As Governor Jay Inslee continues to rely on political factors, like major campaign donors, to guide his Covid-19 decisions (while not revealing the mysterious “data” he is using), he has failed to provide rational leadership to Washington residents about the path the state will take to recover economically from our current crisis.  Workers, small business owners, and consumers have had to bear the brunt of Inslee’s illogical decisions thus far and have little sense as to what lays ahead.  It’s almost enough to make you yearn for him talking about the secret sauce that makes us special. (Shift)

Last Friday’s Newsmaker Interview was with Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier.  The former Puyallup school board member, state representative and state senator is often listed as one of the top GOP prospects for statewide office.  Among the topics Executive Dammeier discusses with Shift is how Republican leadership has better prepared Pierce County for the coronavirus outbreak than his more liberal neighboring counties, why Republicans have strong support in his county, and about leading the fight to defeat the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s 57 cents a gallon carbon tax. (Shift)

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said he is not opposed to giving almost all students A’s and the very few totally non-compliant students with “Incompletes” during the COVID-19 outbreak. Reykdal also said he is currently looking at removing letter grades and instead stating whether students are “proficient” or not.   To obtain a clear picture of Reykdal’s far-left vision, we can place this latest wacky idea alongside his mandatory sex education for kindergartners bill, and his belief Democrats should punish counties that favored lowering car tabs in last November’s election. Shift reached out to Reykdal’s 2020 opponent, Maia Espinoza for her comment on the SPI’s idea for doing away with letter grades during the crisis.  Espinoza said, “By removing meaningful standards in public schools, Reykdal is failing all of Washington’s students. Telling kids you will get an ‘A’ if you do any work, and an ‘Incomplete’ if you do none, leaves our students unprepared for college, careers, and the real world. This is the establishment reinforcing low expectations and imposing a system that stifles student potential. People like Chris Reykdal think the American Dream is a nightmare and want our kids to view it as a ghost story. (Washington Policy Center/John Carlson Show, Twitter, and Shift Interview with Espinoza)

Governor Jared Polis, a Western States Pact member like Governor Inslee, is safely opening Colorado and is setting contrary standards to those our governor says he is following.  Despite Inslee declaring, “Jared Polis is a really smart individual and I generally would trust his decision making,” Inslee is not following the example set by his Democrat colleague, and is instead hiding behind mysterious “data” to guide him. Of course, that data is not being shared with the public or even Republican lawmakers. (Washington Policy Center)

Washington State Democrat Chair Tina Podlodowski continues to push for the American taxpayers to pay $500,000,000 to radically change the voting system in 45 states and 3,000 counties (in less than six months!) as Democrats attempt to force a vote-by-mail election to help them with voter turnout.  In her latest irresponsible utterings, Podlodowski fails to address the multitude of problems (which Shift outlined in this recent article) that forcing states and counties to rapidly revise their voting systems prior to the November general election would cause.  Podlodowski and other Democrats continue to stick their heads in the sand about the trustworthiness of the 2020 election under such changes, preferring chaos to attract their voters.  We do find it humorous that the Democrat chair uses the recent Washington State Democrat presidential primary as an example for why all states should be forced to change their election process. Podlodowski touts that there was “record-high turnout”, failing to mention it was the first time in Democrat history where the primary mattered, as her party was forced by the Bernie Sanders campaign to stop using the caucus system (dominated by party officials and special interest groups) to select its national convention delegates. (Crosscut and Shift)

As Washington State is grappling with the historic impact of the coronavirus, another deadly import from Asia has also reached our shores.  Todd Myers from the Washington Policy Center (and a beekeeper) has provided a short blog and video on the “Murder Hornet.” (Washington Policy Center)

Gov. Inslee’s prohibition of “elective procedures” is costing hospitals and other medical facilities millions of dollars, at the same time they must incur expenses related to treating patients with the coronavirus.  It is estimated that Washington State hospitals could suffer $900 million in losses for April and May. (Seattle Times)

By failing to provide the public with clear data points as to when certain steps can be taken to recover from the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Inslee has created an unstable economic environment which will lead to more businesses closing their doors. Seattle’s Pyramid Ale House is the latest well-known business to close its doors.  Others will soon follow unless clear direction, and an understandable path forward, are provided by our state’s elected officials. (KING5 News)

The Seattle Times came out strongly against the job-killing tax increase proposal of Seattle’s Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant.  The Times’ editorial stated that, “some Seattle City Council members are instead exploiting fear and uncertainty during the crisis, to make another run at a punitive jobs tax. This must end.”  The paper responded to the tax proponents’ claim that employers need to pay more by declaring, “Shouldn’t business pay its share? Yes, it already does in Seattle. The city has unusually high business taxes, and business generates a majority of its revenue.”  Not to mention the 100’s of thousands of jobs the companies provide for Seattle residents. Sawant would rather that the workers of the world unite, and throw off their chains (which they probably had Amazon deliver to them). (Seattle Times)

The Pierce County Republican Party will be hosting a Zoom “Meet and Greet” with GOP candidates in the 30^th Legislative District.  The event will take place on Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM, and will feature candidates Martin Moore and Jack Walsh.  The 30^th LD is a “swing” district with the potential for the Republicans to win back a couple of seats in the state House.  For more information you can click on the links. (Pierce County GOP Facebook Page)

Weeks after private sector employers were forced to lay-off workers due to the COVID-19 crisis, we are starting to see local governments start to reduce their employee costs.  The City of Tacoma announced that 65 workers would be laid off up to 12 weeks, as the city is expecting a $40 million tax-revenue shortfall. Snohomish County has imposed a 60-day hiring freeze due to a $26 million shortfall. Some 60 City of Everett employees have agreed to a voluntary separation and severance package. (News Tribune and Everett Herald)

Yakima County has the highest rate of coronavirus infection of any county on the West Coast.  Currently, the Central Washington county has an infection rate of 519 per 100,000 people.  County officials state that the reason for the high numbers are due to “a combination of aggressive testing, outbreaks at nursing homes and a large number of workers deemed essential during the pandemic.” (Yakima Herald)

A Moses Lake jewelry store has defied the state order imposed on “non-essential” businesses and re-opened on Monday morning.  The owner of Frederick’s Jewelry said he has received a steady stream of business since he opened his doors and that he has heard other Moses Lake businesses are also planning to open. (iFIBER One)

Congressman Dan Newhouse was critical of Governor Inslee’s extension of his emergency orders.  Newhouse said, “Our state’s staggering unemployment numbers depict just how devastating the current situation is for Washington families. While I was grateful for the Governor’s strong approach in the early days of our response, it has become clear that the small steps he has recently taken on adapting his order are nowhere near enough for the people of Washington.” Newhouse went on to express concerns over the lack of consistencies in many of Inslee’s decisions, which dictate two separate responses to similar activities. (Congressman Newhouse media release)

The Washington State Democrat Party put out a poll asking its contributors who they would favor to be Joe Biden’s running mate in November and there are two stark absences from its list.  Biden has said that he will select a woman to be his Vice-Presidential nominee and the state Dems list their 11 top candidates in the email, but they fail to include either of Washington’s two female Democrat senators.  Despite Patty Murray having 28 years of Senate service and Maria Cantwell having 20 years in the Senate (and two more in the House), the Washington State Democrats evidently do not feel they are worthy enough to even be considered as possible running mates.  This despite the fact that the top 11 includes a city mayor and a former state legislator who lost her recent statewide campaign. We guess Tina Podlodowski and her team at the state party know our senators best.  (Washington State Democrat Party’s email)

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