One seeming casualty of COVID has been Washington’s citizen initiative process, with no major issue fights making it to the general election ballot since the pandemic changed the way signatures could be gathered. However, a change in tactics might change that trend, as according to Crosscut, “Let’s Go Washington is gathering signatures on a petition to ask the Washington Legislature to repeal the state’s new carbon pricing system,” along with five other proposals for legislative – and potentially voter – action.

As initiative geeks know, you have a longer time frame for signature gathering by going the legislative route, though it does subject your idea to a potential legislative competitor if the majority party doesn’t like the idea (and rest assured, Democrat legislators don’t like any of these initiatives, from repealing the state income tax on capital gains to making the long-term care tax voluntary). You can read more about how “Let’s Go Washington has to collect 324,516 valid signatures by Dec. 29 to submit any of the six petitions it is developing to the Legislature” here… Crosscut.

You would think that the near-daily rider alerts about late ferry departures – or outright cancellations – during the busy summer season would cause the system’s managers to make changes to improve the situation. And if you would define improvement as raising prices without regard for actual delivery of services, you would fit right in with the bureaucrats running our state’s ferry system. That’s because, according to Center Square, the “Washington State Transportation Commission is on the cusp of approving an increase of ferry fees for passengers and vehicles by 4.25% that goes into effect this October and again in October 2024.”

The increase is not chump change as the “forecasts showed the fare hikes would raise nearly $419 million over the 2023-25 biennium.” You can find out about your last chance to weigh in on this latest Democrat money grab here… Center Square.

The next public school year is almost upon us, so Shift readers can expect more stories from school district officials who have ignored all the warning signs (falling enrollment, rising union costs, COVID emergency funding going away) and now face budget shortfalls, just as Shift covered in the past. The latest school board, which has mismanaged itself into a crisis in Marysville, which the (Everett) Herald reports is projecting an “$18 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year (which) has forced the Marysville School District into a financial bind.”

This specific bind means “a school district fails to submit a balanced budget because spending has exceeded revenues. The district is then required to work with the state to get back into shape financially.” You can read more about the irony of the state being seen as an entity that can provide sound financial advice here… Shift, Herald.

Shift was kind enough to welcome first-time candidate (and former Survivor contestant) Nick Brown to the Attorney General’s race last month by pointing out that he seemed to have a problem determining where his campaign was to be focused, listing a “to be determined, washington, D.C.” address in his opening campaign emails. To be fair, now that Mr. Brown – the former general counsel to that noted needer of legal advice, Jay Inslee – has decided that he wants to represent Seattle, we wanted to bring that update to you… Shift, Wikipedia, Nick Brown campaign email.

There was a time when the Seattle Times employed actual conservatives (or at least serious libertarians) as writers, even on its editorial pages. Those days are long gone, but one of Times’ former rational voices, Bruce Ramsey, still files occasionally on the writers collective at Post Alley. His latest deep dive details how policymakers from Jay Inslee on down Seattle City Light bureaucrats are understating the costs of their radical environmental policies, concluding that “in the electrified economy, rates will be going up for everyone.”

Mr. Ramsey takes his usual detailed route to that conclusion, focusing on how Seattle City Light, in its “pursuit of carbon neutrality has a clear consequence. It means electric rates will be going up over the next few decades, and probably not by a small amount.” You can read more about how the very much INTENDED consequences of Washington’s extreme environmentalists (and their friends running government) will cost you plenty here… Post Alley.

Just in case Seafair distractions – or the disintegration of the Pac 12 – kept you from your usual weekend reading, make sure you don’t miss the latest on the Seattle drug scene. This Sunday Seattle Times editorial begs Seattle city council members to look beyond their own dysfunction to actually consider if Mayor Bruce Harrell’s latest proposal to make drugs illegal again will actually make Seattle’s drug situation worse. You can decide for yourself just how hard that is to do here… Seattle Times.

Last week’s interview was with Jackson Maynard, Executive Director of the Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF), a non-profit organization in Washington State that aims to ensure government compliance with the rules and protection of constitutional rights. CADF asked Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy to investigate financial and administrative issues in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s juvenile diversion program but received a lackluster response from the Auditor. Maynard discussed his concerns about the program’s problems and other legal actions CADF is taking to hold Governor Jay Inslee and Democrat lawmakers accountable for their extreme policies. Read more on Shift.

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