Jay Inslee showed yet another profile in courage on KUOW radio today, refusing to answer how he will vote on the controversial (and expensive) Initiative 1351, sponsored by the Washington Education Association (WEA) to increase the number of its dues-paying members.
Inslee spends most of the interview articulating the reasons – which have been cited by editorial boards across the state that have taken positions opposing it– on why the initiative is a bad idea. Inslee pointed that the class size issue is being addressed – “we are doing that already in our existing system” – and that “if this measure would pass, it would take several billion dollars…to finance it, it’s very difficult for me to see how legislators would accomplish that.”
Of course, after Inslee received $1 million from the WEA in his last election, one really can’t expect such a principled politician to stand up to his supporters when they are wrong. That could cost him big money in the next campaign.
SHIFT previously reported on Inslee’s refusal to give a straight answer on I-1351 the last time he was asked in public for a position. Now, it appears others are catching on to his tactic of avoidance. KUOW’s Ross Reynolds referred to Inslee’s response as “not much of an answer” then, after attempting to seek clarification from his office, called Inslee’s response “a perfect punt.”
Sort of like when Inslee avoided taking a position in 2010 on the state’s last income tax initiative – a tax which is part of his party’s current platform.
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