Inslee gets a taste of almost full-time work – will it last?

Shift has been the only media outlet in the state which monitors our governor’s daily schedule, to provide the public a sense of his work ethic and priorities in office. Over the last year, we’ve been able to identify two clear trends – Jay Inslee does not like to put in 40 hours of public work, but he does like to spend a lot of his day on campaigning (called “personal time” on his schedule).

Some thought that once his re-election campaign was over, that Inslee might step up his work on the state’s business. After all, the next legislative session is shaping up to be a rigorous one focused on fully funding our public schools, as mandated by the State Supreme Court, and he has a budget draft due this month.

And, indeed, Inslee almost stepped up to the plate in our most recent review of his schedule. For the week ending December 4, Jay managed to put in 36 whole hours on state business, and spent at least part of every day working in his Olympia office.

Guess we should be thankful for minor miracles.

Of course, Jay did manage to fit in a few blocks of personal time during the week, and knocked off work at 4 p.m. one afternoon because he was worn out.

However, on Tuesday through Friday of that week, he spent over seven hours each day on official business.  He even spent two meetings, and two-and-a-half hours on his budget draft.

He also met with legislators when the House was in town at the end of the week. Jay’s partisan priorities certainly showed, as he spent 90 minutes with House Democrats, and 30 minutes with House Republicans – and he offset that 30 minutes with the Republican leaders with 30 minutes with the head of the state Labor Council.

One interesting meeting also featured First Lady Trudi Inslee, at a working lunch with the DOC (one assumes that’s the Department of Corrections). Since Mrs. Inslee almost never appears on the official schedule, this must have been a unique meeting indeed.

We’ll have to wait until next week to see if   Jay’s “nose-to-the-grindstone” approach will increase in intensity, as the legislative session draws closer. Shift will keep you posted.