Only 27% of Washington State residents agree with Governor Jay Inslee’s scheme to give his political contributors in the state employee unions more taxpayer money by giving them a $1,000 bonus if they receive a COVID booster shot.  A new SurveyUSA poll published by the Seattle Times, found that Republicans were especially opposed to the governor’s political payback plan with only 16% supporting it, and not even a majority of Democrats (43%) were favorable of his scheme. Our guess is these numbers would be even lower if the poll asked, “Do you support or oppose Governor Inslee not using the state’s historic revenue surplus to provide Washington residents with tax relief, but instead using this money to give state employees their fifth pay raise in four years and a $1,000 bonus for obtaining a COVID booster shot?”

The poll also found that Governor Inslee’s approval ratings have dropped slightly from last fall. A  SurveyUSA poll found that the governor’s approval/disapproval ratings were 48%/42% a year ago.  The latest survey found he is currently 46%/46% with only 18% strongly supportive and 32% strongly opposed.  Maybe abusing state emergency powers for almost 1,000 days is not as popular s the governor thinks. (Seattle Times/SureveyUSA Poll)

Washington Republican political organizations have been running a television ad that discusses many of the failures of the Democrats in Olympia, and they will be debuting tonight another ad on the extreme position of Democrats on abortion.  The ad titled “Make Things Better” has been running for about a week. It states that Democrat state lawmakers have caused the price of food, gas, and housing to skyrocket, and they have passed laws which have resulted in crime spreading and legalized hard drugs. The ad goes on to state that the Democrats have ignored the call for tax relief and instead chose to spend all of the state’s surplus revenue on growing the size of state government. It concludes that voters can restore common sense by voting for Republicans.

We have heard a rumor that the Republicans will debut their new ad tonight during Monday Night Football pointing out that Democrats are not just “pro-choice” on the abortion issue, but they are extreme in their position by supporting partial-birth abortions. (Evergreen Progress/YouTube)

A new program offered by the Washington State Liquor Control and Cannabis Board is offering tens of thousands of dollars to those who are experienced in growing, processing, and retailing marijuana to mentor people of color who are seeking to get into the business.  As part of the state’s Social Equity in Cannabis Technical Assistance Program, those with experience can receive up to $40,000 for a six-month contract to pass on their knowledge to others. Another “facilitator” will be paid $150,000 to create three instructional events during the first half of 2023. (Wenatchee World)

We just received word on when the Washington State Supreme Court will hear the case on the constitutionality of the Democrats’ illegal state income tax on capital gains.  Last March, a Douglas County Superior Court judge followed a century of legal precedent and determined that the new tax was unconstitutional. Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson appealed the ruling and the Washington State Supreme Court will make a final ruling on the tax.  We were notified that the Court will hear oral arguments next January 19^th. UPDATE ON THE LATE BREAKING NEWS – This hearing might be moved to a week to January 26^th due to conflict with one of the counsels. Should be confirmed tomorrow. (Washington Policy Center)

The Democrats are doing strange (and legally questionable) things with their money in the hotly contested races in the 42^nd Legislative District. The Whatcom County district features a State Senate race with appointed GOP Senator Simon Sefzik defending his seat against current Democrat State Representative Sharon Shewmake.  The first of two House contests has current Democrat incumbent Alicia Rule being challenged by retired Bellingham police officer Tawsha Dykstra Thompson. The other one is an open-seat race (for Representative Shewmake’s spot) featuring Republican community leader and former small business owner Dan Johnson against current Governor Inslee staff member Joe Timmons.

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) limits the amount party caucuses may give to candidates to $1.00 per district voter.  Since both the Democrat House and Senate caucuses have come close to maxing out to their respective candidates in the 42nd, they appear to have struck a backroom deal to fund campaigns which do not impact the caucus donating the money. Public Disclosure Commission reports show that the House Democrat Caucus has given $85,000 to the Democrat’s Senate candidate (Shewmake) and the Senate Democrat Caucus has given $90,000 to each of the Democrats’ House candidates (Representative Rule and Timmons.  (All three of these contributions were delivered to the campaigns on the same day – October 6th.)

By making these obviously coordinated contributions, the Democrat caucus has at a minimum broken the spirit of the PDC contribution restrictions put in place to limit party organizations’ influence in elections.  Through this backroom deal, the Democrats have allowed their major contributors (like wealthy billionaire Nick Hanauer, government employee unions, and wealthy Seattle environmental groups) to have a larger say in the 42nd LD’s elections than any individual who lives in the district. (Sharon Shewmake’s PDC Contributions, Shift legislative candidate interviews, PDC limits for party caucuses,  Alicia Rule PDC Contributions, Joe Timmons PDC Contributions)

The Washington State Department of Transportation is not only the host for the large and very controversial homeless encampment in Spokane (the misnamed “Camp Hope”) but it is also responsible for allowing the dangerous large encampment under the Seattle’s Ship Canal Bridge to continue to grow.  The encampment is near 42^nd Avenue NE and 5^th Avenue NE under the north end of the bridge. WSDOT has enabled the people to continue to live under the bridge by not removing the encampment until various housing and services conditions are met. Until this occurs, garbage continues to build, fights occur, fires break out and illegal drug use continues on public property under the watchful eye of the Jay Inslee administration. (KING5 News)

Delays in processing criminal evidence by the Washington State Patrol has led the courts to dismiss a conviction against a rapist and could result in more cases and convictions being dropped.   An appellate court ruled that the 15-month delay in the Washington crime lab returning findings on DNA evidence warranted the reversal of a rape conviction in Yakima and that the suspect could not be brought up on the same charges again. Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic said the slow pace of the state crime lab and the court’s rulings put prosecutors throughout in the state in a tough position.  Prosecutor Brusic said this will cause many prosecutors to wonder if and when they should file charges against suspected criminals while not having confidence the state lab will process the evidence in time to avoid trial delays. (Yakima Herald Republic/Seattle Times)

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview was with Republican House candidate Brett Johnson, who is taking on controversial two-term Democrat Representative Melanie Morgan in the 29^th Legislative District (Tacoma and Central Pierce County). Last week the Chief Clerk of the House of Representative released an independent report finding that Representative Morgan had “engaged in abusive and bullying conduct” in her role as Chair of the Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force.

Johnson is an Air Force veteran and a small business owner. In his interview, Johnson provided his thoughts on the just-released investigation on the unprofessional conduct of his incumbent opponent.  As violent crime continues to break records in Tacoma, Johnson stated his top priority will be to repeal Democrat bills “which have hampered law enforcement.” He said he is hearing the financial concerns of his neighbors and that he supports tax relief which will help those who are most vulnerable. Johnson called for repeal of the Democrats’ poorly developed Long-Term Care payroll tax. Finally, he stated that an autobiography written by an NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame coach has been his favorite book for a longtime. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

The state could be subject to $300 million in federal court fines because the Inslee Administration continues to defy orders to provide mental health care to suspected criminals who need treatment before being deemed competent to stand trial.  The Inslee Administration’s actions have caused a significant backlog of prisoners who are forced to sit in local jails not receiving treatment.  This is the latest in a series of major mental health care problems the state has experienced  under Governor Jay Inslee leadership. Both Western State Hospital in Steilacoom and Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake have been subjects of federal investigations and penalties due to poor management of the facilities.  So while Governor Inslee has more than doubled the cost of state government in his decade in the governor’s mansion, he has used the increased tax revenue to hire more state workers (whose union dues fund Democrat political campaigns) and ignored those with mental health issues who desperately need state assistance.  (Click to read full Shift Article)

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