Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center provides a short list of questions he believes the members of the media should ask Governor Jay Inslee at the scheduled release of his 2023 climate agenda today.  Many of the questions are focused on previous climate policies from the governor which have dramatically failed to reach the stated goals of the policies, and on the high cost Washington taxpayers must pay when there are more effective and lower cost ways to decrease carbon emissions.

The questions include “What has the governor learned from his past failures to reduce emissions?” since his own Department of Ecology admits previous Inslee policies are not even close to  meeting CO2 targets.  Also since California, Oregon, and the Washington State Department of Ecology have all stated that the governor’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard will cause the cost of gas to increase, reporters should ask,  “Why does Governor Inslee contradict their research and experience?”

These and the other four questions posed by Myers are legitimate questions for any reporter (or any person who truly cared about the environment and/or taxpayers) to ask the governor.  Unfortunately, given the track record of our state’s media establishment in giving Governor Inslee a free pass to say anything he wants (including never challenging him for his utterly ridiculous and unscientific claim that Seattle will soon be experiencing 130 temperatures), there is very little hope the local media types will suddenly begin to do their job and challenge the governor’s divisive, expensive, and unscientific statements. Sad emoji. (Myers email to media, Washington Policy Center, and Seattle Times)

The League of Our Own is a right-leaning candidate recruitment/training organization which has been successful during the past two years in electing many moderate and conservative women to local and legislative offices.  The group will be holding its one-hour 2023 Kickoff on Zoom tomorrow (Tuesday) evening starting at 5:00.  There is no charge to attend the event, which will feature comments from Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and from [un]Divided podcaster and journalist Brandi Kruse.  Also speaking will be recent candidates who were supported by League of Our Own and they will describe how the group assists women candidates. This will be a good event for those women who are currently considering being candidates and for those (both women and men) wanting to learn more about the organization. (League of Our Own announcement)

The Washington Cannabusiness Association (WACA) has released its 2023 legislative session priorities, which include many measures to remove provisions contained in the 2012 ballot measure which legalized the retail selling of marijuana products in the state.  Among WACA’s proposals are removing the restriction of only allowing Washington State residents to invest in state cannabis businesses – which would remove the advantage to our state’s economy. Alaska is the only other state (out of 38 states which allow cannabis sales) with this constraint. Also, the cannabis trade organization wants to remove the limits placed on how many low-THC products a consumer can purchase in one visit.  The lobbyists at WACA believes this should not apply to beverages and other products which have low-THC content. (Northwest Radio)

Liberal policies have already increased the estimated cost of constructing a new I-5 bridge across the Columbia River by nearly $3 billion.  A previous cost analysis estimated that the cost for the new span connecting Vancouver (Washington) with Portland (Oregon) would be approximately $4.7 billion.  Thanks to inflation and higher energy costs, this figure is now projected as closer to $7.5 billion.  And since nearly every major construction project involving the Washington State Department of Transportation goes way over budget, it is safe to say that the final cost for this bridge will likely be much higher (say $10+ billion). (Seattle Times)

KIRO radio host Dori Monson said large and costly secured boxes might be the only method for homeowners to stop the rampant porch theft of delivered packages.  As Shift reported last week, a new survey by SafeWise found that due to liberal public “safety” policies, package theft in the Seattle–Tacoma region is the second highest in the country (following another liberal anti-police city, San Francisco).  The problem continues to get worse and is already costing retailers nearly $20 billion a year (which is eventually paid by consumers through higher prices).  Monson said the boxes would cost homeowners a few hundred dollars and could be unsightly, but they could become necessary as more consumers choose having home delivery of their purchases. (MyNorthwest and SafeWise study)

Sound Transit announced it will miss yet another scheduled opening of one of its light-rail trains.  The transit agency announced that a 2.4-mile link in Tacoma will not be opened as planned, but will be delayed (again) by many months, with no firm opening date given to the public.  The line will connect Downtown Tacoma with the Stadium, Wright Park, and the Hilltop neighborhoods.  Evidently the latest problem has to do with “track geometry” (how tacks relate to each other).  A Sound Transit spokesperson said this regarding the latest costly delay: “This is an emerging concern, and we don’t have all the answers yet on how it will affect Hilltop’s opening timeline.” The link was originally expected to cost $217 million, but recent estimates (before the latest setback) has it costing taxpayers $282 million (a 30% increase).  (News Tribune)

Last week, government employee unions celebrated their financial support of the nine liberal judges on the Washington State Supreme Court who voted to overturn a widely popular vote in the City of Spokane, thus continuing the unions’ ability to hold their contract negotiations behind closed doors.  In 2019, nearly 80% of Spokane voters supported a ballot measure to require the city and union officials to hold bargaining sessions in public, to provide transparency for how tax dollars were being spent.  Union officials were not happy with the vote, since it meant they could no longer secretly negotiate their contracts with elected officials whose campaigns they funded with large contributions.  So the Washington State Council of County and City Employees and other government employee unions filed a lawsuit against the voters’ overwhelming decision.

Essentially, the State Supreme Court ruled last week that since the legislature passed laws about collective bargaining rights for public union employees at all levels of government, only the legislature (or statewide voters through an initiative process) could change these laws.  It is extremely doubtful that a Democrat-controlled/union money dependent legislature or governor would ever support allowing transparency in the collective bargaining process (since these politicians benefit greatly from secret negotiations).  Thus, it will be up to the voters to make this change. (Washington State Supreme Court ruling and Washington Policy Center brief)

A Spokane City Council resolution vote opposing the removal of the four Snake River dams has been postponed so that councilmembers could learn more about the concerns of tribal leaders.  Councilmembers Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart sponsored the non-binding resolution stating removal of the dams would be extremely expensive and would significantly impact energy rates for Spokane residents.  Currently 50% of Spokane’s energy is supplied by climate-friendly hydroelectric power. Councilmember Bingle put the cost (estimated between $11 billion to $77 billion, with a congressional estimate of $33 billion) of removing the dams into perspective, stating it would cost an estimated $26 billion to totally rebuild Spokane (a city of 230,000).  The councilmember said he wants to hear more from the tribal leaders on their concerns before he reschedules the vote on his proposal. (The Center Square)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is a pre-session discussion on the issues facing the Washington State Legislature with Republican Senate Leader John Braun of Centralia.  Senator Braun was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and was voted GOP caucus leader prior to the start of the 2021 legislative session. The upcoming 2023 session will be the first time Senator Braun will lead his caucus without COVID restrictions placed on legislative activity and public participation.

In his in-depth interview, Senator Braun provides his thoughts on a wide assortment of issues. He states his belief that the return of public participation in the legislative process should deliver better policies. Sen. Braun provides his thoughts on whether Democrats are willing to reverse their disastrous policies on restricting police pursuits and essentially decriminalizing possession of lethal drugs.  The U.S. Navy veteran and captain in the Naval Reserves also shares his thoughts on Washington students learning loss due to the liberals’ COVID restrictions, emergency powers reform, implementation of the Democrats’ long-term care payroll tax (WACares), and the Democrats’ latest proposal to take money from state residents – the “Washington Future Fund.” (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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