Just in case you somehow missed it, we wanted to make sure you saw some coverage (this from the Washington Post) that “Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog, announced his weather forecast… he saw no shadow to cast. He declared an early spring, taking many aghast.”… Washington Post.

Republican State Representative April Connors (8th LD) joins us to discuss top priorities for the 2024 legislative session, including addressing overregulation of housing, ensuring energy access, and safeguarding the Lower Snake River dams. Rep. Connors expresses her disappointment in Democrats’ refusal to hear Let’s Go Washington Initiatives, and emphasizes the importance of citizen-driven change. She also discusses how over-regulation has led to the housing crisis and highlights the solutions her bill (House Bill 2464) presents. Optimistic about its passage, Rep. Connors also discusses her bill proposing a $200 gas rebate to offset the Climate Commitment Act’s impact (House Bill 2040). Read more.

Sometimes legislators accidentally say the quiet part out loud. That’s what this defense of the price-raising impacts of the Democrats’ carbon tax from State Senator Joe Ngyuyen, the Inslee administration’s point person on all things extreme and environmental, sounded like on KUOW: “There is never going to be a perfect world where everybody is going to be happy, but that is what leadership looks like in Washington state.”

Yep, 50 cents added to every gallon of gas sold in Washington – even to the farmers who were allegedly exempted from the tax – all year long, thanks to Democrat “leadership.”

Or, you can read the truth about what the Democrats are doing to every driver in the state, from the sponsor of the original carbon tax almost a decade ago, who says gas “prices are going up because that is the way that carbon pricing works. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a liar or an idiot,” he concludes. You can read on to see how the Left still wants to deny their carbon tax’ impact on gas prices here… KUOW.

There was some good news out of Olympia this week, almost cutting through the fog of the Democrats ignoring the citizen initiatives which are supposed to be their top priority. One such item from The Columbian was that “Sen. Annette Cleveland on Wednesday voted against a rent stabilization bill that proposed to limit rent increases in Washington to 15 percent or lower depending on the choices of local governments. Her move effectively killed Senate Bill 5961 in committee.”

Of course, veteran observers of Olympia know that (despite rules) nothing is ever really dead if the Democrats need to raise taxes to help their special interest friends. Read on to see how Sen. Cleveland did put a little extra knife in this rent control idea by pointing out that “(S)ometimes, really simple solutions, when you dig a little deeper, really aren’t a solution at all.”… Columbian.

Another unfortunate story about businesses struggling to survive in post-progressive Seattle. That’s what we read in this item about the growth of the restaurant industry across Washington as it recovers from Covid – except in Seattle. Instead, as reported by Axios Seattle, “in Seattle proper, the number of restaurants filing taxes last year was 5.4% below pre-pandemic levels, per the hospitality association’s analysis of the state data.”

You can read on to see how “downtown business traffic and convention travel have not fully recovered from the pandemic” to a degree that will help the restaurant industry in the city here… Axios Seattle.

Shift will leave this story from the Tacoma News Tribune about the latest taxpayer tally for Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer’s escapades with little comment, other than to note that over $1 million dollars could have been spent on something more productive for the people of Pierce County than this… Tacoma News Tribune.

If you didn’t keep track of your favorite/most disliked bill this week, you may have missed its death. That’s the message from the Seattle Times, which reminds us that “by Jan. 31, most bills had to get the nod from a policy committee to continue their journey through the statehouse.”

Read on to see a few of the highlights, and how Democrats prioritized passing bills putting taxpayers on the hook for “striking workers to get unemployment benefits” and allowing their base voters to “grow up to four cannabis plants at home” here… Seattle Times.

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