Washington State Democrat lawmakers chose to reward the violent protests conducted by their liberal supporter by caving into the rioters’ demands, and passing “reform” laws during the 2021 legislative session which make it more difficult for police to provide public safety.  The Democrats wrote and passed the bills without consulting with law enforcement agencies or Republican legislators and ignoring the fact that violent crime rates were on the rise.   It is frightening to recall that as Governor Inslee was signing these extremist reforms into law he proclaimed, “This is the beginning. This is not the end.”  Yet after less than a week of irresponsibly risking Washington residents’ safety to conduct their public safety experiment, it is clearly obvious the Democrats’ laws are a failure and need to be repealed. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Republican legislators call on Governor Inslee to call a special session to repeal the Democrats’ irresponsible and dangerous police “reform” bills, which have already threatened the safety of thousands of Washington residents, since law enforcement are severely restricted in pursuing those suspected of criminal behavior.  The call for a special session is being led by Senator Chris Gildon and Representatives Kelly Chambers and Cyndy Jacobsen, whose 25^th Legislative District includes Puyallup, where police were unable to pursue a murder suspect on Wednesday night due to the Democrats’ legislation.

In a joint statement, the three Republican legislators said, “With people’s lives at stake and criminals continuing to escape justice, it is imperative that we as a legislative body take immediate action to remedy these problems. We implore the governor to call a special session so the Legislature can address this issue and pass new reforms that will allow law enforcement to quickly and effectively stop criminals.”

House Republican Leader JT Wilcox stated that the Democrats can’t avoid responsibility for this legislative failure. Representative Wilcox, who lives within 20 miles of the Puyallup murder scene, wrote in a Facebook post, “Democratic caucuses that were drunk with power and fueled by the unaccountability created by single-party government passed disastrous and ideology-driven laws that threaten us all.” (House Republican Caucus media release and JT Wilcox Facebook post)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center points to a S&P report on how the Democrats’ unconstitutional state income tax on capital gains will hurt the state’s future credit rating (and unnecessarily cost Washington residents more money).  The report asserts that the state’s previous “sales tax-based revenue structure” has provided steady revenues even during recessions.  The report then argues the state’s revenues will become more sensitive to economic cycles due to the state becoming more dependent on revenues collected on less predictable capital gains activities. (WPC Center for Government Reform Facebook post)

In a move that will frustrate many scientists, Governor Inslee has been asked by the White House to brief President Biden on the wildfires.  The governor was blasted by scientists in 2020 for pushing the false political narrative that the smoky skies over Western Washington were due to global warming.  Last month the governor again chose to ignore science when he falsely asserted that Seattle would soon reach 130 degrees. The governor has yet to respond to any request to provide the scientific evidence to back up his latest outrageous claim. (Seattle Times and Shift)

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn has called on County Executive Dow Constantine to temporarily close public access to King County’s downtown Seattle buildings in an effort to protect female workers.  Councilmember Dunn made the request following the sexual assault committed Thursday against a female employee in a county courthouse bathroom.  Dunn said the building should be closed to everyone except workers and those with necessary business “until the situation at City Hall Park can be adequately addressed, and we can ensure the safety of our employees.” The 35-year-old accused assailant in this latest case has a long criminal history, and had recently been released from custody for assaulting four random women in downtown Seattle.  (KIRO News)

Grocers have asked the City of Seattle to increase the number of police officers to improve response times to emergency calls.  The Washington Food Industry Association claim workers in small grocery stores are not safe due to the city’s failed public safety policies, which were enacted to appease the violent protestors last summer.  One Belltown neighborhood grocer has video evidence of over 1,000 thefts and assaults which have taken place in his business. The grocer said officers nearly always arrive late or not at all when he calls 911. (KING5 News)

The Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney said the Democrats’ police “reform” package signed by Governor Inslee has “really created a disincentive for people to follow the law.”  Prosecuting Attorney Shawn Sant was joined by many other Tri-Cities law enforcement officials in blasting the laws which were rammed through the 2021 legislature by the Democrats.  Prosecutor Sant not only criticized the changes in procedures the laws require, but also how poorly constructed the bills were as Democrats rushed the legislation to appease liberal activists. “You’re basically telling them (police officers) hey, were gonna make this so confusing for you that you’re not really gonna know what level of force of what you can do as a police officer.” (KEPR – TV)

The Washington State Redistricting Commission is seeking more public input on legislative and congressional district boundaries at virtual hearings this weekend. On Saturday afternoon, the commission’s online meeting will focus on the 8^th Congressional District, which includes East King County, Kittitas and Chelan counties, and portions of Douglas County. The virtual meeting will take place between 1:00 PM – 3::00 PM. To register to provide testimony and to learn more, visit the commission’s website. (Wenatchee World and Washington State Redistricting Commission)

Governor Inslee continues to beg for political donations, despite the very unlikely occurrence he will run for a fourth term.  With Inslee blocking the career paths of so many liberal career politicians, there would certainly be outrage from his fellow Democrats if he ever ran again.  Plus, his recent poll numbers indicate serious dissatisfaction with the governor’s performance among Washington voters.  So why is the governor continuing to plead for campaign contributions?  Governor Inslee claims it is so he can push his unscientific hyper-partisan agenda (see story above in the State section).

The real reason Inslee needs campaign cash is so that the governor can punish any Democrat lawmaker who chooses to side against him, as he continues to fulfill government employee unions demands for a larger and more expensive state government.  He did this in 2020 against fellow Democrat Senator Mark Mullet (Issaquah) and there are rumors other Democrat legislators are on the governor’s (and government unions’) hit list for 2022.

It is very telling of the governor that he is willing to ask his supporters to fund his attacks on other lawmakers, yet he is unwilling to ask them to pay back Washington State taxpayers for the hundreds of thousands that were spent to provide unnecessary security during his short-lived failed presidential campaign in 2020. (Inslee Campaign fundraising email, Crosscut/Elway Poll, and Seattle Times)

With primary elections occurring across the state next week, Shift is featuring two separate interviews with candidates for Spokane City Council.

Shift spoke with Northwest District candidate Mike Lish as we highlight high-profile primary races for Spokane City Council.  Decisions out of Spokane City Hall frustrated Lish, as he saw “the vibrant community we love start to slip away.” And so he became involved and aims to end the stagnation of the current city council to put a plan in place to solve to city’s housing and homeless problem.

Lish states that voters he’s talking to are also very concerned about rising crime rates while many at city hall are acting like Seattle politicians seeking to “defund the police.”  The city’s recent 72% vote to ban a local income tax is for Lish another example “that voters in Spokane want a fiscally responsible government and officials who are good stewards of taxpayer money.”  (Click to read full Newsmaker interview)

In one of our two Newsmaker Interviews this week, Shift talks with Spokane City Council candidate Jonathan Bingle, a small business owner who was born and raised in Northeast Spokane.  Bingle states that his neighborhood is often forgotten by current members of the council, and he wants to create more economic opportunities for local residents.  Bingle wants to bring more balance and collaboration to the council as it tackles the city’s current housing crisis.  (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

BABYLON BEE FRIDAY

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

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]