If it wasn’t obvious already, Jay Inslee is running for President. Recently he formed a PAC and is soliciting donations to travel to early 2020 primary states. Jamal Raad, an Inslee campaign hand, said the Vision PAC was formed “to house his political activities that aren’t directly related to his re-election [as governor].” Sure, Inslee couldfocus on the job he has now…but isn’t it more fun to give in to unrelenting ambition? (Seattle Times)

The state Senate Republican caucus announced its leadership slate, with three position changes from last year. “What’s so impressive to me is how many women are in leadership in the Republican Caucus,” Sen. Randi Becker (R-Eatonville) said. “I’m just excited there are six women and two men.” (Washington State Wire)

There’s (at least) one problem with the trendy environmental crusade of tearing down the Snake River dams. The critique from the Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers starts with the fact that “all relevant scientific agencies say destroying the dams would do little, if anything, for orca.” And there’s a bit of a “remove the log from your own eye” angle here. “It is easy to demand that people in Eastern Washington tear down their dams. It is harder to deal with ferries in your own backyard,” Myers wrote. (Everett Herald)

Politicians and their staffers never learn. Four of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s staffers used private email accounts when planning with political consultants during the jobs tax debate. “What this shows me is that city officials are going offline by using Gmail accounts to get instructions from private interests, including outside consultants, for political purposes — and they don’t want the public or The Seattle Times to find out,” said attorney Lincoln Beauregard. The city’s defense was that the conversations did not involve official city business, but political conversations. (Seattle Times)

Heather Kintzley, the City Attorney for Richland, recommended the city council reject a local petition to legalize marijuana sales in Richland because, she argues, that power falls outside of the laws governing Washington’s initiative system. “Washington’s general law grants and limits the zoning power to the legislative body of charter cities.” She pointed to a 1980 case in Bremerton where courts nixed an attempt to change zoning rules using an initiative. (Tri-City Herald)

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