It took Shift to shine a spotlight on Jay Inslee’s secret gas tax scheme, but it was KIRO radio host Dori Monson who finally got Inslee to admit publicly that he will use his administrative powers – and ignore the state legislature – when he raises the price of gasoline in Washington with his “low carbon fuel standard.”
Monson had been talking about Shift’s investigation into the Inslee administration’s emails involving his gas tax plans since we broke the story in early May – and even had a Shift representative on his show last week to discuss Inslee’s gas tax scheme – and how he and his staff hid their negotiations with others states from our own state legislators. That focus prompted Inslee to start attacking Shift, and to appear on Monson’s show yesterday.
Monson asked Inslee directly – multiple times – about his “low carbon fuel standards” plans, and whether he would involve the legislature in any decision to raise the price of gasoline for Washington taxpayers. In every answer, Inslee talked about how the “rules” he would issue would be subject to public comment – but he never mentioned proposing any “bill” for the legislature to vote on.
Inslee tried to avoid answering how much his extreme plans would cost consumers – first saying that “I don’t have an answer to that question” when asked how much of a price per gallon increase would be too much, and then later saying “I can tell you a buck (per gallon) is too much” when he was asked the same question again.
He continued his attacks on those who uncovered his secret plans on Monson’s program, accusing Shift of “fear-mongering” – because evidently telling the truth about Inslee’s radical plans for raising the price of gas to satisfy his liberal environmental extremist donors like Tom Steyer qualifies as a scary.
You can listen to the whole 16-minute interview below:
