Democrats have – once again – failed to properly plan and fund another one of their entitlement programs. Launched in 2020, Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program is now facing a significant financial shortfall. The program’s funds are rapidly depleting as the number of applicants soars. Funded by a tax on workers and employers, the initial 0.6% rate proved inadequate – which, somehow, always happens when Democrats are budgeting. The shortfall necessitated an increase to 0.8% in 2023. And, most recently, Democrats bailed out the program by pumping $200 million into it – a move that only exacerbated the program’s instability.

The program – “which allows people to take paid time off from work if they have a serious health condition, if they’re caring for family members, or if they have a new child” – saw approved beneficiaries nearly double from 112,737 in its first year to 210,268 in 2023, with payouts escalating to $1.5 billion, a 24% increase from the previous year. This surge underscores just how much Democrats miscalculated the program’s funding mechanism and its expanding costs.

Department officials are now warning of a potential deficit as soon as October, worsened by the artificially lowered tax rate due to legislative interference (i.e. the $200 million bailout). Democrat Sen. Steve Conway has indicated that he would like to see a higher premium rate of around 1%, which effectively means higher taxes are on the way.

It’s just another example of what happens when Democrats are in control – pass entitlements, fail to properly fund them, then keep raising taxes year-after-year to cover up the mess. Read more at the Washington State Standard.

Seattle Public Schools had their current $105 million budget crisis coming, according to an expert on education funding. Marguerite Roza from Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab explains that a lot of things led to this mess: a drop in enrollment, for example. But Roza points out that the school district knew they didn’t have enough money to cover their spending, yet they kept spending anyway. This included paying teachers more under a new contract. And, when the federal government gave money to help with pandemic costs, Seattle used it to pay higher salaries, and now that money is gone.

Gee, who would have thought that spending one time money from the feds for ongoing expenses like higher teacher salaries to reward union workers for not coming to school is a terrible idea. Oh, that’s right, anyone with a brain knows that. Read more at KUOW.

Yet another flagship store in downtown Seattle is closing its doors due to high crime rates. The North Face will no longer feature as a staple in downtown shopping, sending another signal of how quickly Seattle is declining. The North Face follows in the footsteps of Nike and Lululemon amid Seattle’s ongoing crime challenge that has been exasperated by far-left, anti-law enforcement policies pushed by out-of-touch city leaders for years.

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s plan – Downtown Activation Plan – aims to revitalize downtown Seattle, but without a significant crack down on crime the problem of businesses leaving will not stop. As MyNorthwest.com points out, “According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), the overall crime rate in the city has decreased from 2022 to now. But since spring, there has been a gradual increase in criminal activity throughout the city, with downtown Seattle bearing the brunt of it.”

If city leaders are serious about revitalizing Seattle, they’ll start with ending their soft-on-crime policies. Unfortunately, that hasn’t yet occurred to them. Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

The left is at it again, calling anyone who disagrees with them a racist. This time, anonymous school board members sent a nasty letter to the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA), attacking fellow members for opposing Critical Race Theory and false gender ideologies. These attacks target those who are simply responding to families’ concerns about education. Despite bipartisan support for parental involvement in education, the letter’s left-wing bias tries to discredit those advocating for students’ civil rights and equal access. As the Washington Policy Center points out, instead of fostering open debate, the left resorts to calling their opponents racists – a signature move. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

Meanwhile, at the University of Washington…

When so-called “protestors” aren’t building their twig garden, they are busy assaulting reporters…

Mainstream media outlets are ignoring the violence exhibited by the antisemitic “protestors” because, well, they’re part of it…

And, finally, you can’t count on feckless Democrats like Jay Inslee standing up for what’s right… they wouldn’t want to upset their base, after all. 

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