Last week, after Governor Jay Inslee pompously labeled 46 other states as “second-class states” because they don’t have his required facemask mandates, the governor said he does not know when his own many pandemic-related mandates will end or even what criteria will be used to end them. This comes almost five months after Governor Inslee proclaimed that he alone had “won the Super Bowl” against COVID.  Some Democrat legislators are finally beginning to talk about reforms needed to the governor’s emergency authority (it only took them nearly 2 years), but nothing specific has been proposed.

Senate Democrat Leader Andy Billig (D – Spokane) said, “I don’t think anybody had a pandemic in mind when these emergency powers were created,” which Republicans have been saying for more than 18 months.  We have previously seen Democrat politicians make initial gestures to end Governor Inslee’s undemocratic abuse of executive emergency orders, only to fail to back up their press releases with actual actions. Looks like state residents will need to wait until the 2022 Legislative Session to see if Democrat lawmakers will actually follow through and end Governor Inslee’s one-man rule of Washington State. (Inlander,  Brandi Kruse Twitter, and Shift)

Jason Mercier of the Washington Policy Center provides some national and historical perspective to why the Washington Legislature should act to end Governor Inslee’s undemocratic rule through emergency orders. In his Seattle Times op-ed, Mercier points out that according to the Washington State Constitution, “It’s the legislature, not the governor, that is charged with making law, and the governor who is charged with implementing the laws passed by the legislature.” Mercier proposes a 30-day limit on the governor’s emergency powers, except for those which require immediate actions to receive federal funding.  (Seattle Times op-ed)

Two years ago, Democrat lawmakers hastily passed a poorly developed long-term care payroll tax to benefit their financial supporters in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Democrats now say they plan to fix the flawed plan with some minor repairs.  Yet these repairs will not stop an initiative campaign and lawsuit which have been filed against the Democrats’ “Washington Cares” long-term tax program. The I-1436 campaign points out the basic unfairness that many people will be forced to pay into the plan but will never be eligible to receive benefits. These include people who work in Washingto, but reside in another state, those within 10 years of retirement, and people who will choose to retire in another state (or simply move away for better opportunities).  The lawsuit contends that the program violates the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which the plaintiffs claim forbids any state from passing a law requiring employees to participate in a plan that provides sickness or medical benefits.  (Spokesman-Review and Shift)

Once again, the people who receive paychecks directly from Jay Inslee (i.e., state employees) are failing to follow COVID-related protocols, leading to yet another outbreak at a state-operated residential facility.  The Monroe Correctional Complex is the latest state-run facility to experience a COVID, outbreak with 60 individuals testing positive for the virus, placing all of its 800-bed medium- and minimum-security Twin Rivers prison under quarantine.  Nearly every single state-operated hospital and corrections facility has experienced a significant outbreak due to state workers not following guidelines established to control the spread of the virus. COVID outbreaks at the Monroe Complex in April 2020 led Governor Inslee to release early more than 1,100 prisoners from state facilities.  (Everett Herald and Seattle Times)

How much is Sound Transit going to raise car tab fees to provide a light-rail system where passengers don’t get stuck in a tunnel for over an hour, without any communications from either the train operator or from the many Sound Transit security officials standing back at the transit station?  Apparently the $54 billion+ system taxpayers are currently paying for is the “no-frills version”, which allows these types of disturbing and unsafe situations to occur. As reported by the media over a day later, more than 200 Apple Cup attendees were stuck in the tunnel between Husky Stadium and the U District stations aboard a Sound Transit light-rail train, allegedly due to a cable breaking. The operator of the train could only communicate with those in the first car, while the remaining passengers in the other three cars were not informed as to what had occurred or what they should do. Passengers, frustrated by not hearing any instructions for over an hour, used emergency exits to depart the train and walk back through the tunnel to Husky Stadium where many Sound Transit employees were discussing what they should be doing.

About 14 hours after the incident, Sound Transit finally released a series of tweets which 1) put the blame on the passengers (and not on the train stopping in the middle of a tunnel) for the “unsafe incident;” and 2) stated Sound Transit “immediately followed safety procedures,” although for over an hour there was no communication with more than 200 passengers stuck in a tunnel. (Seattle Times and Sound Transit Twitter).

A downtown Seattle restaurant owner says he is fed up with the obvious lack of concern from city officials about the city’s skyrocketing crime rates.  Barolo Ristorante owner Salvio Varchetta said after his restaurant was broken into last week, by thieves who stole his cash register, “I walk everywhere downtown. Every other window is smashed. Nobody is doing anything about it. We are fed up with this. Can’t wait till things change because right now there is no accountability– there is no fear (by the criminals).”  Meanwhile, the extreme leftists on the Seattle City Councilmembers appear to be unconcerned about the increasing crime rates and their impact on downtown small businesses by passing a budget proposal which cuts $10 million more from the Seattle Police Department budget. (FOX13 News and Seattle Times)

The family of a man who recently died due to lack of medical attention contends that a short-staffed Seattle Police Department and the failure of city officials to keep updated records contributed to his death.  On November 2^nd,  the Seattle Fire Department was called to the residence of Will Yurek as he was experiencing a health emergency.  Yet fire personnel were informed they could not enter the residence due to the previous tenant being listed as hostile to first responders, and they were told to wait until police could arrive.  Because of the mass exodus of police officers (due to lack of support from liberal city officials), it took the short-staffed police more than 15 minutes to arrive on the scene, during which Mr. Yurek passed away.  Mr. Yurek’s family asserts he would still be alive if emergency crews had be able to enter the residence and have said they will file a financial claim against the City of Seattle, which is a required action prior to filing a lawsuit. (MyNorthwest)

City of Spokane officials have worked to bring back five Spokane Fire Department employees who were previously separated from their job due to Governor Inslee’s vaccine mandate.  The five will be required to perform jobs which are not related to emergency health care, must wear a mask indoors, and be subject to regular COVID-19 tests. But they won’t be fired as Jay Inslee demanded. (Spokesman Review)

The organizers of the Initiative-1436 provide some facts behind the measure to make the Washington State’s controversial new long-term care tax more fair – and voluntary. The campaign needs to collect 400,000 signatures before the end of the year to force members of the legislature to take a stand on this divisive issue, which unfairly taxes many workers for a benefit they will never be eligible to receive, and is a very bad investment for those who may eventually be eligible. The article provides arguments against the Democrats latest tax on workers and provides information on how you can help. (Click to read the Guest Editorial)

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