Shift readers don’t need to be told that today is election day and that their ballots need to be postmarked by today or in ballot drop boxes by 8:00 PM this evening.  But we will provide you with this link of Washington State locations for ballot drop boxes and voting centers which you can share with your friends.  If you know of anyone who has had trouble with their ballot (didn’t receive, lost, or damaged), please advise them to either contact their county election office (often it is the county auditor) or go to a voting center. (Washington State Ballot Drop Boxes and Voting Centers locations)

The Washington State Supreme Court will hear arguments November 29^th on Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s motion to allow the state’s Department of Revenue (DOR) to continue to prepare to collect funds from the illegal state income tax on capital gains.  This is the epitome of liberal greed.  Not only did Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat lawmakers refuse to use any of the state’s historic tax revenue surplus to provide tax relief to Washington taxpayers (as was done by nearly all other states with significant surpluses) they also want to spend taxpayer money now to be able hit the ground running grabbing a tax which a Douglas County Superior Court ruled as unconstitutional, on the hope that the State Supreme Court will make it legal. (Mercier Email on Supreme Court schedule and  Spokesman-Review)

The leader of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) singled out Democrat Senator Manka Dhingra (D – Redmond) for not being willing to listen to law enforcement’s efforts to pass much-needed legislation.  In his monthly newsletter to WASPC membership, Executive Director Stephen Strachan provided his association’s agenda for the 2023 legislative session, which is focused on fixing irresponsible legislation which Democrats have passed which has allowed the state’s crime rates to soar.  WASPC’s agenda items are primarily to fix the state’s police pursuit rules; make it illegal again to carry lethal drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamines, and heroin; and allow police to reasonably question juvenile suspects.  It is law enforcement’s belief that the passage of these bills will make our state a less comfortable place to be a criminal.

While discussing WASPC legislative agenda, Strachan was encouraged by the number of current legislators who were receptive to WASPC’s suggestions. Republicans have consistently supported law enforcement, while even a few Democrat lawmakers (all of whom supported the reckless 2021 anti-police package) have at least said to the voters that public safety is now a concern for them (likely after seeing polling results on the issue).  Strachan wrote that he was “encouraged that (other than the Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee), we are getting productive engagement and feedback from current legislators as we plan for the upcoming session.”

Strachan’s caveat is noteworthy because the Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee is the 45^th Legislative District’s ultra-liberal Senator Manka Dhingra.  She is reportedly the senator who prevented Democrat Majority Leader Andy Billig from bringing the bill to fix the police pursuit laws to the Senate Floor during the 2022 legislative session, as she stubbornly wants to hamper law enforcement’s ability to catch criminals, no matter how many new victim’s her stubbornness creates. (Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs November newsletter,  Senate Law and Justice Committee Members, and The Center Square)

Last Friday, the liberal unelected appointees of the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) voted to pass a construction mandate which will make homes even more expensive and will worsen even further the state’s affordable housing shortage.  The SBCC, which is stacked with appointees friendly with wealthy urban environmentalists, voted 9-5 to pass a statewide heat pump mandate requiring all new construction of new homes to include heat pumps for space and water heating.  Doing so will eliminate the incentive for natural gas companies to run gas lines into new homes.

The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) said this mandate will increase construction costs by at least $8,300 and price even more people out of the housing market. BIAW Executive Vice president Greg Lane said, “Washington has both a housing shortage and a housing affordability crisis. At a time when only roughly 15 percent of households in Washington can afford to purchase a median-priced home, this additional tax on energy only makes things worse.”  Lane then spoke on what this vote says about the SBCC and the liberal lawmakers (primarily Governor Inslee) who appointed the members. “The council’s own cost analysis said it didn’t make economic sense.  Yet this unelected council ignored it all and adopted the mandate anyway. It just shows how absolutely out of touch the State Building Code Council is with the crisis happening right now in the housing market.” (BIAW media release and SBCC members)

Food banks in the Puget Sound region are struggling because of the increasing number of people who rely on them due to the high price of food (as well as nearly all other items) – all caused by liberal inflationary policies.  The liberals’ energy policies have also significantly increased the cost of fuel, which not only impacts lower-income households the hardest, but also increases the cost of groceries due to increased transportation costs. The increase in food costs also directly impacts food banks, for it reduces the amount of items they can purchase with cash donations.

If you are able to help, the MyNorthwest news site encourages people to send donations to Food Lifeline. The Northwest Republican Community Fund has long supported Hopelink and its food bank services.    (MyNorthwest, Food Lifeline, and  Hopelink)

Washington State’s crime wave made a victim out of a South Puget Sound woman who constructs tiny homes on the Kitsap Peninsula. When Traci Glidden showed up to her Longbranch facility on Kitsap’s Key Peninsula Monday morning, she found the heavy steel gate broken and $25,000 worth of tools and a converted trailer van stolen.  This was devastating to one of the few female owners of a home construction company.  Glidden’s business, BiGBLiSS TinyHomes has been constructing small affordable homes for two years.  She said, “Everything that I have collected over the past 20 years is now gone.”  She is now trying to rebuild her shop and is receiving assistance from other members of the construction industry. (Puyallup Herald/Seattle Times and BiGBLiSS TinyHomes)

Once again, Democrats/Liberals acted on their belief that average citizens should not be allowed to participate in the supposedly non-partisan public process of determining district boundaries for elected officials.  On Monday, the liberals on the Spokane City Council voted against a city council redistricting plan which was developed by a non-partisan redistricting commission. The commission’s preferred plan was constructed after receiving considerable input from the public and was strongly supported by citizens who participated in the process.

Instead the liberal councilmembers voted for a very partisan plan which protects the liberals’ most vulnerable incumbent, Councilmember Zack Zappone (who won in 2021 by just 260 votes out of 20,750 votes cast).  Not surprisingly, Councilmember Zappone (who is obviously seeking to become a career politician) led the charge for liberal councilmembers to ignore the work done by the redistricting commission.  He drew up a redistricting map which placed more liberals into his 3^rd Council District.  The commission’s plan had kept the 3^rd Council District as a swing district.  Councilmember Zappone’s plan divides up neighborhoods and uses side streets as borders in order to achieve his goal of making it safer for him in future elections.

If you recall, the Democrat legislators and the members they placed on the Washington State Redistricting Commission were successful in playing enough partisan games to negate all the public effort that went into developing legislative and congressional boundaries for our state.  In the final hours before the midnight deadline, Democrat Commissioner Brady Walkinshaw successfully delayed the process long enough that the commission did not take its final vote until after the midnight deadline.  By design this allowed the nine liberal justices on the Washington State Supreme Court  to determine the final boundaries.  Fortunately, the justices adopted the maps that were approved by the commission after the deadline, to foil the Democrats’ plan to completely ignore public input into the process.  (Mayor Nadine Woodward media release, Shift, and Spokane County 2021 general election results)

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