The Democrats continue to use “equity” as an excuse to make Washington State a more comfortable place to be a criminal and to break the law.  Amazingly enough, 23 Democrat state representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of HB 1513 to prohibit police officers from pulling over a vehicle with expired tabs, broken taillights, or other equipment failure unless it is an immediate safety threat (such as no headlights at night).  Also drivers cannot be pulled over for having a suspended license or for any misdemeanor warrants, other than driving under the influence.  The bill, which is scheduled for a vote in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday, also sets aside millions in grants to help lower-income people fix their cars. The bill has a $9.25 million biennial fiscal note.

The legislation is the latest example of Democrat and liberal lawmakers caving into the demands of the liberal activist rioters who illegally took over portions of Seattle in 2020 and attempted mass murder of police officers.  The bill’s primary sponsor, Representative Chipalo Street (D – Seattle’s Central District), said the bill will rebuild trust of police officers within communities of color.  Unbelievably the representative stated that “In turn that then improves community safety, because folks are more willing, are not afraid of the police and are more willing to work with them, then other crimes can be solved more easily.”

Similar arguments were made in 2020, when the Seattle City Council recklessly defunded the police department and the Democrats in the 2021 legislature passed their disastrous anti-police package.  These measures led to a dramatic increase in violent crimes and vehicular thefts.  Minority and lower-income neighborhoods have been the hardest hit.

It is hard to imagine how this legislation will do anything but increase the likelihood that vehicles will go unregistered and unrepaired, and that drivers will not obtain a license or obtain vehicle insurance.  It will make our roadways less safe. Often police stops due to faulty equipment or expired tabs allow police officers to apprehend individuals suspected of more serious crimes.  For example, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was apprehended in 1995 due to expired tags. (Seattle Times, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, HB 1513 Fiscal Note, KOMO News, and Police1)

The Executive Director of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable writes a (Tacoma) News Tribune op-ed supporting a bill to level the funding gap of Washington State charter schools.  E.D. Steve Smith writes there are currently 16 public charter schools operating in Washington State, often providing a viable option for students of color who were previously stuck in failing public schools.  Charter schools have nearly six times the amount of Black students and three times the percentage of minority staff members than the rest of the state’s public school system.   Black, Latin and low-income charter public school students outperformed their peers in traditional public schools in all state assessment testing subjects.  Yet due to the power and campaign contributions of the Washington Education Association (which doesn’t get to control charter schools like the union bosses do traditional public schools), Democrat lawmakers have traditionally underfunded charter schools.  Currently there is a $3,000 per student funding gap between what traditional public schools and charter schools receive from the state.

A bi-partisan bill (HB 1418) would close that gap by allowing charter schools to have the same access to funds obtained through property tax levies as traditional schools currently have.   Yet since the bill is not scheduled for a vote in the House Appropriation Committee before this Friday’s fiscal cut-off, it is very unlikely the bill will pass during the 2023 legislative session.  Evidently the Democrat leaders of the Appropriations Committee is less concerned about ending the discrimination against funding for students of color in charter schools than they are about upsetting the Washington Education Association and its millions of dollars of campaign contributions. (News Tribune and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

A Democrat proposal to require vehicle owners to provide the state with the milage figure from their cars’ odometers will be voted on this afternoon in the House Transportation Committee.  Owners would be required to give this figure on a yearly basis when they purchase their car tabs.  The bill (HB 1736) states this is necessary “to facilitate development of alternative transportation funding mechanisms.” This is government speak for implementing the new Road Usage Charge (RUC), which the Washington State Transportation Commission unanimously endorsed last December.

The RUC would be a new tax to replace the state’s 49-cents-a-gallon tax on gas (3^rd highest in the country) as the number of fuel-powered vehicles is expected to decline. The bill sets aside approximately $800,000 for the state to implement a process to record odometer readings, scheduled to begin on March 1, 2024. (Washington Legislature Bill Summary,KIRO7 News, and Bill Fiscal Note)

KTTH radio host Jason Rantz recounted a recent terrible experience he had onboard a Sound Transit light rail train to SeaTac Airport, to demonstrate the many flaws within the agency and to call for the immediate firing of “nearly all Sound Transit staff, dismantle the agency, and restart from scratch.”  His trip from Downtown Seattle to the airport was filled with broken elevators and escalators, homeless people sleeping on cars, open use of drugs (including fentanyl), urine odors, overflowing garbage bins, no security personnel, and Sound Transit employees who simply ignored all the problems faced by riders.

The agency has failed to meet even minimum expectations for ridership (fares were supposed to pay for 40% of overhead, but now fund less than 5%), all lines have failed to meet construction deadlines, and the original budget of $92 billion is now well over $142 billion.  Rantz provided three reasons for why Sound Transit is failing badly to even meet very low standards.  First, he blames Seattle “urbanists” who want a mass transit system no matter its failures and who insult those who voice legitimate concerns. Second, new CEO Julie Timm does not appear to be any better than former CEO Peter Rogoff, who performed so poorly at the position that he was let go last year by the Sound Transit Board of Directors.  And finally, Sound Transit managers have learned that they can keep their taxpayer-funded, high-salaried positions by just doing the bare minimum. (MyNorthwest, Seattle Times, and Washington Policy Center)

A survey finds that Portland’s anti-business environment and crime problems are forcing more small employers to locate across the Columbia River into Washington’s more moderate suburb of Vancouver.  This is very similar to how Bellevue and other suburban communities are growing at the expense of Seattle’s anti-business policies and its ongoing crime/drug/homeless problems.  Like Seattle, Portland’s post-pandemic problems have resulted in a high percentage of former downtown employees working from home and thus not frequenting downtown shops and eateries.  According to the survey, downtown employee foot traffic is down 48%. (The Oregonian)

More Seattle business owners are purchasing guns to protect themselves and their employees against the city’s growing crime rate.  On Monday, a Ballard smoke shop operator killed a would-be robber in a shootout, leaving the employer in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds.  Local gun shops have seen an increase in employers purchasing guns since liberal activists rioted in 2020.  Not only did the rioters attack small businesses, but they also forced Seattle politicians to cave into their anti-police demands, causing violent crime to skyrocket throughout the city.

As liberal anti-police measures have made more people feel unsafe, the more people are carrying protection.  The number of concealed gun licenses statewide jumped from 643,317 in 2021 to 688,440 last year.  That is a more than 7% increase. (KING5 News)

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward will give her annual “State of the City” address tomorrow (Thursday).  The speech will take place at the Spokane Convention Center starting at 11:30 AM.  A media release from  the city stated that “Mayor Nadine Woodward will discuss progress in priority areas, including public safety, housing, homelessness, economic development, and mental health that make the city safer, more secure, and sustainable, during her annual State of the City Address. Woodward’s remarks will focus on the importance of listening and collaboration in continuing the progress.” (City of Spokane media release)

The Spokane County Commissioners voted 3-to-2 to agree to a 20-year lease agreement (with two additional five-year extensions) with the Spokane Indians to play the team’s minor league games at Spokane County Avista Stadium.  Included in the agreement is the requirement that the county make $8 million in improvements at the stadium.  Two of the three Republican commissioners voted against the measure, stating it was not a good use of taxpayer funds. Chris Cargill, formally with the Washington Policy Center and now the President of the Mountain States Policy Center, stated, “Baseball is not a core function of government.”

The ballclub is a “High A” minor league team affiliated with the Colorado Rockies, playing its games in the City of Spokane Valley.  While many teams with tribal names have changed mascots in recent years, the team has an agreement with the Spokane Nation tribe which allows the team to use the name “Indians.” (The Center Square)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Representative Tom Dent (R – Moses Lake), who is in his fifth term representing Central Washington’s 13^th Legislative District (all of Kittitas County, most of Grant County, and the northern portion of Yakima County).  He owns his own small aviation company which provides pilot instruction and aviation services for local farmers.  He is also a cattle rancher.

Representative Dent shared his thoughts on the important agricultural issues being discussed in Olympia, including the bi-partisan riparian (buffer zones along streams) bill he helped negotiate. He expressed his concern that urban Democrats will not support much needed reform to the state’s current agriculture overtime wage laws, which threaten the existence of many small farms and has already caused smaller paychecks for farm workers. He stated his frustration over the Inslee Administration’s failure to follow the law by not providing a process for farmers to be exempt from the higher fuel prices caused by the governor’s cap-and-trade law, after the Democrats promised farmers they were exempt from this new tax.  The representative highlighted his bill to help reduce childcare costs by lifting some of the unnecessary restrictions which state government has placed on workers. Representative Dent closed with his support for law enforcement and outlined legislation important to the state’s aviation community. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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