Washington State Democrat lawmakers finally released the details of their record-breaking supplemental budget with just a few hours before the 2022 legislative session ends later today.  And while there is an unexpected $15 BILLION in additional revenue, Washington Democrats have refused to help lower- and middle-income households with meaningful tax relief as legislatures across the country have done for their residents. And despite the state budget already projected to double in the nine years Governor Jay Inslee has been in office, the Democrats have decided to take the unexpected revenue to permanently enlarge the size, cost, and power of state government for the benefit of their major campaign contributors at the state employee unions.

As Jason Mercier of the Washington State Policy correctly states, “If Washington ever was going to provide substantial broad-based tax relief this was the year.”  Yet Democrats chose to ignore those on fixed or lower incomes who are struggling with the rapid price increase of basic necessities caused by liberal inflationary and irresponsible energy policies.  Republican lawmakers offered multiple tax breaks (including sales tax, gas tax, property tax, B&O taxes), yet Democrats’ greed kept them from even holding a public hearing on any of these proposals which would have assisted all of the state’s residents.

The Democrats were so determined not to help Washington residents by providing tax relief they even refused to hold a hearing on a campaign-year gimmick proposals like those offered by Democrat Senator Mona Das (Kent), who in desperation to save her job proposed a 1% sales tax reduction her colleagues ignored and the elimination of sales tax on diapers (SB 5932).  And since the first-term senator never complained that her colleagues failed to support her measures, we can assume Senator Das isn’t truly committed to the bill either – but you can bet she will deceitfully brag about it often to voters as she faces a tough challenge from current Kent City Council President Bill Boyce this fall.   (Democrats Supplemental Budget Proposal, Washington Policy Center, Washington Legislative Bill Summary, and Bill Boyce Campaign)

Republican legislative transportation leaders pointed out the failures of  the Democrats’ $17 billion transportation budget plan which is partially funded through increasing state taxes and fees. Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Olympia) said it is “disingenuous for the majority party to imply this package isn’t going to raise the cost of living on every Washingtonian” noting that much of the funding will come from the revenue received from climate measures passed last year which the fiscal note on the transportation budget states will raise gas prices an additional 17 cents a gallon. Senator Curtis King said, “Most people in our state are already struggling with inflation, and now gas prices are rising daily. The legislation passed today will make things worse.”

The transportation package is just further proof that the Democrat party has abandoned lower- and middle-class workers (in favor of wealthy environmentalists) who be hit the hardest by their increase in fees, taxes, and gas prices. (Republican House Caucus media release and Todd Myers Twitter)

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced that Washington State is one of its target states for the 2022 elections. The RSLC is the national Republican organization focused on assisting state-level candidates, including those running for the legislature.  This is good news as recent polls are showing voters in the state’s suburban swing districts have become fed up with the Democrats’ reckless and expensive policies which have made Washington State a less safe and more expensive place to live and work.

Much can still happen between now and November (especially with the war in the Ukraine), but most analysts agree Republicans will very likely pick up seats in the Washington State Legislature in 2022.   Those more optimistic believe that the GOP could gain control of both the House and the Senate.

Yet this mood is tempered by those that know that state employee unions and wealthy environmental groups will be thanking Democrat lawmakers for the millions in taxpayer funds they have funneled into their bank accounts by kicking back some of this money into Democrat campaigns.  When the final gavel is struck on the 2022 legislative session, the 2022 election season will officially begin.  We here at Shift plan to provide our readers with comprehensive coverage on the important races.  (Republican State Leadership Committee announcement)

In yet another example of how out-of-touch Governor Inslee is with Washington workers, he and his wealthy environmental friends say state residents should just purchase electric cars if they are concerned about the expensive impact of liberal measures on the price of gasoline.  Yet a new study by the Washington Policy Center revealed that owning an electric vehicle is more expensive then owning a gas-powered car and far beyond what most people can afford. The study used data collected by the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) which is tasked with purchasing vehicles for the state government.

The DES report stated that the “cheaper” electric cars (like the Chevy Bolt and the Nissan Leaf) are still unreliable and strongly recommends that the state purchase the $52,000 Tesla Model 3, which is approximately the same cost as a Mercedes. This is far more expensive then what nearly all lower- and middle-class households can afford.  Because Governor Inslee is personally unconcerned with transportation costs’ impact on a household budget since he is driven around in a taxpayer-paid SUV, we can understand why he fails to realize how his comments are unrealistic to the average Washington resident. (Washington Policy Center)

Good news!  Senator Jeff Wilson (R – Longview) was able to incorporate most of his catalytic converter theft protection bill into the Democrats less-effective legislation previously passed by the House to make the final bill a meaningful tool to stop this crime which has dramatically increased during the past couple of years.  The final bill was unanimously passed both the House and the Senate.  While the final bill is labeled HB 1815, which was originally introduced by the every ineffective Representative Cindy Ryu (D – Shoreline), most of the bill’s verbiage comes from Senator Wilson’s bill (SB 5495). The final bill is modeled after a similar successful Oregon law, in that it places requirement on scrap yards which severely restricts the ability of thieves to sell stolen converters.  Senator Wilson said he was disappointed that the final bill did not contain language to create a new crime for specifically possessing or selling a stolen catalytic converter, but he said he hopes to accomplish this during the next legislative session. (MyNorthwest, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Washington Senate Caucus media release)

Evidently the union representing teachers in the Seattle Public Schools is not thrilled with the district’s announcement yesterday that it will be voluntary for students and staff to wear facemasks starting next Monday, when both the state and King County will be lifting their mask mandates.  The Seattle Education Association (SEA) posted a tweet yesterday afternoon stating, “U may have received notice from SPS they’re making masks optional Mon, Mar 14. SPS unilaterally implemented this change in masking policy. We’re deeply disappointed SPS violated our collective agreement to bargain the change. This causes chaos and confusion for staff and families.”

Chaos for the union means freedom for their students – but students don’t pay dues. The SEA appears to be upset that not everyone agrees with its belief that the union knows more about public health than local, state, and national public health officials.  Yet a concern for some is that the union representing those who are paid (very well) to teach our children how to write, chose to unnecessarily misspell the word “you” in their tweet. (Seattle Education Association tweet)

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is receiving criticism for failing to provide details to the public on how he plans to remove homeless encampments in the city.  When asked recently about what he intends to do, the Mayor responded, “In the very near future, you’ll see us continue our efforts to make sure our sidewalks are free of obstructions and people are out of camps and in housing,” the mayor replied. “I’m not going to give specifics about whether it’s going be three Tuesdays from tomorrow or something like that, but we have a plan, and we’ll implement the plan and I’m going to leave it there.”

Some stated this response was “Inslee-esque” in that it failed to answer the question but allowed the media to claim they posed a liberal political figure a tough question. (MyNorthwest)

In the initial story of a larger Inlander series about the dramatic increase in housing costs in Spokane, it rightfully states the problem is straight from any Econ 101 class – there is simply too much demand for the supply of available housing.   The article puts most of the blame on the fact that historically many residents wanted to keep zoning restrictions, which encouraged large housing lots and prevented large apartment complexes from crowding neighborhoods.  Thus far the story has failed to mention the impact of environmental restrictions on development or on the cost of new home construction.  We look forward to reading the series to see if the author is willing to broaden his viewpoint. (Inlander)

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