Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said that “people are dying” because the Democrats in the Washington State Legislature failed to fix the state’s police pursuit laws during the 2022 legislative session.  During the 2021 legislative session, Democrat legislators rushed to fulfill the demands of violent liberal rioters when they passed laws which placed severe restrictions on law enforcement’s ability to pursue and detain suspected criminals. This extreme error has led to thousands of situations around the state where police were not able to question suspects because criminals knew they could simply speed away from an officer.

Legislators in the 2022 legislature vowed to “fix” the pursuit laws with SB 5919. The House passed their version of the bill by an 86-12 vote, but Democrat Senate Majority Leader Andy Billing (Spokane) chose not to bring the bill to a vote because a majority of Democrat senators were irresponsibly opposed to it (and, allegedly, anti-police Senator Manka Dhingra led the charge to keep any rational senators from passing any “fix”). Senator Billig has since received much criticism for his decision to bow to partisan caucus pressures and kill the bill since there were enough Democrat and Republican senators to pass the legislation.

Sheriff Knezovich made his comments during an online forum in which he was also asked about Democrat legislators’ comments regarding gun control.  The sheriff pointed out the same Democrats who are today calling for more restrictions on gun ownership stripped away enhanced penalties on criminals who used a firearm in the commission of a crime in 2021.  The sheriff said, “Does that sound like they are really serious about solving gun violence in this state at all?”. (CenterSquare and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

The latest waste of taxpayer money to help a Democrat campaign will be released tomorrow on this website.  The “Lower Snake River Dams Replacement Study” is the latest taxpayer-funded campaign year effort to destroy the dams, this one commissioned by Democrat Governor Jay Inslee.  This document is designed to benefit the struggling re-election campaign of 30-year incumbent U.S. Senator Patty Murray, who is seeking more financial support from wealthy Seattle environmentalists.  These liberal activists are still upset that extensive science-based 2020 study conducted by the federal government concluded that the four Snake River dams should stay in place.

In early 2020, the governor also used taxpayer money to fund the incredibly useless “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report,” which provided no new scientific information, as a way to show his wealthy environmentalists donors that he was still pushing their unscientific partisan agenda on the dams during his reelection campaign, and thus they should write him even more checks. (Lower Snake River dams study site, OPB, and 2020 Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholders Engagement report)

Washington State drivers continue to pay the fourth highest amount for gas in the country, as fuel prices keep rising and Governor Inslee and Democrat lawmakers persist in ignoring the financial suffering this is having on lower- and moderate- income households. The AAA-sponsored survey reveals that unleaded fuel is averaging $5.40 a gallon in Washington, which puts the state only behind California, Nevada, and Oregon (which is currently just 1 cent higher than WA).  Republican lawmakers continue to call for a special session of the legislature to temporarily eliminate the 49.4 cent per gallon state gas tax to help those struggling due to the impact of fuel prices. Governor Inslee states he will refuse to help lower-and moderate- income workers by suspending the tax because, 1) if the tax were halted then there would be no money for road construction projects; and 2) oil companies would immediately raise their fuel prices the amount of the eliminated tax. Both of these comments are completely false and insults the financial struggles many families are currently facing. (Aberdeen Daily World and CenterSquare)

A Tri-City based group is continuing with its lawsuit against Governor Inslee stating the governor did not have emergency conditions in all 39 counties when he gave himself broad emergency powers without legislative oversite on February 29, 2020.  A Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled against a plaintiff’s motion to impose an injunction against the governor’s use of emergency powers until there is a ruling on the case.  The suit filed by the Silent Majority Foundation contends that there were no COVID cases in a third of the state’s counties when the governor issued his emergency declaration and thus the governor did not have the authority to impose “restrictions on individuals’ ability to make their own medical and employment decisions under penalty of criminal sanctions.”

Because state emergency laws are broad with undefined time limits, all previous lawsuits against the governor and his use of emergency powers have been unsuccessful.  Nearly all legal experts agree that the best hope to stop the governor’s never ending abuse of emergency powers (now on Day 830) is to amend the state law to provide limits on the number of days the governor can rule without legislative oversight. (Tri-City Herald)

The Seattle Police Department’s Harbor Patrol is forced to seek private donations to repair its boats due to budget cuts and restrictions passed by the Seattle City Council.  The harbor patrol unit is seeking $25,000 in private donations to provide needed maintenance on its nine boats. The unit responds to more than 6,000 calls a year on Lake Washington, Lake Union, the Duwamish River, and Puget Sound. Click on this link if you would like to donate. (MyNorthwest and Harbor Patrol Fundraiser)

The Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to prohibit “targeted protesting” outside the homes of city employees and elected officials. The city council’s chamber was packed with those who opposed the measure stating it was an infringement of free speech.  While opponents of the measure said it was unconstitutional, the city attorney stated that in 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a city could prohibit protests at a location so long as the prohibition is neutral and still allowed protestors to get out their message in other ways. (OPB)

Q13 Fox News conducted an in-depth interview with Toppenish School District Superintendent John Cerna, who has implemented a policy in which administrators and directors are allowed to carry guns in school.  The Yakima Valley district currently has an enrollment of 4,500 students. Superintendent Cerna said he came up with the policy after a 2012 mass-shooting event took place at Sandy Hook Elementary.  Not only have 12 school administrators volunteered to carry guns (and go through four training sessions a year), but schools are locked, teachers are trained, and modifications to school buildings have been made to keep the students safe from armed intruders.

Superintendent Cerna said he has received criticism from those outside of the district over his policy. He responds to them by saying, “My kids are safe. Are your kids safe?”  The superintendent says he has received universal approval for his policy from parents who have children in the Toppenish schools. (Q13 Fox News Spotlight)

With five new solar farms being rushed into operation in Yakima County, the Yakima Herald-Republic is calling for more studies on the impact these farms will have on the region and the environment.  The newspaper stated in an editorial that some environmental groups are concerned about the impact these farms will have on wildlife. Specifically they claim the acres and acres of solar panels could block wildlife’s habitat and foraging areas and could also impact their travel patterns. There is also concerns that the energy farms (both solar and wind) could also impact the amount of irrigated land available for agriculture. (Yakima Herald-Republic)

A few liberals are finally starting to admit that the City of Seattle’s “defund the police” policy has been a complete failure.  It is difficult for even the most ardent liberal to argue that their “police reforms” have been anything besides an utter disaster after seeing the news that the Seattle Police Department’s depleted staff levels has forced the city to stop investigating new adult sexual assault cases, finding out that the city failed to perform necessary administrative tasks to allow parking enforcement officers to issue tickets when that responsibility was taken from the police department (costing the city’s taxpayers $5 million, so far), and watching crime rates continue to soar. But what should we expect from city councilmembers who chose to ignore reasonable voices and instead allowed violent liberal rioters (including Antifa) to determine the city’s public safety policies? (Click to read full Shift Article)

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 and provides you inside coverage of the 2022 elections which includes exclusive interviews with top candidates.

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].