Governor Jay Inslee celebrated the two-year anniversary of his one-man rule by doing what he does best – making false and divisive statements. When Governor Inslee was asked at his Monday media event when he will end his undemocratic abuse of his emergency powers, the governor refused to answer the question.  Instead he resorted to making the kind of hyper-partisan and erroneous statements for which he is known.  Governor Inslee made the obviously false declaration that the only reason why Republicans want to end his never-ending emergency rule is because they want to “follow Donald Trump” and support government coups.

This statement clearly ignores facts and reality – and highlights a double standard the mainstream media ignores.  As opposed to nearly every Washington State Democrat official (including the governor) irresponsibly saying nothing as their liberal supporters rioted in Seattle in 2020, nearly all of Washington’s Republican leaders condemned the January 6^th political violence as it was taking place.  Inslee’s Putin-esque use of such “false flag” statements is yet just another sign that the governor has no legitimate argument for why he continues to abuse his emergency authority and continues his undemocratic rule of Washington State. (Click to read full Shift Article)

A Douglas County Superior Court judge struck down the Democrats’ state income tax on capital gains.  Judge Brian Huber sided with the plaintiffs in their lawsuit to overturn the unconstitutional tax scheme passed (ESSB 5096) by Democrat legislators and signed by Governor Inslee in 2021. This is yet another roadblock slowing the liberals’ drive to impose an income tax on all Washington State residents, which they need to fund their never-ending desire to increase the size, cost, and power of state government.  Democrat Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has already said he wants to waste more taxpayer money by appealing the judge’s decision.

The judge (appointed to the bench by Jay Inslee) ruled that, despite the Democrats’ contortions of the English language, their tax is an income tax (because it taxes income) and thus is unconstitutional in Washington State. Judge Huber also ruled that it violates the state’s “uniformity requirement” since the tax is not applied equally to all Washington residents.

Republican lawmakers and budget analysts warned the Democrats repeatedly during the legislative process to pass the flawed bill that the tax was unconstitutional. As Representative Ed Orcutt (R – Kalama) stated yesterday, “This is exactly what we told them we expected the court would rule when they were passing this bill and yet they passed it.”

The ruling does slightly impact the state’s current biannual budget which runs through June of 2023. Yet since the collections on the new tax were not going to being until next year, and because the state coffers are flush with unexpected surplus revenue from the many other taxes the Democrats have raised under Jay Inslee, the impact this year may be minimal. (Washington Policy Center, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Seattle Times, Tax Foundation,  House Republican Caucus radio report, and Washington Observer)

On Tuesday night, House Democrats passed their $16.8 billion dollar transportation package by raising billions in increased fees (including those on gas) and stealing funds used by cities to pay for local infrastructure projects. The bill (SB 5974) now goes back to the Senate, since the House version contains many new amendments, including doing away with the very controversial “Liias tax” (on fuel exported to other states) which had instantly caused neighboring states to propose retaliatory taxes on Washington residents, and replacing it by stealing $100 million a year from the Public Works Assistance Account for 15 years.

Despite Democrat attempt to cut off his microphone, Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Olympia) commented on how the Democrats broke from a long-standing tradition of writing a bi-partisan transportation package. Democrats have appeared to utilize the partisan tactic pushed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal (from his notorious 2019 election night tweet) and have chosen to punish any lawmaker who does not support the higher taxes and bigger government by mostly funding transportation projects in liberal lawmakers’ districts. While Republican funding proposals would not increase fees/taxes or cause the cost of gas to climb even higher, the Democrats refused to listen and have instead imposed their funding measures which will hurt lower-income workers the hardest. (Washington House Republican Caucus, Shift Article, Washington State House Caucus Twitter, and SPI Chris Reykdal Twitter)

A Republican bill to make it easier for those with a criminal past to re-enter the workforce has passed both chambers of the legislature. The bill (HB 1874) sponsored by Representative Brandon Vick (R – Vancouver) will eliminate many of the restrictions placed on convicted criminals who seek professional licenses from the state.  Representative Vick said, “Whatever measures we can take to help people who have paid their debt become contributing members of society is a positive.  When people are ready to move forward after putting their mistakes behind them, we should not create barriers that prevent their progress.” The bill now awaits the governor’s signature. (House Republican Caucus media release and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

While Democrat legislators seek to study the problem of catalytic converter thefts for another year, eight East King County police departments and the King County Sheriff’s Office have joined together to seek ways to decrease the number of thefts now.  The nine departments will share information, intelligence, and resources to combat the growing problem.  New Bellevue Police Chief Wendall Shirley stated that his city has seen a 600% increase in the crime, which can cost victims more than $2,500 to remedy.

In the legislature, pro-criminal Democrats have passed Representative Cindy Ryu’s (D – Shoreline) HB 1815 in the House.  Ryu’s bill would first study the issue for another year before implementing preventative measures.  Republicans are supporting a bill (SB 5495) by Senator Jeff Wilson (R – Longview) which would instantly impose measures on scrap metal businesses which would severely reduce the market for the stolen parts. (Bellevue Police Department Blog, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Washington Senate Republican Caucus media release)

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said today that he will likely have an announcement by the end of the month on the city’s new permanent police chief.  As we reported in yesterday’s Daily Briefing, the City of Bellevue was able to identify and hire a new police chief within a few months of former Chief Steve Mylett announcing his resignation.  Meanwhile it has been almost 20 months since former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced she was leaving her post due to lack of support from liberal elected officials.  There likely has not been a large number of qualified candidates seeking the Seattle position, due to the city’s pro-criminal policies and the anti-police beliefs of its current city councilmembers.  From Mayor Harrell’s comments today, it does appear that Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz is likely to be become the permanent chief. (MyNorthwest and Shift’s Daily Briefing)

Ukrainian immigrant and Spokane coffee shop owner Igor Anisimov will donate 100% of ALL revenue (not just profits) his establishment collects this Saturday to help his former countrymen as they fight the Russian invasion of their country.  Anisimov arrived from the Ukraine in 2015, and by late 2017 he had opened up Cedar Coffee in downtown Spokane. Proceeds from all sales will go towards helping the nearly 1 million refugees who have been forced to leave their country by the Russian invasion. (The Inlander)

On the heels of announcing that his office will continue to use taxpayer funds to pay for the liberals’ legal efforts to impose an unconstitutional state income tax (which has been rejected 10 straight times by Washington voters), Bob Ferguson’s campaign sent out a phony survey to his supporters.  In the survey (which is actually a gimmick to obtain more data on possible contributors), the campaign asked which priorities should the Attorney General focus on?  While the survey lists 15 topics, it fails to include two very important issues.

It does not ask if the AG should continue to use state funds to appeal the unpopular state income tax. Obviously the Ferguson campaign does not want to highlight the fact that the AG strongly supports this job-killing tax.

Yet an even stranger omission is that the state’s top law enforcement officer fails to include the topic “improve public safety” as one of his priorities. Again, the Ferguson campaign does not want to remind voters that he supported the Democrats’ reckless 2021 “police reform” bills which resulted in a dramatic increase in crime in Washington State.  Also, it highlights the fact that while Seattle police officers were under constant attack, including a mass murder attempt, in 2020, AG Ferguson said nothing to deter his liberal supporters from continuing their physical violence. Guess public safety is an issue that just doesn’t work for the state’s chief law enforcement officer.

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