Seattle just voted to raise their own cost of living with the largest tax hike in city history. Passing Proposition 1, residents will now be paying an average of $2,300 annually toward city services. The $1.55 billion levy adds an extra $530 a year for the median homeowner, with tax rates that could rise even further if property values drop. The majority of funds will go to SDOT for projects like road repairs, transit upgrades, and new sidewalks – notably, SDOT has squandered taxpayer dollars for these exact projects for decades. Homeowners will shoulder the majority of this cost increase to fund basic maintenance and transit improvements – a choice that’ll make life in Seattle even pricier. Read more at Center Square.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s $143 million Rights of Way Safety Initiative (ROW) has spent over $1.1 million per person for the few who successfully exited homelessness, yet he is requesting more funds. Despite a decade of rising homelessness under Inslee’s leadership, ROW aimed to clear encampments from state land and provide housing, but so far, only 126 of 870 housed people have permanently exited the program. During a recent visit to a tiny home village, Inslee claimed the initiative is “out of funding” and pressed the Legislature to approve more money. Journalist Brandi Kruse calculated $1.1 million per successful housing exit, even after adjusting for capital costs, which still results in $661,065 per person.

Inslee dismissed these figures as misleading, arguing that capital costs should be seen as investments for long-term use, although Kruse’s recalculations still showed exorbitant per-person spending. The Washington State Department of Commerce, meanwhile, explained that current funding can maintain operations through 2025 but expansion is limited without additional funds. Residents and analysts criticize the initiative’s effectiveness, noting thousands of encampments remain, and that cleared campsites often followed high-profile incidents. Responding to calls for transparency, Inslee’s office stated that they welcome audits, though they haven’t estimated costs for fully addressing the 2,000 remaining encampments on state land. Read more at FixHomelessness.org.

Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (3rd CD) has won her re-election campaign. And she recently took to sharing some rather candid opinions on Vice President Kamala Harris, marking a rare instance of open critique from within her own party. In a recent New York Times interview, Perez voiced concerns that her party is out of touch with working-class voters – something that, at this point, should be obvious to just about everyone. Reflecting on her limited interactions with Harris, Perez said Harris never reached out to her directly, though she reportedly contacted many of Perez’s colleagues.

But the one time that Perez did meet Harris was at a holiday party at the Vice President’s residence. According to Perez, she noticed that the decorations, particularly the garlands, were all plastic. And representing a district with a strong Christmas tree industry, she tried to engage Harris by noting, “We grow those where I live.” Perez felt dismissed when Harris allegedly walked away with what she thought was an eye toll. The encounter left Perez feeling that Harris lacked understanding and respect for her rural, farming-based constituency – a reaction that encapsulates the Democrats’ attitude toward the working class. Read more at KTTH.

Checking in on the last days of Jay Inslee’s destructive reign as governor, just a reminder that there are still no answers as to the whereabouts of $1.17 billion in taxpayer funds. It’s just another example of Washington Democrats’ shocking lack of accountability – and the shocking lack of interest from mainstream media outlets to demand answers from Democrats.

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