Our Newsmaker Interview is with second-term Republican Representative Cyndy Jacobsen who serves the 25^th Legislative District (East Pierce County).  She is a former Puyallup City Councilmember, schoolteacher, home school parent, and small business owner. She is the mother of seven children.

The representative discusses her bill to allow the state to rehire the workers who were unfairly fired when Governor Inslee abused his emergency powers by terminating the employment of state employees who were unvaccinated for COVID.  Representative Jacobsen also discusses her bill to improve safety in our schools and the proposal to provide more educational options to families by having the state fund the student and not the schools. She calls the Democrats’ 2021 restrictions on police pursuit a “disastrous policy” and she is strongly supporting legislative efforts to repeal the law. She states that Governor Inslee’s $4 billion bond measure for the state to purchase affordable housing is unwise fiscal policy and believes the housing crisis could be addressed better through lifting many of the bureaucratic restrictions Democrats have placed on development. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

As part of the Inslee Administration’s plans to “de-populate” the state’s prison system, the state has quietly attempted to house five convicted sex predators in a City of Tenino neighborhood.  The facility would be less than a half-a-mile far from a school bus stop.  One of the assigned residents for the Southwest Thurston County home is a level 3 sex offender, the category designated fort those with a high recidivism rate. The home was initially expected to start housing convicted sex offenders on February 1.  Locals officials and residents first learned about Governor Inslee’s plan when it was brought up at a public meeting earlier this month.  Evidently even the Department of Corrections had concerns about the facility, yet Inslee’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) chose to ignore them.  Thurston County officials have delayed the opening of the home claiming its plumbing is not up to code.

Republican Senator Drew MacEwan and Republican Representatives Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, who all serve Tenino in their 35^th Legislative District, were all surprised to learn how quickly the state could open such a facility with almost no public notification.  The lawmakers stated that they would immediately introduce legislation to force the Inslee Administration to provide a more appropriate level of public notice when it seeks to move sex predators into a community or neighborhood. (KTTH Jason Rantz and Republican House Caucus media release)

The News Tribune strongly condemns the Inslee Administration’s failure to provide court-ordered mental health treatments to criminal suspects. This failure is costing state taxpayers millions in court fines.  The newspaper’s editorial asserts that the failures of Governor Inslee’s Department of Social and Health Service have caused a severe backlog of cases, left hundreds of mental ill inmates without treatment, and “inflicts unnecessary harm and suffering on defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial without treatment, while also undercutting the very bedrock of our system — constitutionality and access to justice.”  (News Tribune)

Republicans once again seek to make much-needed changes to the state’s emergency powers laws by making them similar to what nearly every other state has in place.  Representatives Chris Corry (R – Yakima) and Peter Abbarno (R – Centralia) have introduced HB 1535 to limit the governor’s emergency powers to 60 days unless the legislature votes to extend them.

Representative Abbarno stated, “No one person should wield vast powers without checks and balances or a clear expiration date, even during an emergency. Living under an emergency declaration for nearly three years exposed a serious loophole in our laws governing emergency powers, and it’s incumbent on the Legislature, as the law-making body, to fix it.”

We all recall that Governor Inslee undemocratically abused the state’s emergency powers laws for 975 days, ending his one man rule of the state week prior to the 2022 mid-term elections. It will by interesting to watch whether Democrat legislators support this legislation, as many of them promised voters during their 2022 campaigns that they would seriously consider making significant changes to the state’s emergency power laws. Unfortunately, if the past is any indication, Democrat lawmakers will likely bow to the demands of Governor Inslee (and the liberal special interest groups which financially benefitted from the governor[s one-man rule) and do nothing, as they did during the 2022 legislative session.

If you recall, the Democrats refused to even pass a completely watered down emergency powers “reform” bill (SB 5909) which would have barely altered the law. They failed on even this baby step because the governor informed them he would veto the bill. (The Center Square and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

Earlier this week the Democrats on the House Local Government Committee passed legislation which would add “climate change” as the 15^th “priority” of the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA). The legislation (HB 1181) now moves to the House Appropriations Committee for a vote. This is moving fast as the type of bill which is a priority for the far-Left ideologues in the State House.

Washington State currently ranks last in the country for housing availability due to previous restrictions Democrats have placed on residential construction.  Representative Keith Goehner (R – Dryden) stated that if climate change were added as yet another “priority” it would further impede the ability to build much-needed housing units – something even many Democrats claim is necessary. The representative argued, “Most local entities do not have the planners to implement all the provisions in this bill. This means further permit delays and bogging down the process.”

In a recent report from the Washington Policy Center, Todd Myers described the problems with the state having 15 often-conflicting priorities in the state’s Growth Management Act. “Nobody believes the GMA has been successful at meeting the first 14 goals. The notion that adding a 15^th goal, which isn’t prioritized over the others, will suddenly make it successful is a strange assumption.”

The other current 14 “goals” of the GMA include such priorities as affordable housing, economic development, sprawl reduction, natural resource industries, permit processing, historic preservation, open space and recreation. It is a wonder that any homes are ever built in Washington State with so many hurdles that need to be cleared before a home is permitted to be built. (Republican House Caucus media release, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Seattle King County Realtors media release, Washington Policy Center, and MRSC info on Growth Management Act)

Liberals activists are flocking to fill the many open seats on the Seattle City Council, hoping to have the city taxpayers provide them with an annual $130,000+ salary to push their very personal special-interest agendas.  At least four of the seven district-based incumbent Seattle City Councilmembers are fleeing from the multiple messes they have created at City Hall by refusing to put their names back on the ballot this November.

The Seattle Times reports that climate activists, a mass transit advocate, and a social worker are among those seeking to fill the positions being vacated by Councilmembers Lisa Herbold, Debora Juarez, Alex Pedersen, and Kshama Sawant.  For the sake of the city’s future, hopefully some relatively civic-minded individuals will come forward to run for the city council, as opposed to those seeking the position to advocate for a specific special interest group instead of serving the people of the city. (Seattle Times)

Senator Nikki Torres’ (R – Pasco) legislation to expand the state’s farm internship unanimously passed the Washington State Senate this week, and has been sent to the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee for consideration. The bill (SB 5156) will be the freshman senator’s first successful piece of legislation if approved by the senate.  Senator Torres discussed the bill in her Newsmaker Interview with Shift last week.  She said the program, which previously was limited to a few counties, needs to be extended statewide for it is “critical (in) preparing the next generation of farmers.” (Pacific Northwest AG Network, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Shift’s Newsmaker Interview)

Another Tri-City area freshman legislator, Representative April Conner (R – Kennewick) also had her first bill pass out of its chamber of origin with an unanimous vote this week. The legislation (HB 1070) exempts leaseback agreements from the state’s Landlord-Tenant Act.  Leaseback agreements allow sellers to stay in a residence after they have sold their home. Rep. Connor’s legislation removes the possibility that a seller could use the state tenant-protection laws to stay longer than originally agreed upon. Not surprisingly, Representative Conners is a successful real estate agent. The bill now goes to the Senate Housing Committee.  (Gorge County Media and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

It is great having our friends at BabylonBee back on Twitter!

Do you like The Daily Briefing? Do you want to keep seeing coverage of issues which are important to you?

Shift was the only Washington media outlet in 2022 to interview legislative candidates to obtain their views on the important issues facing Washington State voters.

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].