In the Democrat-controlled Senate, its State Government and Elections Committee insulted the small business employers and workers who have suffered the most during Governor Jay Inslee’s random economic shutdowns, by providing only a very brief opportunity for citizens to offer testimony on a bi-partisan bill to safely reopen Washington’s economy.  The bill being debated, SB 5114, was introduced by Senators John Braun (R – Centralia) and Mark Mullet (D – Issaquah) and would advance all of the recently Inslee-defined regions of the state to Phase 2 of his latest pandemic plan. If passed, it would allow many small businesses to reopen (though under extremely strict health guidelines).  Committee Chairman Senator Sam Hunt (D – Olympia) knew in advance of the overwhelming interest from testifying, with more than 1,600 people registered to give remote testimony on the bill an hour before the hearing started. Unfortunately, Chairman Hunt and his fellow Democrats had little interest in hearing about the plight of Washingtonians being driven into bankruptcy by Gov. Inslee and his partisan pandemic polices, so they allowed only a small fraction of those registered to provide their verbal opinion to their legislators.  Senator Hunt then limited each speaker to just one minute (cutting them off in mid-sentence without warning) and appeared to deny a request from Senator Jeff Wilson (R – Longview) to allow further testimony at a later date.  As one business owner sarcastically stated to the seriously unamused Chairman Hunt, “Thank you for giving me one minute of your time.”  It is interesting to note that 93% of those who registered to provide testimony stated that they favored the legislation, though Democrats have no intention of passing it, because they would prefer that Gov. Inslee maintain his dictatorial control over the economy. (WPC Twitter Thread on hearing and Washington State Legislature Bill Summary)

The Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) caved into pressure from national environmental groups – as everyone knew would happen on Gov. Inslee’s watch – to deny a key permit to create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a proposed methanol plant at  Cowlitz County’s Port of Kalama.  The plant was originally supported by Governor Inslee, until he flip-flopped his position in 2019, to seek financial support from wealthy national environmental groups during his failed presidential campaign in order. The $2.3 billion dollar plant from Northwest Innovation Works (NWIW) would have employed 200 people as it turned natural gas into methanol for Chinese manufacturers.  The DOE stated increased greenhouse gas emissions as a key reason for denying the permit, yet a NWIW spokesman said that scientific data proves that, “The Kalama project will achieve a substantial overall global emissions reduction and will mitigate any in-state emissions; the plan is that simple, that clear.” The company is planning to appeal the DOE’s decision. (Longview Daily News)

The Democrats’ latest proposal to make it more expensive for people to live in Washington State is an 18-cent-per-gallon gas tax (along with a brand new carbon tax) to pay for more projects (like pedestrian trails, fish culverts and electric ferries) that are particularly important to Governor Inslee (and his green campaign donors).  This proposal would make Washington’s gas tax the highest in the country, even surpassing California.  The legislation would raise Washington State’s gas tax to 85.4 cents a gallon, and then add an additional 15 cents more per gallon due to a carbon tax applied to oil companies which would be passed on to consumers.  Thus, the government’s take on would be over a dollar per gallon of gas sold, and this theft does not include Governor Inslee’s desire to add an additional 47 to 62 cents a gallon with his Low Carbon Fuel Standard proposal.  As with all gas taxes, this added transportation cost would hurt low-income workers the hardest, as they often live further from their job and don’t have the luxury of living on a light rail line. The tax was introduced by Representative Jake Fey (D – Tacoma), the Chair of the House Transportation Committee.  When asked if it was appropriate to impose another tax during yet another of Governor Inslee’s economic shutdowns during the COVID pandemic, Fey expressed little concern about his attack on low-income workers when he said, “There’s no good time. We knew going into this, that doing nothing was not an option.” Of course, if doing nothing meant not harming more Washingtonians during these challenging times, then that would actually be the better option here.  Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Olympia), the Ranking Republican on the Transportation Committee, expressed concerns regarding imposing yet another tax on Washington residents: “The timing is going to be very difficult, because things have just continued to get worse economically as a result of COVID. The governor’s continuing to extend the closures, and we don’t see any relief in the new phases that he’s proposed.” (Seattle Times and IGEN)

Senator John Braun and Senator Mark Mullet continue their bipartisan efforts to reopen Washington State, this time with legislation which would “require” local school districts to offer in-person instruction if COVID-19 infection rates were reduced to certain levels.  Current guidelines from Governor Inslee only “encourages” school districts to reopen when certain infection levels are met, as he did not want to offend his major donors at the teachers unions.  Braun’s and Mullet’s legislation would force districts to offer in-person instruction to all students if the two-week COVID infection rate is below 200 cases per 100,000 residents (or less than a 5% positive  test rate).  If the infection rate is below 350 per 100,000 residents, then districts would be required to offer in-person instruction to Kindergarten through 8^th grade students. To meet the requirements, districts would need to offer at least a hybrid schedule, including some in-person instruction to go along with distance learning. Nearly every parent with school children testified in favor of the bill at a recent hearing, and so did many health professionals.  Despite the overwhelming public support for the bill, and the approval of the medical community, it is doubtful the Washington Education Association, which controls Democrat lawmakers thanks to the union’s substantial campaign contributions, will allow this legislation to move forward. (News Tribune)

The Washington Policy Center just released a new investigative report, documenting that Governor Inslee’s staff is knowingly providing false testimony on the governor’s proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard’s (LCFS) impact on fuel prices.  In last week’s testimony, a Department of Ecology “analyst” stated that an LCFS would not increase the cost of gasoline.  Yet, both California and Oregon (the only two states silly enough to have imposed an LCFS) admit that this policy has added costs to the price of gas, and further, the Washington State Office of Fiscal Management has stated that an LCFS would substantially increase gas prices.  In fact, the analyst claiming last week that prices would not rise was being honest in 2015, when he said an LCFS would increase costs. If the governor’s staff needs to provide such dishonest analysis in order to obtain support for its proposal, is the proposal worthy enough to be passed?  (Washington Policy Center)

Many hospital administrators have expressed concerns over Governor Inslee’s latest immunization plan.  It appears that the governor and his team have continued to not seek the advice and concerns of actual experts, relying instead on his small group of advisors before imposing random new methods and restrictions on the state.  This is likely one of the primary reasons why Washington state ranks 47^th in actually distributing vaccine doses.  The latest concern is over Inslee’s demand that hospitals schedule appointments for immunization even before they have received vaccine doses.  Hospitals expressed concerns about having to schedule personnel to administer the shots and then having the state not deliver the doses.  (YakTriNews/Seattle Times)

 Threats by the Bellevue Education Association (BEA) to obstruct the Bellevue School District’s plan to slowly return students safely back to school has greatly upset many Eastside parents.  Kindergarten through 2^nd grade students were originally scheduled to begin returning to a hybrid schedule, including some in-person instruction, starting Thursday.  Unfortunately, the union members thought this was the appropriate time to demonstrate that they (not the administrators, nor the parents) control the Bellevue education system, by voting to not take part in the in-person instruction.  In reviewing comments made on a local “School is Essential” Facebook page, it is obvious parents are extremely upset with the  union’s actions.  The site is encouraging parents to send emails to the school board and the district superintendent, stating 1) they support the district’s original plan to return students to the classroom; 2) they should take disciplinary actions against school personnel that are in violation of their contract; 3) they are willing to volunteer in classrooms; and 4) that “future levies are in jeopardy” if the district fails to perform its core mission.  The group has also targeted the district’s PTA organization, which has remained silent during this controversy, by stating that its future donations will only go to organizations that actually stand up for the needs of the students. (Q13 News and School is Essential Facebook page)  

Democrat Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers has expressed disappointment in Governor Inslee’s allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine.  Snohomish County has slightly more than 11% of the state’s population, yet the Washington State Department of Health has only allocated 1.8% of the state’s vaccine doses to the county.  Somers said, “It makes absolutely no sense to me. We’ve been in daily, almost hourly contact with the governor, complaining about this.” Yesterday, the county said it had no more doses available, even though news reports indicate that Gov. Inslee and his health department have tens of thousands of shots sitting around. (Everett Herald/Cornfield Report)

Spiffy’s Restaurant, the Chehalis diner that had previously ignored Governor Inslee’s ban on indoor dining, informed a judge that they are no longer providing indoor service.  The judge removed the restraining order the state had asked to be placed on the establishment.  The diner will stay open by providing take-out orders.  Spiffy’s owners are still responsible for over $100,000 in fines the state has imposed for not obeying the Governor’s orders. (MyNorthwest)

Last week, our friend KVI Host Kirby Wilbur announced his retirement.  The station will be holding a virtual retirement party for Kirby on Tuesday, January 26^th, at 6:30 PM.  You can register for this free event by clicking on this link.  We are very appreciative of the support Kirby has given to Shift and we wish him our best.  (Kirby Wilbur’s Announcement, Retirement Party Information and Registration, and Shift’s Newsmaker Interview with Kirby Wilbur)

The Benton County Commissioners have joined many other county and local governments in asking Governor Inslee to “let the elected officials have a voice” in determining COVID-19 restrictions.  Commissioner Will McKay stated during the virtual meeting, “This isn’t a Republican or a Democratic resolution. This is a people’s voice of having the opportunity to have the elected officials take control of the area, to help run the area, and to see fit on what we need to do to help out this area.” Other commissioners stated that passing this resolution does not mean the commission is seeking to lift all restrictions, but that it is asking that local health officials determine when and how the local economy can reopen.  Recent history has shown there is little chance Governor Inslee will allow local control over these decisions, since his team has even refused to seek local health officials’ or local elected officials’ opinions on proposed restrictions before imposing them on the state.  This is likely why so many of Governor Inslee’s COVID-19 measures have failed.  (Tri-City Herald, Yakima Herald, and Shift)

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