In order to protect the bank accounts of government employee unions (a leading funding source of Democrat campaigns and far left organizations), liberal legislators seek to reverse a recent Washington State Supreme Court ruling which requires the birth dates of government employees be public information.  Government unions want their members exempt (H.B. 1888) because outside groups use this information to notify union workers they have the right to not join the union (and not pay dues) as a result of the 2018 Janus U.S. Supreme Court decision.   Many news outlets oppose the Democrats’ efforts, and some testified on Tuesday regarding their concerns over the legislation.  Andy Hobbs of Sound Publishing said, “The free press needs the information in question to provide oversite of government conduct and to hold public employees and institutions accountable.” (TVW, WA Legislature Bill Information, and Smarter Government WA)

Representative Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn) says Governor Jay Inslee’s plan of taking $300 million from the state’s “rainy day” fund to address the homelessness issue, is simply an act of “kick(ing) the can down the road.” Stokesbary suggests a better solution would be to allow local authorities access to a revenue stream which provides them with funds to solve their unique local problems. (iFIBER One)

Republican legislative leaders held a news conference following Governor inslee’s State of the State speech and provided their thoughts on pending legislation.  Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) mentioned that current estimates show the public is spending $20,000 – $80,000 per homeless individual. Schoesler asked, “With all that government spending, are we spending it well?” (TVW)

Ridership on Washington State Ferries dropped 3.2% in 2019.  Ferry officials blame the drop-off on severe weather last February and construction congestion around the Seattle waterfront terminal.  (Patch)

In the latest liberal virtue signaling act that does not actually improve the environment, the Washington State Senate passed a ban on “single use” plastic bags by a 30-19 vote.   The use of cotton reusable bags can cause more damage to the environment than plastic bags, but it is hard to rally the public against cotton. (YakTriNews and News Tribune)

There are many disturbing aspects of Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s desire to tax Amazon and other major Seattle corporations.  One is Sawant’s belief that a business that has created 50,000 local jobs (and all the taxes this company and these workers pay into various local and state accounts) are considered “takers.”  More disturbing is the apparent fact that Sawant doesn’t have a specified need where she wants to spend this new tax revenue (estimated to be around $500 million), she just wants to tax Amazon – and give government more money and more control. (Seattle Times)

Following Pierce County’s overwhelming support (66%) for I-976, a Pierce County official will become the Chair of Sound Transit’s Board of Directors.  University Place Councilmember Kent Keel was unanimously selected to finish out the term of retiring Chair John Marchione of Redmond.  It is believed Sound Transit’s rules will be amended to provide Keel with a full two-year term. (News Tribune)

A few members of the local media are blindly accepting the spin of Seattle’s politicians that because there is a slight decline of reported property crimes, the public should stop complaining about crime problems in Seattle.  This naive belief fails to consider that many businesses and individuals have stopped reporting crimes because Seattle fails to prosecute offenders.  For example, Uwajimaya no longer reports the “10-20 security incidents” that occur in its Seattle store every day. (MyNorthwest and Crosscut)

Construction has begun on a new $47.6 million city hall, courthouse, and jail for the city of Marysville.  The building will be paid for by an 0.1% sales tax increase (1 cent for every $10 spent) and the selling of buildings currently being used by the city. (Everett Herald)

After first threatening to not book any more state inmates, Spokane County has given the Washington State Department of Corrections one more month to reach an agreement regarding the cost of incarcerating its offenders.  Currently the state is paying Spokane County $89 per day instead of the $134 it costs the county to house those who have violated their state parole or probation. (Inlander)

The idle REC Silicon plant in Moses Lake might be restarted due to U.S. trade agreements with China.  The producer of polysilicon (used in solar cells, cell phones, and other electronics) has had to law off hundreds of workers in the past six years as the result of the U.S. trade dispute with China. (iFIBER One)

Senate Republican Leader Schoesler encouraged those involved in agriculture to get become active during the 2020 legislative session.  Schoesler warned, “I think there’s a lot of pressure from radical environmentalists and union bosses to do things that really aren’t good for agriculture.” (Washington AG Network)

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