ADVICE WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS NEED, UNFORTUNATELY
WASHINGTONIANS RALLY TO ENCOURAGE DEMOCRAT LEGISLATORS TO FOLLOW THE STATE CONSTITUTION
The party that claims it is committed to defending democracy from extremists has proven to be most extreme in refusing to follow the Washington state constitution and hold even a single public hearing on any of the six citizen initiatives certified for their action. To encourage some action, a rally was held outside the legislators’ workplace yesterday, and the hypocrisy is clear from the Center Square coverage of the rally requesting “the public servants in the [Legislative] building behind us to do one simple thing: to give these initiatives hearings.”
Those attending the rally heard how obstructionist the Democrats are, as “House Minority Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, said the six initiatives aren’t getting traction in the Legislature,” despite more than 20 percent of the state’s voters signing at least one of them. Read on to see what the likely end game is: “the Legislature takes no action by the end of the session on March 7, (so) the secretary of state will certify the initiative for the next November general election” here… Center Square.
DEMOCRAT LEGISLATORS HATE CITIZEN INITIATIVES, NOW FORCED TO HAVE STAFF READ THEM FOR THEM
It remains apparent that the Democrats in control in Olympia really dislike the people trying to interfere with their legislative business. That’s the message from the Seattle Times coverage of the citizen initiatives being illegally ignored by Democrats under the pretext that “legislators were still waiting for documents showing the potential effects of the initiatives on the state budget and ‘trying to unpack what we think the legal impact of each of these six initiatives would be’” according to one liberal leader.
The media attention on the Democrats failing in their basic constitutional duties comes as “Republican backers continued their push for public hearings Wednesday, nearly a week after the sixth and last initiative — one that would allow Washingtonians to opt out of the state’s long-term care payroll tax — was certified by the secretary of state.” Read on to see how this story will be an ongoing one as dismissive “Democrats maintain they have until the end of the session to act on the initiatives” … Seattle Times.
A VERY SEATTLE STORY – NOT LIVING IN THE DISTRICT YOU WERE ELECTED IN IS SO ANTIQUATED
If you don’t have children in Seattle public schools, the following story might have slipped by you, but the Shift team would suggest that it is emblematic of a political leadership problem in Seattle. In this case, as reported by KUOW, school board members “Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera announced their resignations, effective Friday, in a joint statement” because it turns out neither of them lived in the district they were elected to represent, though that didn’t really bother either of them until they were caught.
The resignation announcement “comes a few weeks after the Seattle Times reported Song appeared to be violating state residency requirements since she’d moved out of her school board district sometime in 2022.” Rivera joined her colleague in moving on, despite just being re-elected in November, after also admitting to moving out of her district.
You can read on to see how these ex-school board members are now playing the victim card, claiming “(S)ometimes the rules simply don’t reflect the realities of modern family life” here… KUOW.
DEMOCRATS LOOK FOR NEW WAYS TO MAKE NATURAL GAS MORE EXPENSIVE SINCE THEIR STOVE BAN IS FAILING
It appears that sanity may have prevailed on at least one topic this legislative session, with MyNorthwest reporting that the “potential ban on natural gas lines in new construction in the state appears to be off the table.” Unfortunately, the Democrats have not given up in their attempt to drive energy prices still higher, as “now existing Puget Sound Energy customers may no longer be guaranteed natural gas service if a new bill passes the legislature.”
The involvement of Far-Left State Senator Joe Nguyen guarantees that the amendment telling “Puget Sound Energy (it) does not have to offer natural gas service to customers if what it considers to be a better option exists” is one that will cost taxpayers more money. Read on to see how this might impact you… MyNorthwest.
THE SEATTLE HOMELESS GO ROUND
In case you missed it – though everyone certainly expected it – coverage from KOMO News confirms that “an unauthorized RV and tent encampment cleared by the city nearly five months ago has returned to the city’s SODO neighborhood.” But we can be thankful that Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office “can confirm that this site is on the Unified Care Team’s schedule to be addressed soon.”
Read on to see how, now that the baseball All Star game has passed into memory, the “RVs, the tents, the squalor, the sadness, they’re all here just as those who have dealt with this very encampment worried would happen” here… KOMO News.
UNIONS ENDORSE THE PERSON THEY WANT NEGOTIATING WITH THEM TO GIVE THEM MORE TAXPAYER MONEY NEXT YEAR
In a political move that surprised absolutely no one, the Washington State Labor Council announced via press release today that “our affiliated unions want to hit the ground running early to support Bob Ferguson” as they attempt to pick the candidate most likely to give public employee unions the most amount of public money in negotiations. You can read more about how Attorney General Bob Ferguson stands ready to give the unions whatever they want in return for campaign help… The Stand.
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