August 24, 2020

The News Tribune has joined the chorus of state newspapers calling on Governor Jay Inslee to convene a special session of the legislature to fix the budget deficit, due to the massive shortfall in tax revenues caused by Governor Inslee shutting down the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.  The newspaper is right in stating, “the longer we wait to address the current crisis, the worse it will be.”  As the non-partisan Washington Research Council showed, unless 3% – 9% budget cuts are made now, cuts as high as 28% will need to be made later to balance the budget.  Of course, Inslee and the Democrat legislators plan to use the prospect of these future cuts to fuel the desire of government union bosses to make sure new and higher taxes are imposed on Washington State citizens, to keep increasing the size, power, and cost of state government.  The governor (who already gave state employees a pay raise last month, while state revenues were crashing) will continue to do whatever the union bosses demand, as he seeks their support for a cabinet position in a possible Biden Administration. (News Tribune)

The Everett Herald reports that 20,000 Washington residents are still waiting to receive payments from the dysfunctional Employment Security Department (ESD).  Frustrated recipients are forced to wait on hold for hours and rarely receive the opportunity to speak with a live voice when they inquire about an update on their benefit payments.  One would think Governor Inslee would spend a little more time and attention working to solve the many ongoing problems and administrative incompetency within his ESD (instead of wasting time searching for microphones to talk about partisan federal issues), since this massive failure will likely be brought up in a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for a cabinet position in a possible Biden Administration.  (Everett Herald)

As opposed to Washington State’s neighbors in Oregon, Idaho, and California, Washington State Governor Inslee has stubbornly refused to do the right thing, and reconvene the legislature to fix the state’s budget mess.  Last week the Washington Policy Center held an informative webinar with legislators and policy analysts, on the impact of the governor and Democrat legislative leaders not allowing the legislative branch have a say in how state funds are being distributed during the coronavirus pandemic. A video of the webinar can be viewed by clicking on the links. (Washington Policy Center)