A rare piece of good news following the Washington State Legislature’s “House of Origin” cutoff on Tuesday is that two Democrat bills which would have eliminated citizens’ voting rights appear to have died. Nothing is ever certain in Olympia, since previously dead bills can always return as amendments on other pieces of legislation, but for now neither Governor Inslee’s attack on the 1^st Amendment with his measure (SB 5843) to make it a crime to state false claims about elections nor the Democrat legislators’ bill (HB 1727) to eliminate initiatives and referendums in odd-numbered years (because liberal voters are too lazy to return ballots in those years) were passed out of their respective chambers.

This is yet another sign that many Democrat legislators, especially those in suburban swing districts, are nervous about the number of unpopular actions (“police reform” package, Long-Term Care payroll tax, state income tax on capital gains, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, failure to limit the governor’s emergency authority, failure to reduce the number of homeless in WA, failure to provide any tax break while the state has a $10.7 billion budget surplus, etc.) which they will need to defend in their upcoming campaigns.  Passing either of these two bills (both of which would certainly face court challenges) would only provide Republican challengers with more points to attack hypocritical Democrats.  Even if these two voters rights infringement measures fail to pass during this session, they will certainly return if the Democrats are able to keep control of both houses of the legislature after this November’s elections. (Seattle Times, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and MyNorthwest)

Tawsha Thompson, who last week announced her Republican candidacy to unseat Representative Alicia Rule (D – Blaine), describes her experience of learning that her husband was one of the two Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies who was shot last week.  Thompson, who recently retired after 25 years with the Bellingham Police Department, said her husband was alert enough after suffering face wounds from a shotgun blast to send her a text stating he was OK.  She immediately rushed to the hospital where she said she was overwhelmed by the number of law enforcement officers who came to show their support. Her husband is now out of the hospital and expects to return back to service once his injuries are healed.

The 42nd Legislative District (mostly the non-Bellingham portion of Whatcom County) will be the location for three hotly contested races this year.  Along with Thompson’s challenge, fellow Republican Kamal Bhachu has also announced that he will be taking on Representative Rule in the Position 1 House seat.  There are currently two Republicans and two Democrats vying for the open Position 2 House seat. The Senate seat will feature the newly appointed Senator Simon Sefzik facing a Republican challenge from Whatcom County Councilmember Ben Elenbaas and from the far-Left will come current Democrat State Representative Sharon Shewmake, who announced her candidacy soon after it became known that former Senator Doug Ericksen was battling COVID.  (Cascadia Daily News, The Northern Light, and Shift Newsmaker Interview)

A new report from the Washington Policy Center reveals how the political rhetoric used by climate legislation proponents is full of claims that are unsupported by scientific evidence and that many of their “necessary” requirements are arbitrarily selected.   Report author Todd Myers made these observations while watching last weekend’s House debate on Governor Jay Inslee’s latest costly and ineffective climate legislation HB 1770.   During the debate, Representative Gerry Pollett (D – Seattle) stated that the legislation was needed because “climate change is going to dramatically alter the environment and make … 106 degrees in the summer to be something that happens weekly.” There is no scientific evidence, even under the very worse case scenarios, to back this up.

Later when amendments were proposed to place a $10,000 limit on the amount this legislation can impose on housing units, Representative Alex Ramel (D – Bellingham) argued against “putting arbitrary numbers into our statute.” Yet the entire bill has arbitrary limits (such as a reduction of 80% in net energy consumption) which have no connection to any scientific reason or logic. (Washington Policy Center and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

A new grassroots organization, Conservative Ladies of Washington, has made an impact in Olympia by organizing members to testify in public hearings and sending communications to their legislators.  The group, which appears to have roots in the Christian community, lists several issues on its website  which members are active on. These include education (including Critical Race Theory), 1^st Amendment, gun rights, COVID mandates, and religious freedom. (Conservative Ladies of Washington)

Ultra-Left wing Seattle City Councilmembers sound like lobbyists for the building industry as they complain about environmental regulations which impede the city’s ability to build “tiny houses” for those who are homeless.  Most of these state regulations are part of the environmental review process called the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  Seattle Councilmember Andrew Lewis even blames SEPA regulations for why the city has failed to clean up many of the large homeless encampments that litter Seattle’s neighborhoods.  He then explains the impact of SEPA as “Everything gets slowed down by the tedious and unnecessary environmental review process. We’re talking four to six months of delay really for no legitimate reason.” Councilmembers have joined in supporting a bill (SB 5428) by Senator Joe Nguyen which would exempt some “temporary” housing programs (such as “tiny house villages”) from SEPA regulations.

While liberal lawmakers are finally realizing that their regulations are impeding efforts to help those who are currently homeless, sadly they have failed to realize the same regulations are a large factor for why the state has so many homeless individuals in the first place. The regulations delay construction and add thousands of dollars to the cost of every new home. SEPA is a major factor in why the state is currently undersupplied by nearly a quarter of a million housing units.  If exempting SEPA makes sense to help those who are currently without shelter, would it not make sense to suspend SEPA regulations to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place? (Crosscut, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, BIAW media release, and 2020 Up for Growth study)

Puget Sound auto dealerships and vehicle repair shops appear to be the targets of an organized theft ring.  One of the many consequences of the legislative Democrats’ “police reform” package and other local liberal soft-on-crime policies is the recent increase in reports of criminals ramming the garage doors of dealerships and garages to steal multiple vehicles from a single location. Police departments around King and Pierce counties have reported similar types of thefts in their cities. (Q13 Fox News)

Representative Mark Klicker’s (R – Walla Walla) legislation to require local input before the state can approve large scale “clean energy projects” (mostly solar panel and wind farms) is still alive after it was successfully added to another piece of House legislation last weekend.  Rep. Klicker’s measure would require the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to consult with local communities, as well as agricultural and forestry interests, before approving construction and operations of these new large energy farms.  In order to prevent Klicker’s legislation (HB 1871) from missing the legislature’s “House of Origin” cutoff on Tuesday, it was added as an amendment to HB 1812 before it passed the House 95-3 on Sunday. (Elkhorn Media and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

A Walla Walla driver admitted that he did not stop after police activated their lights and sirens because he thought the Democrats’ “police reform” policies prohibited law enforcement from pursuing him. The 27-year-old driver was driving erratically and running red lights when police attempted to pull him over.  He then drove to his house where he was arrested by police. This is yet another example of how criminals are aware of the favorable treatment they now receive in Washington State due to the actions of Democrat lawmakers in Olympia. (Elkhorn Media Group)

More people are purchasing guns to defend themselves and their property as crime rates continue to skyrocket.  Democrat lawmakers likely did not think of this trend when they made Washington State a more comfortable place to be a criminal with their 2021 “police reform” package.  Gun sales continue to climb as people witness the increase of both property crimes and violent assaults in their communities.  Spokane has experienced an almost 200% increase in violent crimes during the past two years, many of which are happening in lower income neighborhoods.  Said one Spokane gun shop operator, “They have to take their own precautions and do what they feel is necessary to keep their families safe.” (KXLY)

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