The contrast in political leadership could not have been more on display in the media, as Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward tries to clear out a homeless camp that Governor Inslee has allowed to grow and fester on state property, while that same Inslee is touring a longtime homeless camp in Seattle that he seemingly just realized was on state property. This is just another occasion when Inslee ventures outside his Olympia bubble for a photo op, and runs into an issue that his policies have created or made worse, and he pretends with the media that it’s all news to him. (Spokesman-Review, KOMO News)

Depressing data about car theft continues to surface in Washington, with the latest from Axios – Seattle showing that “Seattle saw car thefts rise 73% between 2019 and 2022, according to police department data.” So the city’s answer was to “sue Hyundai and Kia earlier this year over the rise in thefts, saying the companies failed ‘to install a common-sense anti-theft technology.’ “ Of course, the city could have sued Jay Inslee and the state of Washington for the same thing, since legislators in 2021 removed the “common-sense anti-theft technology” of allowing police to chase car thieves. (Axios-Seattle)

The pressure has been overwhelming, with the state and other Western Washington local governments raising every tax they can, and it finally got to the Pierce County Council.  As the News Tribune reports, “After a packed, nearly two-hour public hearing Tuesday, the Pierce County Council approved an ordinance levying a sales-and-use tax of 0.1% to fund housing and related services.” The new tax will not hit taxpayers in Tacoma however, as city officials there imposed a housing and related services sales tax within their jurisdiction in 2021, protecting them from a double dip by the county. This new tax is in addition to the 2021 vote by the county council to impose a similar 0.1% sales tax for behavioral health and therapeutic court programs (Tacoma News Tribune)

It goes without saying that Washington State Republican Members of Congress do not always agree with President Joe Biden and the Democrat agenda.  But the President really made it easy for Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse when he told attendees at a conservation summit that “he was committed to working with tribal leaders, Idaho GOP Rep. Mike Simpson and Washington’s Democratic senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, ‘to bring healthy and abundant salmon runs back to the Colorado River system’,” as reported by the Spokesman-Review. Once the president set that up, Rep. Newhouse spiked it home by noting “President Biden’s inability to even get the name of the river system that powers, waters, and feeds our communities right proves he is the last person who should be making decisions that impact the men and women of Central Washington and the entire Pacific Northwest.” Roll On Columbia, or Colorado, indeed. (Spokesman-Review)

Despite the wailing you’ve heard from Democrats and media throughout Puget Sound, the news surrounding the state’s latest economic forecast was not all bad, as Shift and other rational observers have reported. The current budget will now end up topping 20% growth by time it ends in June, and the state is projected to have even more money for balancing both of its next two budgets, with revenue expected to exceed $70 billion available for the 2025-27 budget. As Republican House budget leader Ed Orcutt pointed out, “”It’s a question of spending – are we going to continue to ratchet up spending or are we going to stay on more of a consistent trajectory and maybe give taxpayers a little bit of relief?” Any hands out there for relief? (Northwest News Network)

Many people on the right side of the political spectrum warned of potential government waste, if not outright corruption, when government COVID relief money was being shoveled out the door without the usual regard for rules. The early massive scandal at Jay Inslee’s Employment Security Department has proved to be just the tip of the iceberg of Washington State government incompetence during the pandemic’s worst days.  Here’s another audit showing “deficiencies” as the Walla Walla Union Bulletin puts it. Sorry for the paywall, but the headline says it all: State audit finds deficiencies in federally funded COVID-19 programs in Walla Walla County. (Union Bulletin)

To get early insight into what might make Shift’s next Daily Briefing worth reading, tune in to 570 KVI on your AM dial weekday mornings at 8:05, to hear John Carlson talk Washington State legislative politics with Shift co-founder Randy Pepple. And you can always stay for the rest of the Commute with Carlson by tuning in here.

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