Governor Jay Inslee and the other four Governors of the (Democrat) Western States Pact showed their partisan approach by asking congressional leaders to give state and local governments a $1 trillion bailout.  In their first public act since the partisan group was first announced a month ago, the five Democrat governors were joined by 12 Democrat Legislators and one confused California Republican in signing the letter, which essentially endorses Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s negotiating position).  This is yet another divisive partisan act from Governor Inslee.  With both the White House and U.S. Senate controlled by Republicans, a letter with Republican governors and Republican legislators might have been more effective.  Unfortunately, Governor Inslee has chosen to be extremely partisan in his approach to the COVID-19 crisis, and thus less effective in providing economic relief to Washington citizens. (Western States Pact letter to congressional leaders)

The state should cut and defer both B&O and property taxes to allow businesses to create jobs and provide economic relief to families.  These are a couple of the key findings in a policy brief from the Washington Policy Center.  While Democrat politicians, government bureaucrats, and liberal special interest groups are calling for higher taxes (including an unconstitutional state income tax), moderates and conservatives are asking for the government to reduce its burden on Washington citizens in order to restart the economy.  The policy brief also called for state officials to provide clear guidance to citizens on how best to re-open businesses and for elected leaders to not play partisan games by picking favorites. (Washington Policy Center)

In yet another story regarding the arbitrary rules placed on Washington State construction projects, it has been found that no one would enforce Governor Inslee’s ban on commercial construction.  While Inslee allowed government projects to continue, private and residential construction projects were told to shut down.  Yet a few commercial projects defied the governor’s orders and the state did nothing to stop their work.  Did the state refuse to enforce Inslee’s ban because they knew that would likely result in a lawsuit, which would likely determine that Inslee’s favoritism of government projects was unlawful? (Seattle Times)

All restaurants and bars will need to keep a list of all customers’ phone numbers and email addresses once they resume businesses.  The state has included this information requirement as part of Phase II of the state re-opening from the coronavirus outbreak. Thus far restaurants are the only business required to keep a list of customers with their contact information.  The state says this list is required in case the state needs to inform customers to get tested due to another person within the establishment contracting the virus. (MyNorthwest)

The federal government says Washington State overstepped its legal authority by imposing its own restrictions on crude oil transported through the state. The Department of Transportation says federal regulations supersede the Washington State regulations that were imposed last year.  The attorneys general of Montana and North Dakota said Washington State’s regulations effectively banned crude oil from their states from being sold to Pacific Rim markets. (Everett Herald)

Port of Longview Commissioner Jeff Wilson is running to unseat Democrat Senator Dean Takko in the 19^th Legislative District. Most observers view this is the best opportunity for Republicans to gain a seat in the Washington State Senate.  The district includes Cowlitz, Pacific, and Wahkiakum counties and a small portion of Clark County.  Voting data reveals the district votes “slightly Republican.” Wilson believes Takko’s positions better represent Seattle than they do Southwest Washington.  (Longview Daily News and Jeff Wilson for Senate)

House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox and Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier will be featured in the next “Virtual” Solution Series event by the Washington Policy Center on Wednesday (May 13^th) at 1:00 PM.  The two will be discussing the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak and provide their ideas on how to restart the economy.  Those interested in participating in this free event will need to register in advance. (Washington Policy Center)

For those interested in being active in the 2020 elections, the Washington State Republican Party will be holding a virtual volunteer training session on Wednesday (May 13^th) afternoon.  The one-hour Zoom webinar will begin at 2:00 PM.  Sign up in advance and the session’s details will be emailed you. (Washington State Republican Party)

The Mayor of Mukilteo reported a local business to Governor Inslee’s “snitch list.” Acting on a complaint from a citizen, Mayor Jennifer Gregerson decided not to reach out to the local pet grooming business herself, but instead reported the possible violator of Governor Inslee’s biased emergency orders to the website created by the State of Washington. A true profile in courage from Gregerson. (MyNorthwest)

The Washington State Potato Commission is giving away 200,000 pounds of potatoes at the Tacoma Dome on Thursday (May 14^th).  These potatoes were originally destined for restaurants whose businesses were severely restricted by the COVID-19 outbreak.  This giveaway is part of the commission’s effort to provide 1 million pounds of potatoes to those in need. (News Tribune)

The Spokane County Health Board is asking the state to consider re-opening the county. Poor planning has kept Governor Inslee from providing criteria for re-opening a county the size of Spokane.  Local health officials, seeking to spur someone in the governor’s office into doing their job, plan to send a letter to “start the discussion” for re-opening the county.  Since the governor has not revealed what data the state will need to authorize Spokane to move into Phase II, the county is not sure what will be required of them.  Meanwhile, Spokane area consumers can always drive 15 miles East into Idaho, where 90% of their businesses were re-opened last week. (Spokesman-Review)

Governor Inslee’s former hometown’s mayor says the city will not investigate those who defy state orders.  Selah Mayor Kathyrn Leathers says, “We’re not going to seek out people who are not being responsible, that’s not our job. We cannot spend all our time chasing these calls.”  Governor Inslee’s office sent the city a letter stating its actions were “unlawful.” (Yakima Herald)

A left-wing conservation group has asked the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to sharply reduce the number of wolves it kills, instead of protecting livestock. A spokesperson for the Seattle-based Center for Biological Diversity over-stated reality when she claimed that WDFW was “trigger-happy” since an annual average of three wolves (all of whom had attacked livestock) have been killed since 2012.  Unfortunately for the cattle and other livestock that are consistently preyed upon, there are no Seattle liberals helping the animals petition for the wolves to stop killing them. (Vancouver Columbian)

Wenatchee’s Garlini’s Italian Restaurant, the city’s local Coke distributor, and Domino’s Pizza gave away 1,300 meals and raised $10,000 to help those impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.  The funds raised will go to the local non-profit Serve Wenatchee Valley. (iFIBER One)

The job-killing extremists at Tax Amazon are demonstrating how radical they are by now attacking Seattle’s extremely liberal Democrat establishment.  The group complained that the Seattle City Council actually obeyed Governor Inslee’s orders that local governments cannot meet to discuss items that are not routine, or COVID-19 related, and thus shelved the council’s discussion on taxing Seattle’s employers. In responding to this action, the Tax Amazon crowd decided to alienate the Democrats who control Seattle.  In an email the group states, “the Democratic establishment is using bureaucratic maneuvers and procedural arguments to defend big business. They say that the Council cannot discuss the Amazon Tax because it’s not emergency related and the meetings are therefore a potential violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).” Apparently, for the Tax Amazon crowd, state laws are just “bureaucratic maneuvers and procedural arguments” that do not need to be followed. (Tax Amazon email)

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