One of the co-writers of the Democrats’ $17 billion transportation package believes it is seriously flawed and will be proposing amendments to try and keep the embattled legislation on course.  House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey (D – Tacoma) said over the weekend that it is apparent that the package’s unconstitutional plan to raise $2 billion by taxing refined fuel that Washington exports (i.e. the “Liias tax”) “was just too risky.  It jeopardized the whole package, and there was just too much weight on it.” This is due to neighboring states Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon proposing retaliatory taxes to be placed on Washington consumers and lawsuits if the original unconstitutional transportation package was passed.

Representative Fey wrote the transportation package with Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias, (D – Everett), who was reduced last week to apologizing on the Senate floor for his personal attacks on Oregon Governor Kate Brown after she stated her outrage over the export tax.  The Ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee Andrew Barkis (Olympia) said if the Democrats had followed a long-standing tradition and included Republicans in on the package’s development, the obvious problems could have been avoided.

Representative Fey said his amendment would remove the Liias tax and replace it with taking $100 million per year out of the state’s public works budget for next 15 years.  This will raise $500 million less than the Liias tax.  And, this amended formula will not be popular with local governments, which are dependent on funding from the public works budget.  (Seattle Times, Shift, and House Republican media advisory)

Governor Jay Inslee announced this afternoon that the state will lift his mask mandate on Saturday March 12^th, less than 72 hours after his office stated he was standing firm on not lifting his mandate until March 21^st.   Our allegedly data-based governor has never stated what specific science he was using to determine his unilaterally made decisions over the past two years, so it is not known what exactly changed from last Friday to today.  The governor’s office did say that the change was made after reviewing information in the mask guidelines made by the federal Centers for Disease Control last week.

It is ironic that the governor is coordinating the end of his mask mandate with two of his partners in the Democrat-only Western States Pact (California and Oregon) based on information provided by the CDC, since one of the reasons for the pact was the lack of faith the Democrat governors had in the information they received from the federal government.

After Inslee’s state facemask mandate is lifted, local authorities can still impose their own mask requirements. Why not lift the state mandate today and let local authorities determine what is best for their communities?  Does the governor believe that local authorities will suddenly become smarter in the next 12 days?  (Seattle Times)

Tomorrow marks two years of Governor Inslee abusing his emergency power and undemocratically ruling the state since the COVID pandemic started, without consulting state legislators or local officials.  The Democrats in the legislature have disappointingly enabled this abuse by not passing any meaningful reform to reign in the partisan Inslee and have instead supported a fake emergency orders’ reform (SB 5909) which provides no time limit for a governor’s unilateral authority.  The public has overwhelming supported meaningful reform which the Democrats have ignored.

For two years, Governor Inslee has refused to include the legislature, which is totally controlled by members of his own party, in decisions which impact the lives and safety of every state resident.  Thus we will ask the question again, why should voters support Democrat legislators’ re-election this November, when the ruler from their own party does not trust them to run the state?  If their own governor thinks they are ill-equipped for this duty, shouldn’t the voters believe the same? (Emergency Orders Proclamation, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Shift Twitter)

During the Democrats’ media advisory today, Senator Manka Dhingra (D – Redmond) demonstrated how out of touch she and her fellow Democrats are and why they are facing difficult re-election bids this November.  When asked why the Democrats did not include a tax break for Washington residents given a $15 billion in surplus of state revenues, the senator replied the tax cuts are in the free-transit rides and free entrance to state parks.  Let’s see how many Washington residents can pay for the inflationary increases (caused by liberal policies) in fuel, groceries, and other bills with their free pass to state parks. (Email from WPC Jason Mercier of Democrats’ media event)

The very popular Piroshky Piroshky Bakery has closed its 3^rd & Pine Street location following the neighborhood’s third shooting in less than a month.  Later the bakery posted a tweet (which showed a video of illegal drug use just outside the bakery’s window) stating, “Due to another shooting, countless safety concerns for our employees we have no choice but to close 3rd location until further notice.” Owner Olga Sagan later told the Seattle Times, “How many shootings do we need to have to realize this is an active emergency in downtown Seattle?  The streets of downtown have been abandoned by government and handed over to criminal activity.”  Sagan also stated that while sales at her other Seattle locations have fully rebounded since the start of the pandemic, revenue at the 3^rd & Pine Street location is off 85%. (Seattle Times and Piroshky Piroshky Twitter)

As Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff takes his nearly half million dollars of ill-gotten taxpayer-funded severance money into retirement, the agency’s board announced the stunning decision that longtime employee Brooke Belman will serve as interim CEO until a new permanent replacement is found.  Sorry, not stunning, just business as usual for our favorite failed local agency, which is undoubtedly finding it hard to hire a leader who would want to “lead” its dysfunction. Last September the Sound Transit Board voted 14 – 3 to not extend the failed Rogoff’s contract. Since that time, it has been revealed that the transit agency is billions of dollars overbudget and years behind on many projects.  Rogoff recently stated that due to reduced fares collection and mounting costs the regional transit authority is in a “financially unsustainable” trajectory.  Rogoff will slink away with his taxpayer-funded bailout – which undoubtedly includes a non-disparagement clause to keep him from telling any inconvenient truths about Sound Transit – when he officially departs the agency on May 22^nd. (Puget Sound Business Journal and Seattle Times)

In the latest example of liberals seeking to remove government transparency while at the same time increasing the size, cost, and power of government, former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s administration completely deleted a public directory of employees and replaced it with a list of general department contact information.  This action made it more difficult for residents to reach those responsible for specific City of Seattle policies or activities within the city’s rapidly increasing bureaucracy.  The directory of the city’s 12,000 employees suddenly disappeared from its website last summer (as residents were seeking assistance with the growing crime and homeless encampment problems in their neighborhoods).  At the time, city officials blamed the directory’s disappearance on an “IT glitch” (i.e. the same excuse used for why thousands of texts related to the city’s response to the 2020 liberal riots were missing).

Through public information requests, PubliCola has somewhat rebuilt the list (through two lists, here and here) but as the blogsite states, it does “not provide a substitute for true transparency from the city itself, which is ultimately responsible for providing this kind of basic information to residents, as other cities do across the country.” But other cities haven’t necessarily been run by just one political party for more than a generation. (PubliCola)

The Spokane Police Department has test piloted two Tesla electric cars and they say they are not yet suitable for law enforcement.  The primary problems include lack of interior space and cost for outfitting the cars for police work.  This brings up a conflict between liberal city councilmembers who want to the department to move immediately to electric cars, while police officers who actually do the work of protecting the public much prefer something effective, like the Ford K8 hybrid SUVs.  (Spokesman Review)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Representative Skyler Rude (R – Walla Walla), a second-term legislator after serving four years as the legislative assistant for the highly respected Senator Maureen Walsh.  Representative Rude is a lifelong resident of Walla Walla and he serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee as well the House committees on Education and Health Care & Wellness.  Shift asked Representative Rude about the Democrats’ failing to provide taxpayers with any tax break despite a $15 billion surplus. And, because of his previous service as a senate staff member, Representative Rude provided a unique perspective on 100 legislative staff members walking out after legislation giving them collective bargaining rights failed. We also obtained the representative’s views on education choice, emergency powers reform, and the governor’s plan (HB 1838) which would have eliminated hundreds of thousands of acres of Washington State farmlands. (Click to read Newsmaker Interview)

First Senator Marko Liias (D – Edmonds) upsets Washington State’s neighbors by seeking to impose a tax on their gas to pay for his pet projects. Then he doubles-down by making personal attacks on Oregon’s Democrat Governor Kate Brown because she dared criticized having the “Liias tax” imposed on her constituents.  Washington’s neighbors in Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon have all been critical of the 6-cents-a-gallon tax that Washington State Democrat legislators want to place on fuel that Washington exports to their state. Lawmakers in those states have said they will retaliate by imposing a similar tax on items their state exports to Washington. In an interview with KVI’s John Carlson, Senator Liias was asked about the critical comments made by Oregon Governor Brown, and he responded with a personal attack on his fellow Democrat saying, “The fact that she dare say a word is a joke.”  We wonder if this is why Governor Inslee canceled his press conference on Thursday? (Click to read full Shift Article)

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