You might have missed the Democrats latest act of extreme arrogance since local media rarely provides critical coverage of legislative events in Olympia.  House and Senate leaders from both political parties held their annual media event to discuss expectations of the upcoming 2023 legislative session. Throughout the event the Democrats ignored the needs of those who are suffering under their higher tax policies and instead spoke of the need for “targeted investment” (i.e. more taxpayer money for their friends) to fund measures they claim will fix state problems which their own policies have made worse.  The homelessness crisis in Washington State is the perfect illustration of Democrat ideology. After liberals have spent billions of dollars to increase the homeless bureaucracy at all levels of government, the problem has only become far worse.  Now the governor and the Democrats want to “invest” $4 billion more on the problem they created – yet this money won’t come from the high taxes which we are already paying.  It will be paid for by loans, thus saddling future budgets with paying off the debt, plus interest. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Gas prices in Washington State have already leaped 10 cents a gallon (compared to prices in other Western states) since the implementation of Governor Jay Inslee’s and the Democrats’ energy policies at the start of the new year.  Remember how the governor and Democrat legislators said the Cap and Trade law passed in 2021 would only increase the cost of gas “by pennies?”  As Todd Myers tweeted, the policy has already surpassed what the Democrats promised in just two weeks.  It is very doubtful members of the state’s media will inform you of this fact since they are too busy covering the lies of a Republican Congressman 3,000 miles away (the Seattle Times has run 26 stories, including yet another today, on U.S. Representative George Santos) and rarely, if ever, cover the many lies Democrats in our state are telling Washington State residents.  (Todd Myers Twitter and Seattle Times)

Speaking of the Seattle Times, the paper now regularly posts a sticker on its webpage asking people to give money to its “Investigative Journalism Fund” so that “journalist can dig deep to expose the truth, hold those in power accountable, and make life better for the people of the region.”  Yet when has the Seattle Times ever held the state’s liberal establishment accountable?

If this claim by the Times was true, then where is the investigative report on who funded the paid rioters who in 2020 violently attacked police offices, destroyed businesses, illegally took over portions of Seattle, and worst of all forced liberal lawmakers to significantly alter public safety policies which led to a significant increase in crime in our state?

What was the violent hate group Antifa’s role in these riots?

Where is the investigative report that holds accountable the Inslee Administration for its decisions leading to one of the largest heists in American history from the state’s Employment Security Department, when foreign criminals easily stole more than $600 million from the state’s bank accounts?

If the Times is so concerned about the truth, where are the reports on the state’s Democrat establishment spending thousands of dollars to prop up the flailing legislative campaign of Clyde Shavers after it was confirmed that he repeatedly lied to voters about his military experience, his work experience, his family’s history, and even where he lived?

Maybe the next thing the Seattle Times should investigate is why hasn’t the newspaper investigated the actions of the Democrats and the state’s liberal establishment? (Seattle Times and Shift)

As usual, the best background information available regarding next week’s Washington State Supreme Court hearing on the Democrats’ unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains comes from the Washington Policy Center.  This morning, the WPC’s Center for Government Reform Director Jason Mercier delivered in one post several articles and videos which fully explain the important issues before the court on January 26^th. The information clearly shows that the Democrats want the nine justices to ignore a century of legal precedents, 10 ballot decisions made by state voters, and the opinions of the other 49 states (and the IRS) in order to open up a new tax revenue stream (by taxing our income) which our state’s constitution clearly says is illegal. This comprehensive package of materials is excellent and should be viewed by those who want to be informed on this very important issue. (Washington Policy Center)

Representative Mary Dye (R – Pomeroy) has introduced a very unique and much needed legislative proposal – to create a state commission on the issues facing men and boys.  While 39 states have commissions or agencies focused on the issues specific to women and girls, no state has one focused on the problems facing men.   As Representative Dye points out, males are 63% of those who are homeless, 67% of those who died of drug overdose, 91% of those in juvenile rehabilitation and 94% of those in our state’s correctional facilities.  National experts are intrigued with Representative Dye’s bill (HB 1270). Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institute writes that if Representative Dye is successful, “This could set an important precedent.” The bill has bi-partisan support and is currently in the House State Government Committee. (House Republican Caucus media release, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Brookings Institute)

Representative Cyndy Jacobson (R – Puyallup) has introduced a bill which would allow state workers fired by Governor Inslee over his unscientific COVID vaccine mandate to be rehired.  Unfortunately, Democrat legislative leadership will likely not allow the bill (HB 1029) to even receive a public hearing, because they fear being punished by party and government union bosses who loved that the governor fired state workers who don’t adhere to liberal beliefs. And definitely Governor Inslee would veto the bill since he has repeatedly showed he has ignored the latest scientific findings that unvaccinated workers should be treated the same as vaccinated workers. (iFIBER One and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

A draft proposal (that many officers followed) which forced Seattle police officers to allow DUI suspects to flee, has been rescinded, yet police officers are worried that the latest policy puts them in situations where they could face disciplinary action.  The draft policy was issued last September, informing officers to let DUI suspects, even in stolen cars, leave the scene if they refused to comply with officers’ orders.

Last week, Chief Adrian Diaz approved a memo reversing this policy and allowed officers to use their discretion in what actions need to be taken to remove the possibility of harm by the DUI suspect.  Yet Seattle Police Guild President Mike Solan said he is not comfortable with the change due to the anti-police environment within Seattle City Hall and that the new policy will likely cause overwhelming scrutiny over officers’ actions. (KTTH Jason Rantz)

Seattle police officers state that money is not the issue why they are fleeing the city.  More than 500 police officers have left the city since liberal city councilmembers caved into the demands of violent rioters and passed many anti-police measures in budget measures to “defund” the police force.  Currently the SPD is dramatically understaffed with just over 900 active police officers. Comparable cities in the United States have more than 1,500 active duty officers.  In exit interviews, officers blame the lack of support from Seattle’s elected officials and the local media for why they are fleeing to other jobs. The city council has approved nearly $2 million in hiring bonuses, yet officers don’t believe this will be enough incentive to work for Seattle with its current pro-criminal councilmembers. (MyNorthwest)

A Pierce County employee mistakenly sent protected information on 463,000 voters to an individual who made a public records request of voter information files.  Included in the material was the last four digits of the registered voters’ Social Security numbers.  The person who received the data claims he has deleted the information, but county officials will still need to go through the process (and expense) to notify the registered voters who could be impacted.  According to the Secretary of State’s office, Pierce County has 552,000 registered voters – thus this mistake impacted approximately 84% of the county’s registered voters. (News Tribune and Washington Secretary of State office)

Chelan County Commissioners state that the Democrats’ latest effort to restrict legal ownership of guns may not have been completely thought through. The commissioners discussed the measure at a commission meeting on Tuesday.  It would allow local governments to impose their own gun restriction laws. Commissioner Kevin Overbay said that many local officials from across the state are concerned that this would cause a patchwork of laws and that a hunter could inadvertently face charges by simply driving through a county or city with its own gun restrictions.  The commissioners stated they believe the state should be the one to determine gun laws. (KPQ Radio)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Representative Jim Walsh (R – Aberdeen), the fourth-term legislator from Southwest Washington’s 19^th Legislative District (portions of Cowlitz, Lewis, and Grays Harbor counties, and all of Pacific and Wahkiakum counties).  Representative Walsh is well known by his colleagues for being a straight-shooting and common-sense lawmaker not afraid to take on the state’s liberal political establishment.  He remains one of the strongest critics of Governor Inslee’s undemocratic abuse of emergency powers during the COVID pandemic.

In his interview, the representative provided his views on several major issues before the 2023 legislature. Representative Walsh outlines a few of the bills he has introduced which will provide families with more educational choices, keep skyrocketing property taxes from forcing seniors out of their homes, and prohibit the state from closing churches and other religious institutions during an emergency. He also shared his thoughts on the Democrats decriminalizing lethal drugs, the governor’s unconstitutional attacks on 2^nd Amendment rights, and what the priorities should be in the 2023 budget process. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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