In an exclusive interview with Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-Sunnyside), the Central Washington representative is critical of Governor Inslee’s refusal to lift the ban on commercial and residential construction. Newhouse points out that none of our similarly impacted neighbors (Oregon, Idaho, or California) have such a ban and Inslee has also allowed government-financed construction projects to continue.  As the Congressman states, “This virus doesn’t discriminate between publicly-funded builders and private sector workers, and neither should Governor Inslee’s list of ‘essential’ activities.” (Note, we have moved up the regular Friday “Newsmaker Interview” feature due to the pressing issue of getting residential construction workers off unemployment and back on the job.) (Shift)

The labor union/environmental group Climate Alliance is encouraging its members to support the Got Green (a truly wacky left-wing “social justice” organization) “Emergency Justice Response to COVID-19” petition, which includes releasing convicted felons from prisons, eliminating rent, mortgage, and utility payments, and giving everyone $2,000 a month.  These demands are more extreme then most liberal demands during the crisis, yet it is typical of the mindset of many so-called “progressive” organizations which view the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to profit while small businesses are closing and thousands of workers have lost their jobs.  Many of their proposals do not appear to be aimed at helping the community, but are more aimed at policy items they have long advocated for grabbing a larger portion of the tax dollars for themselves. (Climate Alliance email and Got Green petition)

Far-left lawmakers like State Representative Joe Nguyen see the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to push their higher taxes/bigger government agenda, while wrapping themselves in the cloak of responding to a health crisis.  In an op-ed in the Stranger, the lawmaker who once proudly proclaimed “My favorite part about this job is yelling NO really loudly at Republicans,” says that the state response to COVID-19 should be “to tax the rich to save our economy. Our lives depend on it.” Perhaps not surprisingly, Democrats who label themselves as moderates are not condemning the push by their radical colleagues to rebuild our economy by increasing taxes. (The Stranger)

Governor Jay Inslee’s discrimination against private-sector construction workers is unnecessarily forcing thousands to go on unemployment benefits and some are faced with being homeless.  While the governor’s “stay-at-home” orders allow government-financed construction projects to continue, it has needlessly shut down commercial and residential construction.  Some construction workers, who are falling behind on their bills, are now looking to move to neighboring states where privately financed construction is not discriminated against by the governor. (Q13)

Long-time Democrat political insider Denny Heck made it official that he is running for Washington’s Lt. Governor.  Heck, who had previously lost in attempts to become Superintendent of Public Instruction and 3^rd Congressional District Representative before becoming the first congressman from the new 10^th District in 2012, had previously announced in December that he was retiring to write books. (News Tribune)

Metro/King County bus drivers sent an open letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine demanding that they get 40 hours pay for doing just 30 hours of work.  While thousands of their neighbors are losing their jobs and Metro ridership is a small percentage of its normal amount, the bus drivers see the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to increase their hourly wages.  The drivers were reasonable to demand virus protection measures, but the pay increase push is rightfully receiving criticism. The letter demanding the pay raise states, “We are all in this together. We won’t be able to flatten the curve unless everyone does their part.”  Apparently, the bus drivers’ “sacrifice” is to accept a 33% pay increase. (The Stand)

King County’s large homeless population is experiencing a hepatitis A outbreak.  The region’s liberal crime, drug, and homelessness policies, which have enabled and increased the number of homeless individuals here, has now forced public health officials to deal with a second significant health crisis. (Seattle Times)

An outbreak of the coronavirus at the Monroe Corrections Complex has some calling for an immediate reduction in the prison’s population.  A writ of mandamus has been filed demanding that the state release prisoners, due to the likelihood of some of them becoming infected with the virus. A court hearing on this matter will be held in two weeks.  Thus far the Monroe complex is the only state prison facility to have coronavirus patients.  On Wednesday evening, a “disturbance” occurred, with a few Monroe inmates setting off alarms in response to the outbreak. (Everett Herald)

Despite early warnings about cracks, the Seattle Department of Transportation failed to shore up the girders of the West Seattle Bridge.  The latest reports on the now-closed structure indicate the bridge “was on the road to collapse.” Evidently that would be one way to force more people onto transit. (Seattle Times)

New Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward is receiving positive reviews for her first 100 days in office.  Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Woodward was moving forward on campaign promises to open a new downtown police precinct and finding ways to help the homeless on Spokane’s streets.  Most importantly she had mended the fractured relationship between the mayor and the city council (this was aided by the welcomed departure of the divisive council president Ben Stuckart, who lost to Woodward last fall).  Even her critics have given Woodward positive comments regarding her leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. (Spokesman-Review)

Donations from Washington’s agriculture community are helping those who have lost wages due to the coronavirus outbreak.  Many agriculture businesses have donated to local food banks, including Royal City’s Cascade Organic Flour, which donated 21 tons of whole wheat flour to 2^nd Harvest. (Washington AG Network)

The Walla Walla Union Bulletin stated in an editorial that the City of Seattle should stop trying to “circumvent the state constitution” with its income tax attempts.  The newspaper states that pro-income tax advocates should play by the rules, and “must successfully amend the state constitution (to implement an income tax). Getting support for that in the Legislature and by voters across the state would be a high threshold to reach. That’s as it should be.” (Walla Walla Union Bulletin

Those of us at Shift are fans of John Prine, who has become one of the most well-known individuals to die from the coronavirus.  We pass on this nice tribute to Prine from Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist David Horsey.

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