle struck out, they blew their chance (to keep the park clean and free of criminal activities), again and again.” (Seattle Times)

Spokane County joined two other counties and 11 Washington State cities to ban a local income tax.  The Spokane County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to join Franklin and Spokane counties, and the cities of Battle Ground, DuPont, Granger, Kennewick, Longview, Moses Lake, Richland, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Union Gap and Yakima, to prohibit a local income tax as a future source of revenue.

The Spokane County resolution stated, “Such a tax would be in direct conflict with the high value Spokane County places on promoting economic development through the attraction and expansion of financially healthy, family wage paying employers. Small businesses are the backbone of our local, regional, state, and national economy and it is imperative that Spokane County not put unnecessary hurdles in the way of their success.” (Washington Policy Center)

ALCOA announced that it will “permanently decommission” its Malaga aluminum smelter and prepare the 2,800-acre site on the banks of the Columbia River for future economic development.  The plant, just South of Wenatchee/East Wenatchee, was closed in 2015, leaving 400 individuals out of work.  ALCOA has stated it will work with local officials to develop the land so that new economic endeavors and jobs can be created on the site. (Wenatchee World)

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