Even though a severe housing shortage exists in Washington State, legislative Democrats have proposed several bills to amend the Growth Management Act and increase housing costs even further!  By placing more regulations on development, the Democrats are increasing the cost of housing, pricing thousands more Washingtonians out of homes.  Cost increases to cities, whether by forcing more planning requirements or otherwise, leads to cost increases to developers. This ultimately leads to higher home prices for prospective home buyers. (Click to read full Shift Article)

Very rarely does the liberal media in Washington State unite in condemning legislation being actively pushed by Democrat legislators in Olympia – yet it is occurring now with the unconstitutional income tax on capital gains being pushed by Governor Jay Inslee and his fellow Democrats.  The Washington Policy Center has pulled together a sampling of editorials from across the state in which the many flaws in SB 5096 are exposed.  Among the problems the newspapers point out are the income tax’s negative impact on the state’s economy, that new funds are not needed with an expected increase of 7% in state revenue expected over the next two years, that such a tax hurts the state’s competitive advantage in bringing employers to Washington State, that some 10 times the state’s voters have rejected an income tax, that the phony “emergency clause” included in the bill would deny citizens their rights to repeal the legislation through a referendum, and, of course, that any type of income tax is unconstitutional in Washington State.  From Port Angeles to Walla Walla, newspapers agree that Governor Inslee’s scheme to open up a new income tax revenue stream to fund the Democrats’ desire for a larger and more powerful state government needs to be rejected. (Washington Policy Center and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

A new poll of Washington State voters indicates that Democrat legislators pushing for higher taxes are acting against the will of the public.  DHM Research conducted a survey of 800 Washington State registered voters for Opportunity Washington (an employer-funded organization) which clearly revealed what should be an obvious fact – the public opposes new state taxes during the COVID pandemic.  A solid majority (56% )responded that they oppose an income tax on capital gains, with a significant plurality (41%) “strongly” opposed.  The poll also showed that the public does not agree with the Democrats’ justification for raising taxes as a way to assist employers negatively impacted by Governor Inslee’s random and unscientific shutdown of the state’s economy.  Only 20% of voters supported raising taxes to fund public services to help those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Yet, 64% believe a better method to help small businesses would be for the state to reduce taxes. (Opportunity Washington and DHM Research Survey)

Democrats showed their pride in the party’s other major piece of legislation which will make it more expensive to live and work in Washington State, by using a Saturday afternoon to sneak through Governor Inslee’s expensive and ineffective Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) by a state House vote of 52 – 46.  Five Democrats sensibly walked away from their party to join Republicans in opposing the bill (HB 1091).  The legislation now moves to the Senate, where it has died the past two years.  Representative Tana Senn (D – Mercer Island) provided one of the most disturbing reactions to the House vote.  In a tweet, the ultra-liberal legislator stated. “I was reflecting on… my daughter fearful of having no future on earth at all. Proud to have voted for her future.”  Apparently Representative Senn has scared her daughter into believing the world will end unless expensive liberal environmental social experiments are passed into.  We wonder if the legislator also informed her daughter that government studies show the LCFS could raise the cost of gas by approximately 60 cents a gallon, and make it more difficult for low-income workers to feed their families?  Does the five-term legislator inform her daughter that previous climate legislation she has supported has been ineffective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that it has been established that this version of the greatly flawed LCFS “will do almost nothing to reduce air pollution?”  Our guess is the representative may not be sharing the complete story with her daughter, who will have to expand beyond her mother’s extremely narrow, self-serving perspective on her own.  (KIRO 7 News, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, Twitter, Shift, and Washington Policy Center)

In the latest effort by Democrat lawmakers to reward the political violence by liberal activists which took place last summer in Seattle, the Democrat-controlled state House of Representatives has passed the police reform measures that the rioters were demanding.  Instead of condemning the violent actions (which included attempted mass murder by locking officers in a building while setting it on fire and bashing a police officer in the (thankfully helmet-clad) head with a baseball bat), Democrat legislators have chosen to pass legislation which accepts the rioters’ demands to blame the police for the violence.  In a 54-43 vote, Democrats passed HB 1054 to place more constraints on police officers, remove various crowd control techniques, and return public safety equipment to the federal government.  Representative Jacquelin Maycumber (R – Republic), who is a former law enforcement officer, stated her disappointment in her Democrat colleagues giving into the rioters’ demands. “This legislation erases decades of police reform and takes us backwards to a time where cops had fewer options. The fact is, less training, less equipment, less options for our police will make our communities and families less safe.” (KXLY-TV, KIRO-TV, KING5 News, and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

In a bill that should have been passed and signed last year during a special legislative session, Governor Inslee has finally gotten around to signing a bill that waives the annual liquor license fee for restaurants and bars. The bill (SB 5272) was one of the suggestions Republicans first made last Spring, when they were calling for a special session to help those in the hospitality industry who were severely impacted by Governor Inslee’s random shutdown orders.  While the governor noted the importance of instantly signing the bill in a rare Sunday event, he failed to mention this could have been done nine months ago, had he actually cared about Washingtonians in the hospitality industry and agreed to a special legislative session. But, since a special session would have meant less power for Jay Inslee, he said “No”. (MyNorthwest and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

As the Washington Education Association and its local chapter bosses are quickly becoming the most despised collection of special interest leaders since the tobacco lobby, we think this short video shows the emotional strain their demands have placed on students.  A 4^th grader in Southern California receives a special lesson through her mother’s use of flash cards. (Washington Alliance 4 Kids/Facebook)

There has been a substantial spike in families enrolling their children in private schools, due to the stubborn and greedy refusal of teachers’ unions to follow health experts advice (and scientific data) and allow students to safely resume in-person instruction.  The 72 Western Washington schools that are operated by the Archdiocese of Seattle have been safely open for in-person instruction since last September.  Nearly all have developed a waiting list for new students, as more parents are frustrated by the teachers’ unions demands which are keeping public schools closed.   Some 60% of the students have received assistance with tuition aid which the schools have made available. (Q13 News)

Fred Meyer, Target, and McDonald’s are rewarding employees who obtain a COVID-19 vaccination. Employees are being offered salary bonuses or paid time off if they can demonstrate that they have received the vaccine. (Longview Daily News)

Wenatchee area officials are concerned that Governor Inslee has yet to reveal what Phase 3 of his poorly named “Roadmap to Recovery” will allow, or to even hint what might be required to get there.  Shiloh Burgess, executive director at the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the region is at the tipping point of permanently losing jobs “if employers cannot plan and operate at a sustainably profitable level.” (Wenatchee World)

Because two consecutive classes of high school graduates will have been impacted by school closures, Spokane-area colleges are preparing for orientations for both the freshman and sophomore classes, as in-person schedules are now planned to resume in the Fall.  All of the schools (Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga, Washington State University, and Whitworth) are also planning to be flexible in case conditions change and distance learning is required again.  (Spokesman-Review)

Last week’s Newsmaker Interview was with former Republican operative, digital innovator and entrepreneur, and author of the much-discussed new book “Bombarded”, Cyrus Krohn.  After starting his career working for Vice President Dan Quayle and the Republican National Committee, Krohn went to CNN (as a producer for “The Larry King Show” and “Crossfire”) before becoming one of the founders of Slate.com.  Since then, Krohn has been involved in many successful digital start-ups, and has become a leading national expert on how online technology has impacted every aspect of our lives.  With this knowledge, he provides an incredibly unique and informative perspective on how digital technology has exacerbated the growing divides in our society.  In “Bombarded”, Krohn explains how the chasms have occurred and provides some solutions to the problems. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview, Slate.com, and Amazon/”Bombarded” )

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