This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with Greg Lane, the Executive Vice President of the Building Industry of Washington (BIAW), who leads the largest trade organization in the state.  Lane shares with Shift readers the successful strategy the builders deployed last Spring, to convince Governor Jay Inslee to lift his nonsensical ban on private construction, which enabled thousands of Washington workers to resume earning a paycheck.  Lane also discusses the 2021 legislative session and some of the problems he sees with the “virtual” session designed by Democrats. He also provides his views on what needs to be done to reduce the cost of housing and eliminate the state’s severe shortage of housing units. (Read the full Newsmaker Interview at ShiftWA)

Democrat Senator Patty Kuderer is once again pushing her extreme bill in the Washington State Legislature to allow felons to vote BEFORE they have paid their debt to society and their victims.  During the 2020 legislative session, Republican legislators were able to expose on the Senate floor the many flaws of the legislation, and Sen. Kuderer’s fellow Democrats were embarrassed enough to kill the bill. We wonder if during this 2021 session Democrat lawmakers will prove to be so desperate for votes that they are willing to endure the shame of passing similar legislation. (Read the full article at ShiftWA)

Suzi LeVine, the fabulously inept “leader” of the Washington State Employment Security Department, will be leaving her job on February 1^st, and will be taking her talents to an undisclosed location in the Biden Administration.  LeVine may well become the poster child for “failing up”, if indeed she ends up in a federal job. Evidently none of her high-profile failures – like being responsible for allowing the largest heist of taxpayer money in American history, , and making tens of thousands of Washington State residents wait months for their much-needed benefits payments, due to administrative incompetence in her department, and being called out by her fellow Democrats in the Washington State Auditor’s Office for hindering their investigation into the multiple problems of her department – kept her from being qualified for something in the Biden Administration.  Some have sarcastically speculated that LeVine might become Ambassador to Nigeria, where she can be the dinner guest of the foreign criminals who became extraordinarily rich due to her poor management skills.  Wherever the former high profile political fundraiser lands, for the sake of the American taxpayers, let’s hope it has nothing to do with computers. Or taxpayer money. (News Tribune)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center writes a new report on the lagging effectiveness of the “virtual session” policies dictated by the Democrats controlling the Washington State Legislature, and he particularly criticizes Democrat Senator Sam Hunt’s rude behavior of cutting off citizens as they were providing remote testimony.  As Shift previously reported, Senator Hunt not only limited public testimony on a bill (SB 5114) to reopen the state to just one hour (despite more than 1,600 people having registered to testify), but the far-Left Olympia lawmaker also instructed his staff to cut off speakers without warning after 1 minute.  It is worth noting that this was the first time Democrats have allowed the public to testify about the severe impact which Governor Inslee’s dictatorial orders have had on their lives.  The report states, “It is important for lawmakers to remember that for many citizens this is their first time using remote testimony. Automatically muting them after one minute without a courtesy request to conclude their thoughts does not meet the spirit of public accommodation this moment needs.” The report also points out that Hunt’s committee will be taking public testimony next Wednesday on the extremely meaningless matter of declaring our state dinosaur.  If Hunt cared about the pain Washington residents have experienced while complying with the governor’s orders, then he would take time away from the dinosaur hearing and allow more of the 1,600 Washington residents who registered to testify about what the state can do to prevent more small businesses from closing. (Washington Policy Center, Shift, and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Democrat Representative Steve Kirby explains why he has signed onto a bill to curb the governor’s emergency powers.  The Tacoma lawmaker said that he signed onto the bill (HB 1020) because Governor Inslee has made major decisions without consulting local lawmakers, which have resulted in businesses shutting down. “I’ve been getting emails, every day, for months, from people who are downright desperate,” Kirby said, “and it just frustrates me to no end that I haven’t been able to do anything about it.” Unfortunately, Inslee couldn’t do anything positive about it either, as his one-man approach was much more about keeping power than helping people . (Pew Stateline and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Some Bellevue teachers ignored their union’s demand to not participate in the reopening of schools on Thursday, and they were uniquely rewarded for their commitment to our children’s education.  As the Bellevue School District began the (certainly) slow and (hopefully) safe process of returning students to the classroom, by allowing 2^nd grade students to resume the in-person instruction portion of their new hybrid schedule, one teacher expressed her joy in seeing students once again. “Today was one of the best days in a long time,” wrote Sherwood Forest Elementary 2^nd grade teacher Tonya James. “I was a true teacher again.  My students were so excited to be in the classroom. One little girl kept telling us how much she loved us and how happy she was to be back in school. I saw how important in person instruction is for these kids.” (School is Essential Facebook page)

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson criticized Governor Inslee for discriminating against disabled individuals with his vaccination plan.  Johnson points out that disabled individuals living in group homes, who are under the age of 65, are not receiving the vaccine like their fellow residents scheduled to get under the governor’s latest random plan.  The Island County Commission was also upset with the governor’s confusing guidelines, which has resulted in a battle with neighboring Skagit County over vaccine doses. The Island County Commissioners have sent a letter to Governor Inslee, but unfortunately for them, history has shown the governor and his team rarely respond to concerns from local officials.  Or Republican elected officials. Or the media. Or other non-campaign donors. (Everett Herald and Yakima Herald)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s spokesperson laughingly claimed that the mayor “has consistently denounced individuals who are targeting small businesses and government facilities.”  Funny, because we do not remember her being so “consistent”.  The mayor’s PR shop assumed they could pass off this joke by giving it to a national reporter, who likely didn’t follow Durkan’s flailing about during last summer’s disintegration of her city. Yet we do remember her shocking even ultra-liberal CNN host Chris Cuomo by calling the violent takeover of a Seattle Police precinct and its neighboring blocks as the return of “the Summer of Love.” We’re not sure where the “denounced” part of the mayor’s thinking there fit in. (Wall Street Journal and CNN/YouTube)

Even Seattle’s liberal business leaders are pleading with the city’s liberal elected officials to end the liberal silence on the violence committed by liberal protestors.  Following the lack of response from city councilmembers after liberal activists damaged more small businesses and government buildings on Wednesday night, the head of the Seattle Downtown Association said, “the silence in some ways is deafening.”  From Seattle City Councilmembers to the Washington Governor Jay Inslee, liberal politicians appear to be afraid of condemning the violence committed by far-Left thugs.  Yet, hypocritically, these same politicians rush to microphones and have staff blast out emails condemning violence committed by extremists following Donald Trump.  The silence of these politicians is making political violence a normal part of our lives, and their lack of any courage will hopefully be remembered by future voters. (Q13 News, MyNorthwest, and Rebecca Perry Tweet)

Governor Inslee’s office has changed its latest random vaccination plan, and is now allowing farmworkers under the age of 50 to receive the COVID-19 immunization at the same time as plus-50 workers.  If the state had not made this change from its confusing plan, it would have negatively impacted the agriculture industry throughout the summer.  Imagine all the time that could have been saved in rewriting the state’s immunization plan if Governor Inslee had first instructed his staff to contact people outside of state government for their input on how the private sector operates, before making and publicizing major decisions.  (Capital Press)

Grant County Prosecutor Garth Dano sent a video and letter to Governor Inslee stating that he is declining his own taxpayer funded salary until restrictions on businesses are lifted by the state, and he asked the governor to join him in doing the same thing.  Dano sent the video to Inslee’s office almost three weeks ago and, characteristically, the governor’s office has not responded.  Inslee’s press spokesperson said that the governor’s staff had watched the video, but evidently these unelected bureaucrats living off your tax dollars, did not feel the need to respond to an elected official who was speaking on behalf of his constituents.  Prosecutor Dano said in his follow-up letter to the governor, “I am seriously troubled by the lack of communication or response from your office,” he continued. “I find it inexcusable and disrespectful that neither you or your staff have extended to me the common courtesy to respond to my attempts to speak with you.”  (BTW, Governor Inslee is the sixth highest paid governor in the country, making more than $185,000 a year. That is obviously not performance-based compensation.)  (Columbia Basin Herald)

The Kennewick City Council joined other Tri-City area elected officials in asking Governor Inslee to allow local health agencies to decide COVID-19 related regulations in their communities.  Both the Benton and Franklin county commissions had previously made the same request.  As with nearly all communications to the governor’s office from local officials, there has yet to be a response to the original request made by the county commissioners. (YakTriNews)

The latest action by Democrat legislators demonstrates how much they do not care about those impacted by Governor Jay Inslee’s failed COVID-19 policies.  The Democrats do not want to hear from those who have lost their jobs and businesses due to Gov. Inslee’s random restrictions. In a public hearing for a bill (SB 5114) that could return thousands of Washington residents back to work, and save hundreds of small businesses from closing, the Senate Democrats only allowed one hour of their precious time to be tied up in testimony from the “little people” who have suffered due to Inslee’s actions and could obtain relief if SB 5114 is passed.  The Democrats clearly do not care to hear from people who do not already support their far-Left policies. (Read the full article at ShiftWA)

We thought we would post this meme that is being shared across social media today.

BabylonBee Friday

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