Governor Jay Inslee’s plan to solve the serious state budget crisis is to keep handing out pay raises to state employees and keep refusing to cut a budget that is 20% larger than the previous budget, all while hoping for another federal bailout and, most of all, waiting until after the election to increase taxes even more on Washington citizens.  Instead of being responsible and calling for a legislative special session to align our state spending with the new budget realities of slower growth in revenues, Governor Inslee and Democrat legislative leaders want to keep spending money to create an opportunity to create new taxes (hello, state income tax), despite the financial insecurities of Washington taxpayers.  (Shift)

While Inslee and the Democrats fiddle with the state’s economy, businesses could face unprecedented failures.  The state’s increasingly troubled financial situation, which Inslee is ignoring while waiting for a federal bailout for the state’s reduced tax revenues, is not likely to jump right back.  According KOMO, “Local economists are worried that another surge of COVID-19 cases in the fall could do severe damage to the regional economy…UW Professor of Finance and Business Economics Thomas Gilbert says he expects 20 percent of restaurants and small businesses to permanently close their doors by Dec. 31.” But at least those who do survive will be there to pay the higher taxes the Democrats will pushing during the 2021 legislative session.  (KOMO News)

Beginning Thursday, ballots will be mailed to Washington state voters for the 2020 primary election. There are 35 individuals hoping to unseat Governor Jay Inslee and 11 candidates looking to replace Cyrus Habib, who has chosen not to run for re-election as Lt. Governor. There are also other statewide offices, Congress, legislature, and some local races on the ballot.  (Everett Herald)

As expected, the United States and Canada have agreed to keep their borders closed to non-essential travel for another month.  The ban was first implemented on March 21^st and is revisited every month by the two countries.  The ban has now been extended until August 21^st. (News Tribune)

The coronavirus outbreak has forced Census workers to delay when they will be visiting homes of people who have yet to respond to the questionnaire. Thus far only 67.4% of Washington State residents have responded to the 2020 survey. Door-to-door surveys were to begin in May, but have now been pushed back to August.  Tacoma and a few other areas will begin next week as they have been selected to test survey approaches.  (Vancouver Columbian and U.S. Census Bureau)

The Roanoke Conference is holding a series of online events to help rational voters become knowledgeable about candidates in the upcoming primary election.  Tomorrow evening there will be two online debates, featuring the GOP candidates for Lt. Governor and Attorney General. The five Lt. Governor candidates will start at 5:30 PM, and the three GOP candidates for Attorney General will present at 7:00 PM.  There is no cost for this Zoom event, but registration is required (click here).  Mike McClanahan of TVW will moderate both debates. (Roanoke Conference candidate debates)

Official complaints about inappropriate behavior have previously been made about embattled King County’s Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) director Deborah Jacobs.  A 2017 complaint alleges Jacobs made improper statements regarding a deceased man’s genitalia, while visiting the Medical Examiner’s Office.  The OLEO director is currently being investigated by the King County Council for running a “toxic” office, making racially charged comments, and excluding transgendered employees from social events. Dow Constantine’s King County administration has seen its share of inappropriate behavior from those in leadership positions.  Last December, the director of the county’s homelessness agency resigned after it was revealed she paid for a stripper to perform at a conference on the region’s homeless crisis. (MyNorthwest and Seattle Times)

Tribal casino to change rules to almost align with state laws on indoor smoking.  Jay Inslee’s campaign contributors at the state’s Indian tribes have not really been doing the governor a lot of favors lately, what with the early re-opening of their casinos to thousands of gamblers daily, while non-tribal Washington entertainment businesses were forced to remain closed.  However, the Cowlitz tribe was not content to poke its finger into Inslee’s eye over re-opening, now they are reminding him that the tribe does not always follow state laws on smoking either. As reported by the Columbian, “the increased rate of infection in our region and continued uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 virus” has caused the tribe to ban smoking inside the casino “until further notice.” Hopefully, the lucrative state monopoly on sports betting which Governor Inslee and the Democrat legislature gave tribal casinos will offset any loss of business from smokers. (Vancouver Columbian)

The Washington Policy Center Young Professionals group will be foregoing its usual large summer event, and instead hold simultaneous small hosted events (with 5-10 people each) and connect online to listen to a presentation on a new program to combat the rising tide of socialism. The event(s) will be held on the evening of August 6^th, at individual houses in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties. Click on the links for additional information.  (WPC Young Professionals)

The Walla Walla School District will offer students the option to learn online this fall.  Superintendent Wade Smith said, “We are pleased to be able to offer this alternative learning option as we anticipate many families will need or want this service based on prior feedback. While online learning is not right for every child and family, we did hear many stories of students who thrived with this fully digital experience this spring and we want to continue to be able to make this an option for them.” (YakTriNews)

Another major Washington event bites the dust – Spokane’s Hoopfest is the latest to fall victim to the coronavirus outbreak.  The 31^st annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Spokane, which put the city on the hoops’ map even before Gonzaga became a national basketball powerhouse, will not take place this year, despite having been moved from its typical June schedule to later in the year.  According to the Spokesman-Review, “efforts were made to salvage the event in hopes that the coronavirus curve would flatten. Spokane County infections have spiked since its Phase 2 reopening in May, however, leading to the inevitable.” Despite its cancellation, individuals who had signed up to participate will still get their 2020 t-shirt. (Spokesman-Review)

Washington State ranks the lowest for energy costs in the country according to a survey conducted by WalletHub – but not so much for fuel prices.  This is primarily due to the state’s cheap (because it’s renewable) hydroelectric power. Yet the same survey found that because of high taxes, Washington State has the third highest vehicle fuel costs (only behind California and Hawaii) in the United States. (iFIBER One)

Without providing examples, the Washington State Democrat Party lumped Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook in with “white supremacist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and other hateful groups.”  This claim went out in an email blast and is an obvious attempt by Chair Tina Podlodowski and her team to deflect from the racist charge that has been leveled against Democrat party organizations by the Political Consultants of Color Coalition. Or maybe it is an attempt to deflect from the major division within the Democrat party over police funding.  While establishment Democrats like Mayor Jenny Durkan are seeking to minimize the cuts to police budgets, far lefty Democrats on the City Council want to cut funding by at least 50%.  With so much divisive behavior within the Democrat Party right now, we can expect to see even more deflective statements from T-Pod and company. (Democrat Party email, Crosscut, and Seattle Times)

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