It was only a matter of time, what with the feds announcing that vaccine mandates for federal employees were ending May 1, and even Seattle ended its vax requirement in February. Now that Washington state can proudly claim to be the last in the nation to impose such a nonsensical, non-scientific mandate on its employees, Governor Jay Inslee can claim victory and go home. As the Seattle Times noted, Inslee soared to rhetorical heights, claiming, “We have risen to the occasion during a defining moment in our history.”

As the Times reported, Governor Inslee might want to explain how that “rising” required “the firing or resignation of nearly 2,000 state workers who refused to be vaccinated.” But, for the state employees who bent a knee to their emergency-powers wielding governor, “Inslee noted he will soon be signing a state budget that includes $1,000 incentive payments for state workers who provide proof of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination.” You can read more about Inslee bragging how he is wasting your tax dollars here… Seattle Times.

While Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is busy “exploring” and trying to avoid the mismanagement scandals which Shift has reported are finally starting to emerge, a fellow Democrat statewide official is not dithering. Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz threw down the “I’m decisive” gauntlet on the AG, with the Tacoma News Tribune reporting her saying, “(M)y office has been on the front lines of our changing world. I know what it means to take bold risks to make big progress because there isn’t time to wait.”

You can read more about Commissioner Franz, a former Bainbridge Island City Councilmember and far-Left environmental activist before getting elected statewide in 2016, and how her “bold” will mean “expensive” for the rest of us by reading here… Shift, News Tribune, Shift.

Another day, another fundraising email from AG Ferguson, who you would think would be running out of things to “explore” about running for a job that he has been dreaming of over the last decade. He is focused now, however, because the upcoming special session that Democrats need for a drug deal will CUT INTO HIS FUNDRAISING TIME, so he must hurry in building a slush fund! And even though Hilary Franz is subject to the same fundraising freeze, Ferguson shows how little he thinks of his donors by warning that “(T)his will put us at a major disadvantage.” You can read more about Ferguson’s deception and desperation here… Shift.

The dust is not growing under the fundraising feet of Democrat officeholders Hilary Franz and Bob Ferguson in their quest for governor, but no such urgency is apparent among at least one leading Republican, according to KUOW. The public radio station reports that Jaimie Herrera Beutler, fresh off speaking at a Republican conference, said, “I just put in my raspberry bushes, and I need to make sure that they go up before I turn my attention to what I’m doing next. I haven’t closed any doors.” Read more about what doors might be open here… KUOW.

The newest entry on the state news coverage scene, the Washington State Standard, checks in with an eye-opening piece on just how hard it will be for state bureaucrats to blow through all the money generated by green energy taxes passed by state and federal Democrats. Imagine the horror that with hundreds of millions available for the first time that “the unprecedented sums could also test the state’s capacity to administer the slew of new and newly flush programs.”

Indeed, one Inslee bureaucrat salivates that “ ‘Can we use all this money? There’s so much money now. The answer is yes. There are a whole lot of new resources, but we can put all of them and more to use.’ ” More about how whatever you send the state in taxes will never be enough by reading here… Washington State Standard.

Normally state legislative bill-signing periods proceed without many surprises, but that’s not the way that Governor Jay Inslee likes to roll when he is signing the bills which legislators have slaved over. According to the folks at McClatchey, Inslee’s veto of portions of a bi-partisan bill to reduce sight pollution around wind turbine farms was unexpected, with sponsoring Representative April Connors being promised one thing by the governor, and then “she was surprised when the governor vetoed two sections of the bill Tuesday without discussing it with her.” Find out more about Gov. Inslee’s typically rude treatment for Rep. Connors and his disdain for local control when Republicans are local here… Tacoma News Tribune.

Shift has reported previously on the failure of the state’s Department of Ecology to be prepared to administer the exemptions in its new cap-and-tax program. Now the writers at Center Square cover how “farmers and producers in Washington state say they have paid higher fuel prices than they should have under the Climate Commitment Act, or cap-and-trade-law, that went into effect at the beginning of the year. “

Further, as one observer notes, “(D)espite the Climate Commitment Act specifically directing them to do so, Ecology delayed setting up any process, then left it to refiners to solve the problem. Now Ecology is blaming refiners for not doing what the Legislature required the department to do.” You can read more about how Jay Inslee’s Ecology bureaucrats were unprepared to administer the very program they have dreamed about for years here… Shift, Center Square

The negative experience of accountability for his own actions is having an impact on Lynnwood City Councilman Josh Binda, who Shift has reported has had a rocky introduction to the rules of public service, as he was finally dragged into making one of the world’s lamest apologies for his own illegal actions. As the Herald reports, Councilman Binda said, after being prompted by another councilman, “In terms of the violation, there is an apology I’d like to make for this very knowingly unknowingly mistake (sic) that was made. I’d like to offer that to the community.”

You can read more about Councilman Binda’s tawdry behavior and how the NAACP is belatedly threatening to bully anyone for reporting on his youthful indiscretions here… Shift, Herald

AN ACTUAL INSLEE APOLOGY IS NOT REALLY “ON BRAND”

THE SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL: TELLING BUSINESSES WHAT TO DO, BECAUSE THEY CAN!

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