Democrat lawmakers have proposed legislation to delay collection on their poorly designed and extremely controversial Long-Term Care payroll tax until after the 2022 elections.  Former Democrat House Speaker Representative Frank Chopp (Seattle) and House Democrat Leader Pat Sullivan (Covington) sponsored HB 1732 to postpone tax collections on the inaccurately named “WA Cares” program until July 2023.  Originally tax collections were to start last Saturday, until Governor Inslee and Democrat legislators finally admitted last month that the plan was poorly written, unfair to millions of Washington workers, and (most importantly for Democrat politicians) a major political liability for Democrats heading into the 2022 elections.

Thus far the Democrats’ only proposed correction to the plan has been HB 1733, sponsored by Representative Dave Paul (who is vulnerable in 2022 after winning his 2020 election by just 262 votes).  Representative Paul’s proposal caters to the large number of military personnel in his Whidbey Island-centered district, by exempting spouses and domestic partners of those on active duty, those on temporary work visas, and Washington workers who reside in other states.  Representative Paul’s bill does nothing to help the hundreds of thousands of other individuals who will pay into the plan and not be eligible to receive benefits.  This includes those who currently within 10 years of retirement and those who could pay into the plan for 50 years and never receive benefits because they retired in other states.

Meanwhile Republican lawmakers are proposing responsible legislation to deal with the plan (written by current House Speaker Laurie Jinkins) that was developed to benefit the major Democrat campaign contributors at the Service Employees International Union (who extract dues from home care workers who will eventually receive most of the funds in the WA Cares program). Representative Joe Schmick (R – Colfax) and Representative Peter Abbarno (R – Centralia) have introduced HB 1594 which would totally repeal the entire WA Cares program which was passed by the Democrats in 2019. (Seattle Times, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Governor Inslee media release, Secretary of State 2020 elections return, and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

The liberals on the Whatcom County Council are receiving criticism for their politically motivated decision to leave those tragically affected by the recent floods unrepresented in the Washington State Senate when it convenes next Monday.  The county council held a special virtual meeting Tuesday afternoon to select from the three nominees provided by the 42^nd Legislative District Republicans Precinct Committee Officers to replace Senator Doug Ericksen, who died on December 17^th.  The four far-Left members (Councilmembers Todd Donovan, Carol Frazey, Rud Browne, and Barry Buchanan) voted to ignore their own previously established timeline and delayed their approval until at least next week. All four of these councilmembers represent urban areas in the county, not those in the rural areas which were devastated by floods last month.

Whatcom County GOP Chair John Ramsey said, “After a last-minute email blast by a group of special interest political activists, the four council members, who live in urban areas relatively unaffected by the flood, voted to effectively deprive the victims of the flood-devastated areas of the county of representation at their time of greatest need, many of them still living in tents and trailers.” (Whatcom County Republicans media release)

Rarely do we see liberal Seattle Senator Reuven Carlyle and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox agree on anything, yet both oppose the legislative Democrats’ actions to conduct most of the 2022 legislative session remotely, and deny the public the opportunity to participate.   On Tuesday, Senator Carlyle tweeted, “I believe the Legislature can responsibly & carefully follow strict public health guidelines of vaccines, N95 masks, testing, distancing while meeting in-person to conduct the people’s business. If we can send our kids to school, we can send legislators to Olympia.”

Representative Wilcox responded, “Reuven and I agree. Farmworkers, grocery workers, delivery drivers, nurses have all worked every day to help us. We’ve had nearly 2 years to prepare the Chambers. We should be doing our jobs in person like they are.” (Wilcox and Carlyle Tweets)

A new report from the Washington Policy Center reveals the astonishing growth and cost of state government over the past 50 years and during the nine years of the irresponsible Inslee Administration.  In 1970, the Washington State government spent $1,784 per person, adjusted for inflation.  If the legislature approves Governor Inslee’s proposed supplemental budget, the state will spend $4,966 per person.  This is an incredible 178.3% increase!  When Governor Inslee took office in 2013, the state spent $3,128 per person. Thus the governor’s supplemental budget proposal equates to an $1,838 per person (adjusted for inflation) increase during his tenure – a whopping 59% increase paid for by the constant increase in state taxes and fees.  (Washington Policy Center)

A new bi-partisan bill has been proposed to limit the governor’s use of emergency powers to 60 days. HB 1772 is sponsored by Representative Mike Chapman (D – Port Angeles) and Representative Chris Corry (R – Yakima). The legislation would also end the use of emergency powers by a vote of the legislature, or if the legislature is not in session, by unanimous approval of the four leaders of the Democrat and Republican caucuses in both the Senate and House. (Washington State Legislature Bill Summary)

Slade Gorton’s family announced this morning that due to concerns over the Omicron variant, they have postponed the former U.S. Senator’s memorial service that was scheduled for January 20^th.  The family is looking to reschedule the services to sometime this spring.  (Gorton Legacy Group Facebook post)

South King County elected and public safety officials are very upset by the lack of respect displayed by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) over concerns about the dramatic increase in violent crime in their communities.  South King County leaders have been gathering over the past couple of months to discuss solutions to the crime problems in their communities. This week they asked the KCPAO to discuss the perception that it is soft on prosecuting criminals.  The KCPAO’s presentation informed them that the prosecutors office does not plan to prosecute many youths who commit crimes (even those using weapons), choosing instead to focus on “rehabilitation” and that officials must “get use to this.”  They also showed a popular meme which has a house on fire and a cartoon character stating “This is fine.” Kent Mayor Dana Ralph stated, “It was shocking to me.” (MyNorthwest)

Liberal officials at the Seattle Public Schools, the Regional Homeless Authority, and former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office continue to point fingers, blame others, and/or refuse comment for allowing a newly created non-profit be in charge of removing people from a North Seattle homeless encampment.  Not a single entity ran a basic background check on Mike Mathias and his just-created non-profit Anything Helps before paying him $20,000 for handing out housing vouchers to those in the in the Bitter Lake encampment.  Mathias admits he shot meth with one of the female encampment residents and he has been accused by other residents of openly seeking meth for personal use.  Mathias has a spotty work history and was the subject of two separate protection orders from women who claim Mathias stalked and harassed them. (Seattle Times)

Grant County (Moses Lake/Ephrata) became the fourth county and the 15^th local government to ban an income tax as a source of revenue in the future.  Grant County Councilmembers unanimously approved the resolution earlier this week, as their county joins Franklin, Spokane, and Yakima counties and 11 cities (from both sides of the state) to ban a local income tax.  County Council Chair Danny Stone said, “I believe it’s important for local government to clarify to those politicians, who seem to think increasing taxes is always a good thing, that our citizens are not on board. It appears many of those politicians are bent on imposing an income tax on Washington’s citizens even though we have said ‘no’ to 10 straight income tax proposals in Washington.” (Grant County Council Resolution and Washington Policy Center)

After Governor Jay Inslee and the Democrat legislature gave Washington tribes the lucrative monopoly on sports gambling, tribal leaders are flexing their political muscle making demands over the Skagit River dams which power the City of Seattle.  The 350-member Suak-Suiattle tribe is demanding that Seattle City Light spend millions to add fish ladders to dams and increase utility rates to Seattle residents to pay for them. Failing to do this, the tribes demand that the city change its name to not discredit its namesake Chief Seattle. The situation is ironic, for liberal Seattle politicians have been demanding the destruction of Snake River dams (where fish runs have been steadily increasing) for years, yet they are now balking when the same demand is being thrust upon them. (Click to read full Shift Article)

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