It took Democrat State Senators almost 10 full days to act on the State Supreme Court’s bizarre decision to allow an unconstitutional state income tax if it’s called an “excise tax.” Knowing that this court decision defied reason, Center Square reports that Democrat Senators Christine Rolfes and Emily Randall jumped into action, introducing Senate Bill 5767 to create a 7.5% “excise tax” on the “excess compensation” of people they don’t like – hospital administrators. And that was welcome news to Democrat Senator Manka Dhingra, who said, “I think it’s always great to hear from people about their ideas on how to address inequities in our state,” which in this case means going after one side in a labor dispute to help the side that gives your party the most campaign money.

A more rational approach was provided by House Republican Leader JT Wilcox, who pointed out that “this is such a worrisome phenomenon now. It’s not just about taxes; it’s about the idea that you know, you demonize a group, and you use the Legislature to go after them. And if anybody thinks they won’t be part of some unpopular groups sometime, they should think again. The idea of using legislation to attack individual groups, small groups of people, is just so corrosive.” But corrosion of our state’s democracy in defense of higher taxes (and in support of your labor donors) is a trade the Democrats will gladly make. (Center Square)

Sometimes no amount of government planning will solve the problem, which the group charged with finding a place to locate a very noisy new neighbor is finding out. As reported by KIRO Newsradio, “(T)he Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission (CACC), the organization responsible for finding a location for a new airport in western Washington, said they have not found a site without problems so far.” Seems like that should have been anticipated, given the decades-long fight just to put a third runway in at the existing airport at SeaTac. So now, ominous warnings will begin, starting with CACC chairman Warren Hendrickson, who told KIRO, “if no good spot can be found, the state needs to prepare for the fallout. ‘Economic impact. Jobs. Travel restrictions. Airfare pricing. Limited shipping capabilities. Are we willing to accept those consequences?’ asked Hendrickson.” Prepare for more such pronouncements in the years to come, as SeaTac is predicted to be out of room by 2050. (KIRO Newsradio)

The controversial and random nature of our state’s COVID shutdowns continues to have serious consequences, such as the news out of Walla Walla that a couple of “defendants accused of sex crimes could have their charges dropped” due to a technicality. In this case, the problem was that, after months of delays which the defendants had agreed to, “neither signed waivers to allow the trials to be postponed past September 2021”, a point their attorney used to provide a get-out-of-jail-free card. One defendant “faced 15 charges — including four counts of third-degree child rape and several child-porn-related charges.” On the good side for the public, at least, “there is still some administrative work to be done before the charges are dismissed.”(Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

For our “leaders” in the legislature, the chance for Washington State to be number one provides bragging rights.  Perhaps that’s why, MyNorthwest reports, “A House bill in the current legislative session would make the real estate excise taxes (REET) the highest in the U.S. for property owners in Washington state.” The proposal in question, HB 1628 “would create a new REET rate of 4% for real estate sales of $5 million or more. The state’s REET was just 1.28% before 2019, when a graduated rate was applied to sales, allowing local governments to impose their own REET.” Keep in mind that this tax will make apartments and condos more expensive at a time when liberals are demanding something be done about affordable housing.  Apparently, the Democrats’ answer to that demand is to make housing more expensive. (MyNorthwest.com)

It seems a tad ironic that in a state where the governor had sole control over COVID decisions for 975 days, and where state-ordered COVID mandates remained in place into this week beyond any other state, that when the final shackles come off the big guy is nowhere to be seen. But that’s the case in Washington, where hospital officials and public health experts “implored the state Department of Health to update their guidance on situations where masking may still be necessary ahead of the Monday, April 3 deadline.” Instead, that deadline passed, and Inslee’s bureaucrats could be of no help “due to the need for a lengthy internal review process.” Because it’s not like they have had any time to think about the end of their tyranny over people’s lives. (KUOW)

It turns out that the vast majority of people interested in law enforcement careers can read, and they already know how little support police have in Seattle from the city leaders that determine the paychecks. And perhaps that’s why, as Crosscut reports, “Seattle’s cash bonuses for new police recruits have yet to reverse the trend of the police department losing officers.” This is despite offers “giving new recruits $7,500 signing bonuses, and giving bonuses up to $30,000 to lateral hires who come from other departments.” That extra cash might be nice, but if the boss is yelling at you all the time about how she would be better off without you, why bother signing up?  (AXIOS-Seattle)

The University of Washington means many things to the people of our state, the vast majority of them positive, but for animal rights extremists, the UW means a juicy target to advance their radical agenda. And now people who volunteer at the UW to help advance research are the targets, thanks to a judge who “acknowledged in the court ruling that the plaintiff’s concerns about disclosing their names ‘may be well founded,’ citing another case where the animal rights organization is described as being ‘open about using ‘controversial tactics’ to gain media attention.’” So the judge knows that the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) engages in dangerous stunts to get attention, and the people in danger are volunteers who “prefer to remain anonymous because of concerns about their personal safety and the safety of their families and pets if their names are released,” and the ruling is to give the bullies the information on the people to harass. Democrat justice, got it. (Seattle Times)

DEMOCRATS AT WORK – SPEND MORE, MAKE IT WORSE

GOOD ADVICE FOR DEMOCRATS – WILL ANY TAKE IT?

LIBERALS MOVE FAST – WHEN IT’S YOUR MONEY AT STAKE

To get early insight into what might make Shift’s next Daily Briefing worth reading, tune in to 570 KVI on your AM dial weekday mornings at 8:05, to hear John Carlson talk Washington State legislative politics with Shift co-founder Randy Pepple. And you can always stay for the rest of the Commute with Carlson by tuning in here.

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].