Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with the newest (and by far the youngest) member of the Washington State Senate, Senator Simon Sefzik (R – Ferndale).  The senator was appointed on January 11^th to serve the remaining year of the late Senator Doug Ericksen’s term.  Senator Sefzik will face election this November.  The 22-year-old lawmaker was born and raised in Whatcom County, and is a recent graduate of Patrick Henry College in Northern Virginia, where he majored in Political Science.  He interned for the U.S. House of Representatives and obtained a position in the White House before returning home to Ferndale.  In his interview, Senator Sefzik discusses his efforts to help those impacted by recent floods, his proposal to temporarily eliminate the state’s gas tax to help low-income workers the most, and his initial impressions of working in Olympia.  On the Democrats’ poorly crafted Long-Term Care payroll tax, Senator Sefzik stated it needs to be repealed stating, “When a program is insolvent from Day One, you know there’s a problem.” (Click to read full Newsmaker interview)

A record was set today as more than 5,400 Washington citizens signed in this morning to testify on the Democrats’ tepid bill to end Governor Inslee’s 699 days of abusing the state’s emergency powers. The previous record was 4,858 individuals registered to testify against the Democrats’ assault weapons ban.  As is often the case in Olympia, the Democrats’ bill (SB 5909) fails to address the problem, but provides current Democrat lawmakers with cover for having passed a bad law.  While Republican bills (SB 5943 and SB 5039) provided a firm timetable (either 30, 60, or 90 days) for when a governor’s emergency powers would end (or need a vote from the legislature to extend), the Democrats’ bill states that emergency powers would go on indefinitely unless the legislature voted to end them.  This would not alter Governor Inslee’s on-going undemocratic actions in the slightest, since Democrat lawmakers have repeatedly demonstrated that they are fine with the governor’s one-man rule of the state since he always does what is best for liberal special interest groups.  Thus liberal lawmakers only pay lip service to ending emergency powers yet have never done anything to change those misguided rules.  (Olympia Watch Twitter, Washington Legislature Bill Summary and Shift Article)

Governor Inslee’s unilateral decision to end non-emergency surgeries and treatments at Washington State hospitals is causing severe problems and unnecessary discomfort for many state residents, including one Western Washington woman with brain and ovarian cancer.  As with all of the governor’s emergency orders during the past 699 days, the governor made the decision without any input from state legislators, local elected officials, or local health officials.  KIRO’s Dori Monson interviewed the woman who stated she attempted to contact the governor’s office about the problem his orders have caused her, but no one in the governor’s office provided the courtesy of responding to her inquiries. Dori Monson contacted Inslee’s spokesperson Mike Faulk about the woman’s problems, and he gave a feckless response which provided no relief to the woman’s pain.  (MyNorthwest)

Unbelievably, Democrat lawmakers continue to push legislation which would prohibit police officers from conducting traffic stops and citing drivers for many serious infractions.  Far-Left State Senators Joe Nguyen (D – West Seattle) and T’wina Nobles (Fircrest) have introduced SB 5485 to forbid police from pulling over drivers who do not have a driver’s license, registration, or proof of insurance (this information is often made available to officers through data available through a computer in the police vehicle).  It would also prohibit officers from stopping those who drive with their high beam lights on, fail to make a proper stop, or fail to move right for emergency vehicles.  The legislation would also prevent officers from arresting drivers for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana or alcohol if the officer first suspects this has occurred based on smelling the substance.

Senators Ngyuen and Nobles are clearly oblivious to the fact that Washington citizens are upset over the Democrats 2021 “police reform” measures and they want lawmakers to make it less comfortable for criminals to live and commit crimes in our state.  Surprisingly, this extremely dangerous legislation has been given precious public hearing time next Thursday afternoon (February 3^rd) at 4:00 PM in front of the Senate Transportation Committee. (Washington Legislature Bill Summary and Text of SB 5485)

It was revealed this afternoon that the state has yet to recover at least $270 million stolen by foreign criminals who took advantage of reckless security decisions made by Governor Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD).  While it is good news that a little more than half of the initial low estimate of $650 million has been recovered by banking institutions, this is still one of the largest thefts in history to take place on American soil.  Yet not one person has lost their job at Governor Inslee’s ESD due to this massive security failure.  In fact, former ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine was given a promotion to the U.S. Department of Labor (mostly due to her ability to raise money for Democrat candidates).  But LeVine was relieved of her position when the Biden Administration decided it wasn’t worth the political capital to push her approval through the necessary Senate confirmation process. (Seattle Times and KING5 News)

A reminder that the 2022 Roanoke Conference is beginning this weekend in Ocean Shores.  The annual gathering of moderates and conservatives runs through Sunday morning.  If you would like to attend, you can register at the door (at the Ocean Shores Convention Center) for the price of $177.66. (Roanoke Conference)

A dramatic increase in “fare evasion” and skyrocketing construction cost are causing a “financially unstable” trajectory for Sound Transit.  As many opponents of the light-rail agency long predicted, revenue from fares is considerably less than what was promised.  Not only are there fewer passengers, but there is also a growing increase in the number of commuters who ride without paying. In 2018-2019, only three percent of riders evaded paying their fares. This number has jumped as high as 30%.  Sound Transit promised voters that fares would pay for 40% of the system’s operating costs, but due to fewer passengers and more “fare-evaders,” passenger fares only pay for 5% of operating expenses.

The non-paying passenger problem will only get worse because Sound Transit, in the name of “equity,” has removed their fare enforcement officers from its trains and buses because a disproportionate number of minorities were cited for riding without paying their fares.  The agency is discussing a new process for dealing with the growing fare-evasion problem, which includes handing out more “educational” materials to those who are caught and giving them up to five warnings before issuing them a citation for $124, which may or may not be referred to the courts.  Current Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff (who is soon heading out the door with his $400,000 severance package) said that riders know that there is only a 2% (1 in 50) chance of being caught for not paying.  So, if we work out the math, an average Sound Transit passenger could ride 250 times without paying before obtaining a citation (which may or may not be enforced) for $124.  Even if this person pays the fine (which is doubtful), this will equate to a 50-cent fare for their 250 rides.  Currently Sound Transit’s posted one-way fares are $2.50 – $3.50. (Seattle Times and Sound Transit)

Everett Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield reveals that even Governor Inslee admits his attempt at a massive land grab of private farming property appears to be dead.  As we have reported previously, Governor Inslee and his wealthy environmentalist friends developed their latest legislation (HB 1838) to increase “buffer zones” around rivers, streams, and seasonal floodplains without any input from anyone in the agricultural community (including his own Secretary of Agriculture).  The bill not only would have increased buffer areas (where no farming would be allowed) from 50-100 feet to 100-250 feet, it would also force the landowner (i.e. farmer) to pay for 30% of the cost to plant trees in the buffer zone and 100% of the cost to maintain the enlarged buffer zone.  Thus the bill placed the financial burden of protecting salmon habitat squarely on the shoulders of our state’s farmers.  The legislation would have caused the loss of 100,000’s of acres of state farmland and put some small farmers out of business.

This caused strong outrage among agricultural groups which have been under attack from liberal urban legislators (with no farming experience) through increasing regulations and government-mandated wage scales.  The uproar was effective enough (forcing a second public hearing) that the bill is currently dead.  When reporters asked the governor on Thursday about the fate of the bill, he admitted, “I don’t think there’s cause for optimism on that one.” (Everett Herald/Cornfield Report and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Representative My-Linh Thai (D – Bellevue) is evidently oblivious to the concerns of her constituents regarding the many flaws of the Democrats’ 2021 “police reform” laws, which made it easier to be a criminal in our state and resulted in a predictable dramatic rise in crime.  While citizens are demanding lawmakers support law enforcement officers and do more to protect victims, Representative Thai and her fellow Democrats are pushing her legislation which makes it even easier for criminals to sue police officers.  What does it say about the liberal lawmaker’s priorities when the issue on which she chooses to write a major opinion piece displays more concerns for criminals than the victims of their crimes and only provides lip-service respect for our communities’ police officers? (Click to read full Shift Article)

BABYLON BEE FRIDAY!

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