This week’s Newsmaker Interview is with Jason Mercier, Director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center.  Given the stubborn refusal of Governor Inslee and the Democrat legislative leadership to call a special session to reduce the state’s expenditures to align with projected budget revenue, we thought it would be an appropriate time to talk with one of the leading experts on the Washington State budget. Perhaps that will allow us all to better understand the strategy behind the Democrats’ irresponsible decisions.  Jason discusses the damage the Democrats are causing to the state’s budget, the pay raise Governor Inslee just gave state employees (while millions of Washington taxpayers are facing financial insecurities), the Democrats’ desire for a new state income tax, making collective bargaining negotiations more transparent for taxpayers, and finally breaking down to buy a smart phone. (Shift)

Jay Inslee’s embattled Employment Security Department (ESD) has finally been able to reduce the large number of valid, but still unprocessed claims (from 81,000 to 35,000), but unnecessary anxiety still continues for tens of thousands of Washington State residents.  Due primarily to the emergency assistance of the National Guard and a reduction of new claims, the ESD was finally able to claim its reduced the backlog that has overwhelmed the department for the four months of the economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak (and the governor’s random decisions to stop private construction and other segments of the economy).  And, since state workers will soon be able to collect unemployment benefits once they take a mandatory furlough day (after Inslee gave them a second pay raise in a year), there is a personal incentive to clear the backlog since, ESD employees don’t want their checks delayed by the administrative failure of Governor Inslee and his hand-picked ESD management team. (Everett Herald and Shift)

Counties that are an hour or two away from the Puget Sound metropolitan area are seeing the largest growth in Washington State.  Kittitas County (Ellensburg and Cle Elum) is leading the way with the most growth of any Washington county in the past three years. This reflects more workers telecommuting and retirees wanting to be near an urban center but live in a more rural community. (Puget Sound Indexer)

Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna says the COVID-19 outbreak brings many new liability concerns for employers, as they seek to protect their customers and workers from being exposed to the virus.  In his weekly appearance on KIRO Radio, McKenna said, “I think causation is difficult. And as long as employers are following the (health) guidelines, they’re probably going to be protected from claims that they weren’t doing enough.” (MyNorthwest)

The “JumpStart Tax” passed by the Seattle City Council should be called the “Bellevue/Redmond Full Employment Act”, as it is inevitable that Seattle-based employers will move their high paying jobs to other communities.  The short-sighted new tax is expected to bring in $200 million in revenue, yet the city could experience a net loss in revenue from a reduction in receipts from sales tax, B&O tax, hotel tax, parking meter fees, etc. (Seattle Times)

A majority of the city council members now support reducing the police department’s budget by 50%, and spending that money elsewhere on government programs, moving towards yet another bad policy decision which will provide incentives for Seattle taxpayers to look elsewhere to reside.  While the kneejerk lawmakers rush to make unanalyzed and reckless public policy changes demanded by a few protesters, Mayor Jenny Durkan appears to be the lone rational politician at Seattle City Hall who understands the issues are far more complicated, and rash decisions could impact the city more negatively than the councilmembers are currently considering. (Seattle Times)

Despite receiving significant coverage in the national media (including this story from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson), Christopher Rufo’s shocking report on the City of Seattle’s training of white workers received almost no coverage in the Seattle media.  (Read Rufo’s original report here.)  Carlson rightfully points out that if a conservative city like Oklahoma City were to do the same thing to Black workers, then the federal Department of Justice would rightfully shut it down, and everyone would justifiably applaud.  So why is this allowed to continue in Seattle? (Tucker Carlson Show and City Journal)

The City of Bellevue is working with the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce to distribute 40,000 free face masks to local businesses and residents.  Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson said, “Our partnership with the Chamber to get masks into the hands of our residents and businesses at no cost is a key component in our fight against COVID-19. Wearing face coverings can reduce virus transmission, but people can’t be expected to have them readily at hand. This helps close that gap.” The Chamber had already distributed 35,000 masks and 1,400 bottles of hand sanitizer. (Bellevue Reporter)

The City of Vancouver is encouraging restaurants to use “Parklets” (dining areas using reconfigured street parking spaces), to increase the number of dining spaces available.  Thus far, four Vancouver restaurants have created spaces out of former street parking areas to provide more room for customers to adhere to social distance guidelines and thus serve more people. (Vancouver Columbian)

Yakima County coronavirus testing sites will now expand their criteria to individuals with mild symptoms or those who are at high risk for exposure.  Previously, the National Guard- run sites only tested those with COVID-19 symptoms.  After a few days of steep decline in cases, Yakima County’s cases have risen slightly in the past couple of days. Despite only having 3% of the state’s population, Yakima County has slightly more than 20% of the coronavirus cases. (Yakima Herald)

While Spokane City Council President Breean Briggs wants the police department to categorize and treat dog bites as “deadly force” while apprehending criminals, the department’s K-9 unit says the issue is far more complicated and could make dogs obsolete in police work.  A police department spokesperson said the effective deployment of a police dog likely reduces the use of deadly force by officers. But that common sense approach probably doesn’t make enough of a virtue signal for Councilmember Briggs to embrace. (Spokesman-Review)

Do you have your Governor Zero mask yet?  Send us a picture of you wearing the mask and we might publish it.  Send it to [email protected], for we love to see our readers express their views about our governor.  We sold out of our first batch of masks in early June, and we are almost out of our second order.  Buy yours today by clicking on this link. Only $25, with proceeds going to support Shift and the Northwest Republican Community Fund’s support for Hopelink (which is assisting those who have lost their income due to the coronavirus outbreak). (Governor Zero Mask and NWRCF/Hopelink)

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