We Told You So: From yesterday, a new report reveals that the Inslee Administration is using old data to determine when regions can advance to Phase 2.  The Washington Policy Center also determined that one of the criteria (“percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive”) the state is using in Governor Jay Inslee’s “Roadmap to Recovery” is meaningless, for it can be easily manipulated and is not a scientific indicator of the infection rate in a community.  If the state used current data and eliminated meaningless criteria, then King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and nearly all of Eastern Washington, would be advanced to Phase 2.  This would result in the reopening of many restaurants, bars, theaters, and other businesses. (Click to Read Full Shift Article)

Once again, Governor Inslee’s stubborn refusal to work with local officials and legislators, has resulted in him having to significantly alter the state’s methods for re-opening Washington State’s economy.  The governor announced this afternoon that there will be changes to his latest unscientific and random “Roadmap to Recovery” plan. Most notably, advancement can occur if just three of the four criteria are met (this is likely due to one of the criteria, “percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive”, being meaningless and easily manipulated).  The governor also announced that the time frame for analyzing COVID data will move from a one-week period to two weeks. While all of this is good news to many people around the state, the repeated altering of state plans and the resulting confusion could have been avoided had Governor Inslee and his administration led with inclusivity and considered the ideas from anyone outside of the small circle Inslee depends on for determining policies.  The governor has not only been disparaged by Republican legislators for not listening to their concerns and suggestions, but also by local elected officials across Washington, who have been critical of Governor Inslee for making important decisions without seeking their input. The governor also announced that the Puget Sound Region (King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties) and the West Region (Grays Harbor, Thurston, Lewis, and Pacific counties) will be advanced to Phase 2 (Austin Jenkins Twitter, Shift, and Yakima Herald)

Members of the House Republican Caucus sent Governor Inslee a letter criticizing his unscientific “regional” approach in determining where and when areas of the state can reopen under his random “Roadmap to Recovery” plan.  The letter from 40 House members stated, “Tying rural counties with low COVID numbers to other areas of the state with high numbers is illogical.”  The letter points out that Kittitas County, which has had a low COVID-19 infection rate, is now aligned with Yakima and the Tri-Cities area, both of which have had among the highest infection rates in the country.  Also, small rural communities like Wilbur, Creston, Davenport and Odessa, which have had almost no COVID cases, are now tied to urban Spokane, where more infections are occurring.  Besides the examples in Eastern Washington, leaders in many small Southwest Washington communities are also upset that their local businesses are now dependent on the higher infection rates in the urban areas of Vancouver and Olympia. (Legislators letter to Governor Inslee)

In the latest Democrat proposal to encourage successful individuals to move out of Washington State (and deter people who want to be successful from moving into the state), Representative Noel Frame (Socialist/D – Seattle) has proposed legislation to impose a “wealth tax” on a select group of Washington residents she is jealous of.  Frame’s proposed bill (HB 1406) would levy a 1% tax on “intangible financial assets” (think stocks and investments) of the wealthiest 100 Washington residents.  Frame says this will raise $2.25 billion per year for the state.  In a timely report from the Washington Policy Center, a highlight is the Tax Foundation 2018 finding that “Over the years, countries have repealed their net wealth taxes for various reasons, but economic impact is included in those reasons.”  It is interesting to note that if figures are correct, just one person (you guessed it, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos) would be responsible for 3/4th of the tax.  How stable is a tax if one person moving to another state would eliminate 75% of the revenue? (Geek Wire, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Washington Policy Center, and Tax Foundation)

Democrat legislators continue to demonstrate that they do not want to be bothered by those who are suffering due to Governor Inslee’s economic shutdowns, and would rather spend time debating the state dinosaur. This has frustrated Republican lawmakers who are seeking to help those who are on the verge of losing their businesses, or who want to earn a paycheck again.  House Republican Leader JT Wilcox said that legislators had agreed prior to the start of the session to limit bills to the state budget and operations, and to COVID-19 response. “I can think of an awful lot of bills getting hearings, including the state dinosaur and gun bills that were not part of that list,” Wilcox reminded Democrats. (KING5 News)

The Washington Alliance 4 Kids, a statewide parents organization seeking to remove barriers so students can resume in-person instruction, is holding a virtual Town Hall Meeting this evening at 7:00 PM.  The event is titled, “Experiences from the Frontline” and will feature a panel of medical practitioners and health officials discussing how to bring students safely back into the classroom.  You can register by clicking on this link. (Washington Alliance 4 Kids Facebook page and Registration)

Additional cuts to the Seattle Police Department will impact the city’s ability to proactively protect residents.  That must be why the pro-crime Seattle City Council is seeking even more cuts after drastically cutting the department’s budget last year, and while crime rates (including murder) continue to increase.  Seattle’s Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz is concerned that even more cuts will impact his department’s ability to stop crime from occurring.  As city officials consider prospects for replacing former Police Chief Carmen Best, who resigned last summer due to the insulting behavior and actions of city councilmembers, we can expect qualified candidates to avoid applying for the post, knowing the lack of support the department receives from its socialist elected officials. (MyNorthwest)

As the rotating door continues in Seattle government leadership positions, the Seattle School Board approved the district entering into negotiations with Brent Jones to become a one-year interim superintendent, after current Superintendent Denise Juneau’s contract ends on July 1^st.  Jones, who currently works for King County Metro, has been a school district administrator in the past.  His contract states he cannot apply for the permanent Superintendent position.  For those keeping track, liberal Seattle currently has a lame duck mayor, an interim police chief, and a lame duck school superintendent who will soon be replaced by an interim superintendent. Not exactly a model of efficiency, as liberal politicians continue to be driven from office by allowing those with even more extreme positions to dictate policies.  (Seattle Times)

The Everett City Council will consider increasing city revenue by installing traffic-enforcement cameras at six intersections and in one school zone.  Everett officials are interested in the devices after they saw neighboring Lynnwood reduce accidents and collect significant revenue with its cameras. Everett officials believe cameras will bring in an additional half million dollars in annual revenue (the net after the expenses paid to some out-of-state firm to run the program), which could be wasted by liberal officials on pet projects which taxpayers would not otherwise fund. (Everett Herald)

One in 10 Yakima County residents has been infected with COVID-19.  The Central Washington county, with an estimated population of 250,000 residents, just passed 25,000 confirmed COVID-19  cases. The 10% infection rate is more than double the 4% infection rate for the state (305,000 confirmed cases in an estimated population of 7.6 million people).  (KATU TV and Washington State Department of Health Dashboard)

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is reminding citizens that they must bring proof they are a Washington resident when obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination.  The DOH says that each of the four state-run mass vaccination sites is requiring either a state ID, utility bill, pay stub, or any other proof of state residency before people receive the shot.  The DOH says it is doing this to prevent those from other states coming here to receive one of Washington’s allotment.  This seems like a strange precaution considering our neighbors in Oregon and Idaho have been far more efficient in distributing their doses than the Inslee Administration has been in its disorganized program here in Washington. (KXLY)

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