With Governor Inslee removing “moderate” Democrat Steve Hobbs from the Washington State Senate by appointing him Secretary of State, wealthy far-Left environmental special interest groups are salivating over all the economic destruction they can cause to the state and harm they can bring to working families. As the Chair of the Senate’s Transportation Committee, then Senator Hobbs was often a roadblock for many of the environmental groups’ (and thus Governor Inslee’s) expensive measures to increase the cost of fuel while doing very little to reduce carbon emissions.  But as one of the legislative leaders of the environmental extremists, Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D – West Seattle) said “With Hobbs out of the Senate, that opens up possibilities we didn’t have in the past.”  The Democrats replaced Hobbs as the Transportation Committee Chair with Senator Marko Liias (D – Edmonds) who, as his personal bankruptcies prove, is not concerned with economic realities. Unless Republicans are successful in taking control of one or both of the legislative chambers this November, we can expect plenty of extremist environmental policies coming from Governor Inslee, radical legislators, and their wealthy urban friends in the state’s environmental community. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Democrat legislators continue to seek ways to make Washington State a more comfortable place for criminals despite the public outrage over their hastily passed 2021“police reform” package which is responsible for the dramatic increase in crime in the state. Readers will remember that Representative Tarra Simmons (D – Bremerton) showed no regard for crime victims when she introduced HB 1692 to reduce the sentence of those convicted in drive-by shootings. Rumors are Democrat Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins (Tacoma) was upset that this bill was introduced and did not want her members to have to defend the bill going into the 2022 election year.  This reckless bill has died in committee.

Yet another sentence reduction bill (SB 5036) for murders and rapists has steamrolled through the Democrat-controlled Senate and is now in front of the House Public Safety Committee.  Senator Manka Dhingra (D – Redmond) sponsored the legislation which would allow those sentenced to life in prison to be released after serving just 25 years (sadly, we are not making this up).  Remember when Governor Inslee placed his moratorium on the death penalty, he pointed out that those convicted would still be forced to serve a life sentence.  Yet this bill would allow those individuals convicted of aggravated murder (including Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway) to be released after serving just 25 years.  Republican House Leader JT Wilcox (Yelm) was adamant in his opposition to the bill stating, “It’s almost beyond belief that the Democrats are willing to advance a bill that is good for a handful of the most heinous criminals in the history of Washington.”

The same bill passed the Senate during the 2021 legislative session, but even at that time the Democrats in the House thought it was too extreme to include in their radical “police reform” package.  We will see if Democrat House members are willing to defend this pro-criminal bill to voters this November, by reversing their previous reservations and passing it this year. (KOMO News, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Governor Inslee’s statement regarding his death penalty moratorium, and Wikipedia)

The Vancouver Columbian’s editorial board (which has a very long history of supporting liberal politicians and issues) was critical of Democrat Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s unilateral action to prohibit insurance companies from using credit ratings in their formulas to determine home and auto insurance rates.Commissioner Kreidler announced last week his prohibition which will result in dramatic increase in insurance rates for many Washington residents. The insurance companies immediately challenged the action by filing a lawsuit in Thurston County Superior Court.

The Columbian’s primary objection is that this prohibition will negatively impact so many state residents that it should have been approved by the Washington State Legislature and not just the decision of one politician. The editorial states that Commissioner Kreidler attempted to have the legislature pass the bill during the 2021 session, but they refused to act on the measure.  The editorial asserts, “the decision should not be his alone to make. When a decision impacts the premiums of millions of policy holders in Washington, the Legislature must be involved. If Kreidler cannot effectively make his case to lawmakers and convince them that the use of credit ratings is inherently unfair, his only viable option is to try again.”

Quick side note on this issue.  If Democrats keep removing benefits for having good credit, why should people be responsible and pay their bills? (Vancouver Columbian, Insurance Commissioner Office media release, and Property/Casualty360)

Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Olympia) diplomatically said that Senator Emily Randall (D – Bremerton) made “an inaccurate statement” when she claimed that Republicans had been included in the discussions on the long-awaited transportation bill. While Representative Barkis is being polite about a fellow legislator’s comments, we will say Senator Randall lied. Representative Barkis, who is the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox both went on Twitter to call out Senator Randall’s statements.  It is partly due to false statements like this that Senator Randall is a top target of Republicans this November, as Representative Jesse Young has already announced he is running against the senator this fall.

It is interesting to note, that while the Democrats refused to consult with Republican legislators about their transportation package, members of the media (including the Seattle Times and KIRO Radio) had stories already written at 1:00 PM today when the package was revealed to the public in Olympia.  So, while the Democrats ignored the long tradition of both parties working together on transportation packages, by divisively excluding Republicans from the process, they were willing to share the details with members of the media. While we have not had time to go through the Democrats’ $16 billion proposal, it will be interesting to see if liberal legislators took the advice from Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal who tweeted on the night I-976 passed in 2019 that Democrats should punish the counties which supported the car tab measure by not funding transportation projects in their jurisdiction. (Barkis Twitter, Wilcox Twitter, Jesse Young for Senate, Seattle Times, KIRO Radio, and Reykdal Twitter)

Economists state that the City of Seattle’s eviction moratorium is the latest liberal effort that is increasing rent and making housing far more costly for low-income households. Windermere Chief Economist Matthew Gardner points out that not all renters are in apartment complexes, that many are in houses.  The moratorium forced some of the homeowners to sell their rental houses because they could not afford to pay bills, especially the mortgage, if rent was not paid. Thus housing units came off the market and increased the demand for other units.  Liberal housing policies imposed by the Seattle City Council, including taxes, fees, regulations, construction restrictions, environmental restrictions, etc.) are the largest culprits in the increased cost of housing in Seattle. (KIRO Radio)

Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis continues to embody everything that is wrong about the city’s response to crime and homelessness. He famously flip-flopped his 2019 campaign promise to increase funding for the Seattle Police Department, when he caved into the liberal rioters’ demand to defund the police.  He has since said more funding (obtained through higher taxes) is necessary to respond to the predictably skyrocketing crime rates.  Now the councilmember, who represents the Magnolia, Queen Anne, and Downtown neighborhoods, says the homeless problem is getting better but we still need more money to solve this problem.  Obviously the councilmember is being selective in his viewing when he says homeless encampments are coming down.  A series of tweets from downtown Seattle resident Brad Foster shows the encampments are reappearing elsewhere (Foster shows one developing in the heart of Seattle’s retail district on 4th Avenue).

Despite the Puget Sound Business Journal claiming in 2017 that Seattle was spending over a billion dollars a year on the homeless problem , Councilmember Lewis claims even more is needed.  It is doubtful Councilmember Lewis or any of his liberal council colleagues will ever admit that money is not the problem, for it is the policies which encourage homelessness that are the problem. (Puget Sound Business Journal and Brad Foster Twitter)

The City of Pasco and Asotin County have joined the growing list of local jurisdictions which have banned an income tax as a source of revenue. The Pasco City Council adopted an anti-income tax resolution yesterday as they joined the cities of Battle Ground, DuPont, Grand Coulee, Granger, Kennewick, Longview, Moses Lake, Richland, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Union Gap, West Richland and Yakima in banning an income tax.  Asotin County joined Benton County, Chelan County, Douglas County, Franklin County, Grant County, Spokane County and Yakima County on January 31stwhen they also banned a local income tax.  It is now 22 local jurisdictions in Washington State which have banned an income tax. (Washington Policy Center)

Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat legislators are quietly attempting to restrict Washington citizens’ ability to propose and repeal Washington State laws by again pushing legislation which would restrict initiatives and referendums from taking place in odd-numbered years.  The Democrats are blatantly attempting to silence the voice of the people because it goes against their liberal selfish desire to increase the size and cost of state government. The legislation (HB 1727) is clearly one of the most undemocratic bills in Washington State history.   Will Democrat legislators (especially those in swing districts), who are already nervous going into the 2022 elections (because of their support of the disastrous police reform laws, the poorly developed Long-Term Care tax, the unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains, expensive energy policies and more bad policies), be willing to support legislation which restricts Washington voters’ voice?  Shift will be watching, and we will report on those who do support this anti-democratic bill. (Click to read full Shift Article)

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