Governor Jay Inslee’s undemocratic abuse of emergency powers passed another dubious milestone during the Daily Briefing’s just-completed August break.  Last Wednesday was the 900th day of the governor’s unprecedented removal of the state’s legislators and local officials (and everybody else) from the decision-making process on issues related to the COVID pandemic. Initially the governor used his emergency powers to impose unparalleled restrictions on Washington residents without input from the legislative branch or from locally elected officials.  The governor has recently used the orders to eliminate the legislators’ constitutional role to make permanent state laws such as his recent orders to implement a vaccine mandate on all future state employees.

The governor’s continued use of emergency powers displays his lack of confidence in the Democrats who control the legislature to perform their constitutional role to manage to state.  (Which leads to the question, “If the Democrat governor does not believe Democrat legislators are capable of performing their basic constitutional responsibilities, then why should the voters?”)  Washington remains one of just three states (along with California and West Virginia) to not have an end date for when the emergency powers will end.   Even more disturbing is the fact that Governor Inslee has provided no clear indication of what data metrics need to be reached for the “emergency” to be over.

Democrat legislators have willingly enabled the governor to continue his power grab by failing to pass any kind of meaningful reform of the state’s emergency powers laws.  Liberal legislators did offer a very weak reform bill (SB 5909) during the 2022 legislative session, yet they failed to act on it (as even the most partisan Democrat knew it was meaningless legislation).  While a few members of the media made notice of the 900-day milestone last week and called for the governor to end his undemocratic actions, it seems very unlikely that the governor will ever relinquish his use of emergency powers – especially if the Democrats stay in control of the legislature. (Washington Policy Center, MyNorthwest, National Academy for State Health Policy,  Washington Legislature Bill Summery, Seattle Times, and Vancouver Columbian)

State government employee union bosses continue to assert that state workers are entitled to the government’s tax revenue surplus and that Washington State taxpayers should not receive tax relief as they struggle with rising costs thanks to liberal inflationary policies.  State employees have received three pay raises in the past two years and they are seeking even more taxpayer money in their current “behind closed doors” negotiations with Governor Inslee (whose campaigns they have previously financed).  Washington State Federation of State Employees leaders informed members in their latest negotiations update that “Compensation is going to be a fight” and that they deserve even more money despite none of them losing a paycheck or facing financial insecurity during the pandemic (something that is not true for a large portion of private sector taxpayers).  It is easy to assume that these statements from union leaders are simply public posturing to make it look as if the governor hasn’t already caved into yet another pay raise for his major campaign contributors in the government employee unions – but we’re betting that the governor beliefs have not been too far off from union bosses demands all along. (Washington State Federation of State Employee Bargaining Update)

The Freedom Foundation announced a new television ad campaign which does seek to increase take-home pay for government workers, but which won’t cost taxpayers any more money.  The ads encourage government employees to join 100,000 of their co-workers to “opt-out” of paying union dues.  Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 2018 Janis decision that mandatory union dues were unconstitutional, the Freedom Foundation has been a leader in informing government union members of their rights.  The ads assert that by foregoing the union dues, workers could bring home more than $1,000 in pay. The two ads will begin to run in selected markets. (Freedom Foundation blog)

House Republican Leader JT Wilcox will be hosting his 10^th Annual Salmon Bake on the Wilcox Farm in Roy (Southeastern Pierce County) on Saturday, September 10^th at 5:00 PM.  The annual event is one of the major Republican grassroots events in the state featuring most GOP legislative candidates and many future statewide hopefuls in attendance. Tickets are only $25. (Wilcox Salmon Bake)

In what has sadly become a common occurrence, the Sound Transit staff has again informed its unelected Board of Directors of even more construction delays and cost-overruns for the region’s wasteful light rail system.  The latest problems are due to construction issues with the rail supports on the I-90 bridge. Sound Transit inspectors first became aware of a potential problem with the supports in 2019, when engineers redesigned how the supports are connected to the bridge. Yet it became public recently that the rail support problems persist while additional design troubles were unearthed.  Sound Transit staff also stated that recently discovered unstable soil conditions will delay construction even further for the rail link between Federal Way and Kent. Staff did not provide how much more these problems will cost taxpayers, who were originally promised during the 2016 vote on the project that the regional light rail system would cost another $54 billion to construct.  This amount has ballooned to an estimated $135 billion, with at least 20 more years of construction still to take place.

At the same time the Sound Transit Board has imposed more of a financial burden on taxpayers by passing “fare enforcement” policies which basically allow anyone to ride the system for free. Taxpayers were previously promised that riders would fund 40% of the system’s operating costs, yet recent data shows fares only fund 5% of the system’s expenses. (PubliCola and Seattle Times)

Central Washington public utility officials expressed concerns over Governor Jay Inslee and U.S. Senator Patty Murray’s willingness to remove the Snake River Dams – and the clean energy they provide – at a time when energy experts argue that the region needs to find an additional 3,500 megawatts of energy in the next five years in order to meet demand.  The two politicians are currently wasting taxpayer dollars preparing a partisan unscientific report (which is already late to be delivered) after its draft provided an incredibly broad cost range ($10.3 billion to $27.2 billion) for replacing the dams’ benefits (and these figures are considered extremely low by many experts).  In a Spokesman-Review op-ed, officials from the Chelan, Douglas, and Grant public utility districts questioned the methods used in the Inslee/Murray draft report and state that 2,000 of the additional megawatts of energy needed could be provided carbon-free by the four Snake River dams.

The three officials conclude their op-ed by writing “It is essential that policymakers fully understand the vital role the Lower Snake River dams play in meeting the region’s energy supply needs and carbon reduction goals. We hope they consider that removing the dams could have public safety, electric reliability, and cost consequences for millions of people across the Northwest.” (Spokesman-Review)

The proposed Wautoma solar panel project on the Yakima and Benton county border drew a significant negative public reaction at a recent hearing on the latest solar farm which is presently being discussed.  This is the fifth project currently being developed and many people are concerned about the “visual pollution” and the loss of farmlands these projects will cause.  The 470-megawatt Wautoma project would cover more than 3,000 acres of land with solar panels. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

Prior to our short break, Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Republican 47^th District Senate candidate Bill Boyce.  The former Kent School Board member and current Kent City Councilman will bring significant local experience and knowledge if he is elected to the Washington State Senate. Like many South King County leaders, Boyce has seen the impact of the Democrats’ soft-on- crime legislation and that’s why he is calling for the legislature to fix the state’s laws which severely restrict law enforcement’s ability to pursue criminals, and to end the Democrats’ decriminalization of lethal and addictive drugs (which are already ruining so many people’s lives).

Councilman Boyce also calls for repealing the Democrats’ poorly developed and already underfunded Long-Term Care payroll tax which Boyce says will hurt lower- and middle- income workers. Boyce wants to use the state’s surplus revenue to give money back to taxpayers through reducing or suspending the state’s sales tax, gas tax, and/or property tax.  The Army Ranger veteran also tells us that his favorite books deal with the strategy behind military actions, for they teach us the importance of preparation. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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