Two (of the three) Democrat legislators willing to sign on as co-sponsors of legislation to end Governor Jay Inslee’s abuse of his emergency powers have already expressed concerns about obtaining enough Democrat support to pass the bills.  While approximately a dozen Democrats have expressed concerns over the undemocratic action of the governor to eliminate the legislative branch from the lawmaking process (now at 688 days and counting), only three Democrats, Senator Mike Mullet (Issaquah), Senator Kevin Van De Wege (Sequim), and Representative Mike Chapman (Port Angeles) have been willing to back up their public statements by actually signing onto legislation that would finally end Governor Inslee’s reign of error.  Representative Chapman signed onto HB 1772, which would limit emergency powers for 60 days while Senators Mullet and Van De Wege signed onto SB 5039, which would impose limits at 30 days.

Chapman stated he supports the legislation because “A core belief for me is the Legislature is a co-equal branch of the executive branch.”  All Republican legislators have stated their support for the bills, while Democrat lawmakers appear less concerned with basic democratic principles and have been unwilling to display independence from their Democrat bosses. (This behavior is disappointing, yet it could be expected from the same state Democrat lawmakers who all refused to condemn the political violence committed in 2020 by liberal activists in Seattle, and who then immediately ignored public concerns to cave into the rioters’ demands to pass the Democrats’ disastrous 2021 “police reform” package.)  Both Senator Van De Wege and Representative Chapman stated it is doubtful that enough Democrats will support a return to democracy in the state, as both the Senate and the House will need a two-thirds supermajority necessary to override a sure veto from the emperor. (Peninsula Daily News, Shift, and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Recently appointed state Senator Simon Sefzik (R – Whatcom County) says his age (22) is “an asset” as he begins work in Olympia, despite himself admitting he was an “underdog” in the process to replace Senator Doug Ericksen (R – Ferndale) who passed away in mid-December.  Whatcom County Councilmember Ben Ellenbaas was the top nominee of the 42^nd Legislative District Republican Precinct Committee Officers to fill the remaining year of Senator Ericksen’s term. Yet the liberal members who control the county council selected Seznik (who was among the three nominees of the GOP’s PCOs) instead, in the belief he will be easier for Democrat State Representative Sharon Shewmake (who announced her candidacy after Senator Ericksen fell ill)  to defeat in November. Senator Sefzik says his age is a benefit for him, since his age group will be forced to pay the taxes the legislators which Democrats pass for the longest time, thus they have more at stake.  (MyNorthwest)

House Republican Leader JT Wilcox (Yelm) reiterated his three legislative priorities for the 2022 legislative session in his weekly video message.  Representative Wilcox stated his caucus has “an aggressive agenda” which is primarily focused on correcting damage created by recent actions by Democrat lawmakers. The six-term legislator stated his first priority is to “put an end to the Long-Term Care payroll tax” and replace it with a “private sector plan that will be affordable, fair, and voluntary.” Representative Wilcox’s second concern is to “fix the disastrous public safety package that was passed last year.”

Leader Wilcox said it appears Democrats will need the assistance of Republicans in order to get the votes needed to make the necessary changes that will “actually create safety for people, instead of putting more people in danger.”  Representative Wilcox’s final priority is to end the governor’s two-year abuse of emergency orders to “allow people to have a voice in the major decisions” impacting their lives. (Washington State House Republicans YouTube)

The same Democrat legislator who wants the state to go easier on those convicted of killing people in drive-by shootings also believes we should punish fossil fuel companies for saying things he does not like.  Representative David Hackney (D – Tukwila) failed to provide specific evidence or any specific situation of polluters who should be penalized in his Olympian op-ed, except to say that some fossil fuel companies provided “misinformation” and that Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson should go after them (without providing any specific crimes the companies should be charged for).  This is apparently Representative Hackney’s response to the outpouring of criticism he received for co-sponsoring a bill (HB 1692) to reduce the sentence of those involved in drive-by shootings, which even the soft-on-crime Chair of the House Public Safety Committee Roger Goodman (D – Kirkland) said was “dead on arrival.” (The Olympian and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

More Washington State residents were stranded this weekend due to Governor Jay Inslee unilaterally imposing a vaccine mandate on state workers, which resulted in at least 130 Washington State Ferry workers being fired.   The October mass firing forced the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to reduce the number of boats in operation, causing serious disruption to the 60,000+ individuals who use the ferries every day.  While the reduced service is tough enough, the Inslee Administration made it even worse on Friday evening.  At 9:05 PM, WSDOT sent out a notice to say the last ferry leaving Seattle at 10:30 PM was cancelled “due to crew shortage.”  Thus Kitsap County residents who were dependent on a ferry to cross Puget Sound were stuck in Seattle and forced to walk through crime-infested downtown looking for a room during a very expensive holiday weekend.  This comes after all four mountain passes were closed the previous weekend due to 40 members of WSDOT’s road crews being fired by Governor Inslee, leaving the state completely cut in two with freight and travelers prevented from reaching their destination. Apparently our governor believes traveling around the state is a luxury on he, with state patrol private plane, gets to enjoy.  (Kitsap Sun reporter Josh Farley Twitter and Seattle P-I)

Former Bremerton High School Assistant Football Coach Joe Kennedy’s seven-year legal battle over being fired for leading players in a post-game voluntary prayer will continue.  Last week the United States Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments over whether Coach Kennedy’s dismissal by the Bremerton School District violated his First Amendment rights of free speech. It is likely that Coach Kennedy’s attorneys will present their arguments before the court in April. (Kitsap Sun)

The Seattle Times Editorial Board stated that voters sent a strong message to Seattle City Hall last November and they expect results when it comes to public safety.  With the election of City Attorney Ann Davison and City Councilmember Sara Nelson (who both defeated wacky far-Left criminal rights’ advocates), the voters clearly stated they want solutions which address “root causes of crime as part of a larger public-safety strategy.”  The editorial states that selecting Councilmember Debora Juarez as the council’s new president is a positive sign, since she has often been one of the few negative vote against the many ultra-Left-wing policies which have caused crime rates to skyrocket. The editorial criticized the city’s previous public safety policies by stating that they failed to show compassion to the many victims. (Seattle Times)

Republican Senators Judy Warnick (Moses Lake) and Curtis King (Yakima) were extremely critical of Governor Inslee’s decision to not allow Kittitas County road crews help Washington State Department of Transportation crews clear off mountain passes that were closed for four days.  In a joint statement the two Eastern Washington lawmakers said the governor “is putting political ideology and an inflexible desire to enforce vaccine mandates above public safety. This is wrong and foolish.”  Senators Warnick and King explained, “A snowplow has just one person in the vehicle, so it shouldn’t matter whether the snowplow driver is vaccinated. Most people rightly are more concerned that our highways and roads are kept clear of snow this winter than the vaccination status of snowplow drivers and other winter road crew employees, who typically work in isolation.” (Columbia Basin Herald)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with Representative Gina Mosbrucker (Goldendale), the Ranking Republican on the House Public Safety Committee and one of her party’s leaders in attempting to fix the many serious flaws in the Democrats’ 2021 “police reform” bills.  The fourth-term legislator, who owns and operates a hotel and performing arts studio in Klickitat County, is leading the effort during the current legislative session to pass bills from the Republicans’ “Safe Washington” package.  Representative Mosbrucker describes in our interview her reaction as Democrats hastily wrote and jammed through their reform bills and the negative impact that legislation has had on the public safety of Washington residents.  The representative outlines key legislation that is part of “Safe Washington” and what her other priorities are for the 2022 legislative session. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)