The 2019 legislative session kicks-off today and Democrats are poised to use their majorities to push through Inslee’s extremist agenda. “Now the troops have arrived,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. House Minority Leader Rep. J.T. Wilcox (R-Yelm) worries about the lack of oversight coming from a liberal led Legislature. “There’s no effective government and agency oversight, because one party doesn’t investigate itself,” he said. “You hear a lot of complaints about that at the national level, and we have that issue here, to some extent.” (Seattle Times)

The Tri-City Herald, Eastern-Washingtonians, and anyone with a smidge of common sense, all agree; it’s time to Legislature fully adopted remote testimony. “The technology is in place — lawmakers just need to make using it a priority and it will happen,” wrote the Tri-City Editorial Board. This year, that could all change. Jason Mercier with the Washington Policy Center said its use fell off a bit last session, but he is encouraged that Sens. Billig (D-Spokane) and Schoesler (R-Ritzville) – both from Eastern Washington – are in a position to help the technology become standard procedure in the Legislature. (Tri-City Herald)

Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) said in a statement Saturday that Sen. Kevin Ranker (D-Orcas Island) has resigned. Ranker has been under investigation since the fall when a former aide accused him of sexual harassment and dreadful workplace issues. The former aide said that after she rejected Ranker’s advances that included inappropriate touching, he became increasingly hostile. (My Northwest)

Pierce County Councilwoman Pam Roach is asking why the county jail doesn’t open up its 700 shuttered beds in to the homeless. Sheriff Paul Pastor says the idea is centered around misinformation as it ignores a number of variables. The debate began after Roach sent a mailer out with a photo of the jail’s older section Roach said she took herself. “She took a picture of the wrong building,” said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer, adding that the older section of the jail is brim-full of inmates, with no room to spare. (The News Tribune)

It took a week for the Kettle Falls police chief to tell another law enforcement agency that someone had stolen 29 guns from a safe in his house. “As a cop, I’m embarrassed that I got ripped off,” Chief Courchene said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review. Court records showed Courchene initially didn’t report the theft because there were thousands of dollars of guns and he wanted to get a jump on it. (Spokesman-Review)

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