Shift’s 2022 Legislative Preview describes how much of the work being conducted during the current session is focused on correcting major policy errors committed by previous Democrat legislation.  This includes the Democrats’ desire to fix the already delayed, and very controversial, Long-Term Care payroll tax. Meanwhile Republican lawmakers have taken a more reasonable approach, and are seeking to repeal the entire long-term tax program which currently has hundreds of thousands (if not over a million) Washington State workers paying into a program which they are not eligible to receive any benefits.

Legislators will also need to repair the disastrous “police reform” bills the Democrats jammed through in 2021, all to reward the liberal activists who rioted in Seattle during 2020.  The pro-criminal legislation resulted in a sharp increase in violent crime and even Democrats admit changes are needed.  While the Democrats’ proposed changes are minor, Republicans have offered 50 specific pieces of legislation which are designed to make our communities safer, and don’t bow to the demands of criminals and the trial lawyers who seek to set them free. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Governor Inslee called for “action” in his annual State of the State speech today.  He said, “We must take action this day to fight the homelessness crisis; to reverse social and economic disparities; to educate our children and serve those in foster care; to fund our transportation system; and to protect our salmon and orca. We must take action, this day, to fight the threat of climate change that is now hitting us hard.”  The governor obviously failed to mention that all of these problems have become much worse during his administration (with a state budget which has doubled in size) and during the 37 years of Democrat control of Washington State’s Governor’s Mansion.

During the speech, the governor simply made up numbers which claim the state has saved more than 17,000 lives during the COVID pandemic, despite evidence that actions by his administration have actually assisted in the spread of COVID (see next story).  Shift will have more comments on the governor’s speech tomorrow. (News Tribune)

A new report from the Washington Policy Center reveals that once again Governor Inslee’s Department of Health (DOH) failed to protect the public when the latest COVID wave swept through the state.  The DOH’s contract tracing program was totally unprepared when the Omicron variant swept through the state, despite knowing for weeks that the latest wave was coming.  When Governor Inslee announced the state’s contract tracing program (where DOH workers and National Guard personnel inform residents that they have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID), he stated the goal was to reach 90% of those who are a high risk of being infected.  Unfortunately, the state has never come close to meeting Inslee’s goal, as data shows the state has consistently reached around 30%.

When the Omicron variant appeared in Washington State in December, the contact rate dropped from the still-pathetic 30%, all the way down to just 10%.  The percentage reduction is not just based on a higher number of cases, but also based on the number of high-risk individuals the DOH is allegedly trying to reach.  This also occurred last summer, during another wave when the DOH contacted only 6% of those with a high risk of being infected.  Like the state’s terrible performance when vaccines were made available (when Washington was at the bottom of all states in delivering shots) and allowing massive COVID outbreaks in nearly all state prisons and hospitals, this is not the acceptable performance of a team that is coached by someone (Governor Inslee) who claims to have “won the Super Bowl” against COVID. (Washington Policy Center, Shift Article, Brandi Kruse Twitter)

Rarely do politicians openly admit that they don’t believe public testimony is worth their time, but Democrat Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D – Burien) sent out a tweet this morning which said exactly that.  The six-term far-Left legislator, who is the Chair of the House Environment and Energy Committee (where he rubberstamps all of Governor Inslee’s expensive and ineffective climate legislation), posted a tweet this morning which said, “DID YOU KNOW that the single best way for you, a testifier in a #waleg committee, to endear yourself to a #waleg committee chair, is to use less than your allotted time in your testimony?”

Sadly, we are not making this up. Representative Fitzgibbon says the best way for you to “endear” yourself to the mighty committee chair like him is to not make him sit through having to listen to you. Maybe if you offered him a campaign contribution, he would want you to talk a little longer.

Evidently, Representative Fitzgibbon doesn’t receive the same joy as his fellow Democrat Senator Sam Hunt does when he laughs when members of the public are cut off in the middle of their testimony without warning.

There is a disturbing trend growing amongst the Democrats – they simply do not want to hear from the public. The very influential (for leftists) Northwest Progressive Institute wants to remove from our ballots the non-binding advisory votes on tax legislation (which the Democrats pass every year). Senator Patty Kuderer (D – Bellevue) proposed a bill (co-sponsored by many Democrat lawmakers) to eliminate advisory votes.  Since liberal voters can’t be bothered to vote in odd-numbered years’ elections and moderate initiatives are passed by the voters, Democrat legislators seek to eliminate elections in odd-numbered years.  This elitist attitude is the result of Democrats having been power too long and believing they no longer serve the public. (Representative Fitzgibbon Twitter, Shift Article, Northwest Progressive Institute webpage, and Washington Legislature Bill Summary

A federal lawsuit was filed today claiming that Governor Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and other state officials were “irrationally and impermissibly discriminating on the basis of race and ancestry” when they enacted laws which gave native tribes a monopoly on the lucrative sports betting business.  The case was filed by Maverick Gaming, a Kirkland-based non-native gambling business, which owns 19 card rooms in Washington State and has sought to offer sports betting in its facilities. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the agreements the state has made with 15 native casinos to operate sports betting and thus put on hold sports betting in Washington State. (Seattle Times)

Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis announced on Twitter that he is now the chair of the council’s Public Assets & Homelessness Committee, which leads one to believe that the homeless problem will continue to grow, and liberals will continue to use the suffering of others to push their ultra-liberal agenda to grow the size and cost of government.  Councilmember Lewis is notorious for campaigning in 2019 on a platform centered on increased funding for the police department, then caving into the demands of liberal political rioters to instead support the radical demand to defund the department. Lewis now claims the city needs more money from taxpayers to combat the subsequent rise in crime, because being nonsensical is what he does.

With Councilmember Lewis as the Chair of this new committee, we can expect more of the failed expensive homeless policies coming from Seattle City Hall.  We will continue to see government grow as more hotels are purchased to house a few of those currently living in encampments.  Crime and drug laws will fail to address the problems of the homeless. Government will continue to grow, as more caseworkers, analysts, and managers are hired.  Sadly, history has shown that since homelessness benefits the liberal agenda, liberals have no true desire to relieve the cruel reality of those living on our streets. (Councilmember Andrew Lewis Twitter)

In an incredibly partisan and unusual move by the liberals on the Whatcom County Council, today it voted (4-2) against the wishes of the 42^nd Legislative District Republicans to select a 22-year-old former congressional intern to replace Senator Doug Ericksen (who died in December).  The GOP Precinct Committee Officers had previously nominated Whatcom County Councilmember Ben Elenbass as their top selection to replace Senator Ericksen in the legislature.  They also nominated the former congressional and White House intern Simon Sezfik and former Bellingham police officer Tawsha Dykstra Thompson, as they were required to submit three names to the county council.  The four Bellingham-based liberals on the council voted to take the very unusual step of not abiding by the wishes of the party to select the inexperienced Sezfik, as they obviously are seeking to take control of the senate seat in the elections next November.  Sezfik was immediately sworn into his new position. (Bellingham Herald)

Chelan County Commissioners unanimously voted to ban an income tax as a source of revenue for the county.  Chelan (Wenatchee/Leavenworth) County joins Franklin, Grant, Spokane, and Yakima counties, and 12 Washington State cities, to ban an income tax. The vote comes just as Senator Bob Hasegawa (D – Beacon Hill) introduced legislation (SB 5554) allowing local governments to impose a job-killing income tax on their residents. (Washington Policy Center and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The Mead School Board unanimously voted to oppose a vaccine mandate for its K-12 students during its meeting on Monday. In a recent survey of parents in the Mead School District (north of Spokane), 51% of those who responded stated they would pull their children from school rather than forcing them to be vaccinated against the COVID virus. (Spokesman-Review)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with House Republican Leader JT Wilcox (Yelm) on the start of the 2022 Legislative Session.  While the 2021 session was focused on the Democrats pushing an irresponsible and expensive liberal agenda, this year’s session appears to be centered on correcting the poorly developed liberal policies from the past. This includes the disastrous Long-Term Care payroll tax, various dangerous police reform bills, and the failure of the Democrats to place limits on Governor Inslee’s undemocratic abuse of emergency powers. Leader Wilcox discusses these issues and gives his thoughts on the lawsuit brought by both Democrat and Republican legislators against Governor Inslee for his illegal and repetitive abuse of his veto authority, and the confusion created by the Democrats during the redistricting process.  Finally, Representative Wilcox provides his optimistic thoughts on the 2022 elections. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

The often “truth challenged” Governor Jay Inslee said last week that he supports making it illegal for politicians to lie about election results.  The governor has thus far not backed his illogical statement with any actual proposed legislation. While his irresponsible suggestion is likely unconstitutional, as a lawyer and career politician the governor is well-aware that political figures often twist facts to promote a political belief, for he has done this often in his career.  From promising on the campaign trail to veto any new taxes, to saying he was completely unaware of his liberal supporters rioting on Capitol Hill, Governor Inslee has not exactly centered honesty as guiding principle.  But, if the governor is successful in making it illegal for politicians to lie, then he had better hire a really good defense attorney.  (Click to read full Shift Article)

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