Governor Jay Inslee has begun to unveil his 2021 legislative session priorities  – and it is good that after nine months of one-man rule he finally admits there is a legislative branch in Washington State government – and as expected, he wants to help out his special interest friends that made his re-election possible, and make it more expensive for the rest of us to live here.  While the governor has thrown minimal scraps at the employers and workers which his “emergency” orders have financially devastated, the governor’s “equity” proposals will increase the cost of insurance, energy, and housing for all Washington residents.  But that’s not all this week, as to pay for the union bosses’ demands for more government employees, Inslee is expected to attempt once again to introduce a state income tax on capital gains. (Shift Article)

Rumor has it that Governor Jay Inslee is expected to release his full budget proposal on Thursday, (since he is constitutionally required to submit it by December 20^th).  Shift has been providing some good ideas (such as providing families with funds to offset some of the cost of educating students at home) which we do not expect to be included in the governor’s proposed July 2021 – June 2023 budget, and some bad ideas (like his state income tax on capital gains). which we unfortunately do expect to be in that proposal. Here’s today’s bad idea, Inslee’s continued obsession with jamming an LCFS through to raise our energy costs.

Governor Inslee, whose previous climate change measures have dramatically failed to reach their CO2 reduction goals, has once again proposed an extremely expensive Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that would increase the cost of living, working, and moving around in Washington State, yet provide very minimal environmental benefit. While private companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing are showing success in meeting their carbon reduction targets, Washington State (like nearly all government entities) has never come close to reaching the goals which liberal politicians (like Jay Inslee) have promised that their legislation would achieve.  Ironically, the governor’s latest proposal breaks his budget commitment to “equity” (which he made just 24 hours earlier), since Inslee’s LCFS also increases the cost of housing, which will impact low-income individuals the most.  Also, since an LCFS could increase the cost of gas between an estimated 47 – 63 cents a gallon, the cost of transporting basic necessities like food, clothing, and educational supplies will also increase, thus making it more difficult for low-income families to survive in Washington State.  If the governor were genuinely concerned about the climate, he would stop promoting the selfish agenda of his special interest supporters, and follow the examples of private industry, and invest in technology and projects which are cost efficient in reducing CO2 emissions.  Nah, that makes too much sense. (Washington Policy Center)

Washington State Department of Health officials state that we will likely need to continue to wear masks for many more months. Saying there is still too much unknown about the vaccines and how many people will be immunized, a department spokesperson stated, “Until we have more data around those crucial components, masks, distancing and handwashing will continue to be crucial pieces of our disease prevention strategy.” (Washington State Department of Health News Release)

The Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) describes the distance learning system which his office helped create and perpetuate as being a “shitty system.”  Evidently now that his re-election campaign is over, SPI Chris Reykdal can admit the truth, even if a bit inelegantly for a supposed leader. Speaking at a legislative hearing, Reykdal then went on to disregard scientific data and advice (from multiple local, state, national, and world health experts) by falsely stating that if schools were to safely resume in-person instruction the number of COVID-19 patients might be twice as high.  Fortunately for Reykdal, due to his testimony being conducted remotely, the marionette strings being pulled by Washington Education Union bosses were not visible to the viewers. (KING5 News)

Documentarian Christopher Rufo has produced an informative 12-minute video which explains his theory as to why the homelessness crisis in liberal West Coast cities continue to worsen, despite spending more and more tax money at the problem.  Rufo states that liberal officials have (purposefully?) misdiagnosed homelessness as being caused by “capitalist landlords, real estate developers, and systemic racism conspiring to put people on the streets.”  And thus, the liberals’ response is to spend billions for expensive housing programs and place severe restrictions on housing development and property management.  Yet these “solutions” do not fix the problem, because the overriding causes of homelessness are drug use and mental illness problems.  (YouTube Homelessness)

Sound Transit’s CEO Peter Rogoff, who previously received raises and bonuses despite his “abusive behavior” and being in charge of the transit agency that had responsibility for the 2017 fatal Amtrak crash in DuPont, has decided his $379,600 annual salary is sufficient for him to make it through the next year.  Rogoff announced that he will not accept the $6,000 bonus or the non-merit-based 4% pay raise ($15,100) he says he is due next year, for he wants to “lead by example as the agency works toward containing operating costs.”  It is worth noting that Rogoff’s salary is already far above the $150,000 starting point the City of Seattle has set for private sector businesses to begin getting taxed on their employees.  Yet, since Rogoff works for a government agency, Seattle city councilmembers hypocritically believe his high salary does not cause all the pain and suffering which private sector salaries create. (Seattle Times and MyNorthwest)

The City of Renton has joined with the City of SeaTac to halt King County Executive Dow Constantine’s plan to move some of Seattle’s homeless into large hotels in their communities.  On Tuesday, the Renton City Council voted 5-2 to ban the use of the former Red Lion Hotel on Grady Way as a long-term homeless shelter.  Earlier this year, Constantine, without consulting local officials, had King County purchase large hotels in suburban communities to house homeless individuals who were previously living in encampments in Seattle.  Constantine argued that the move was done to stop the spread of the coronavirus.  Both communities saw a dramatic increase in crime in the neighborhoods surrounding the new large homeless shelters. Renton’s vote will not result in an immediate evacuation of the hotel, for the shelter has until June 2021 to reduce its capacity to 50% and a full year to completely clear the premises. (KOMO News)

The North Thurston County School District reclassified Asian students from the “students of color” category and included them with “white” students because they were performing too well.  As the result of Asian students earning good grades and achieving high test scores, the district’s race-based data did not reflect the school officials’ liberal philosophy that all people of color are subject to systematic racism, which the gap between white students and students of color demonstrates for them. Since the data did not reflect the district’s liberal philosophy, school officials simply altered the data and classified Asian students with the white students. (MyNorthwest)

The Seattle Parks Department has delayed its planned cleanup of a homeless encampment in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park, which was to have occurred at 7:30 Wednesday morning.  A spokesperson for the Parks Department did not provide a reason for the delay, though protestors were quick to take credit for stopping the city from enforcing its own laws.  Those living in the park, which had previously been the center of the CHAZ/CHOP, have cemented shut the park’s entrances and have erected barricades around their tents.  The park has been closed since liberal protestors took over the area back in June.  Local residents and businesses have complained about the garbage and increase in crime in the area.  A Seattle Police Department spokesperson stated that law enforcement is prepared to work with the Parks Department to help clear the area. (KOMO News)

9^th Legislative District legislative leaders met with City of Pullman officials and it was agreed that everyone’s top priority is to return students to the classrooms.  Senator Mark Schoesler (R – Ritzville) reported on the mental health problems experienced by children and teens, and the “less than desirable education” that students are currently receiving, which will need to be corrected at the taxpayers’ expense. Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson said that he had heard of many local families moving their children to nearby Colfax, because schools were open there. (Lewiston Tribune)

The Yakima County Commission joined other counties in asking Governor Inslee to allow county health officials to determine the appropriate actions to keep local residents safe from the coronavirus.  The commissioners voted unanimously to support a proclamation that stated the governor’s statewide orders were too broad, and needlessly impacted employers and workers negatively, despite data proving they were not a significant source of COVID infections.  The proclamation also stated that legislators should limit the governor’s emergency orders to just 14 days. (Yakima County Commissioners proclamation)

KOMO News’ latest report, “The Fight for the Soul of Seattle,” clearly reveals the destructive failure of the liberal politicians in charge of city government.  While homelessness, crime, and drug addiction run rampant on the city’s streets, Seattle’s liberal politicians use the city’s problems to push for more radical policies and more tax increases, which do little to solve the city’s worsening problems – in fact, many measures only make matters worse. Meanwhile, thousands continue to live a cruel existence on Seattle’s streets, thanks to a generation of failed feel-good policies. (Shift Article and KOMO’s “The Fight for the Soul of Seattle”)

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected]