State Audit of ESD Reveals Incompetence & Cover Up

Source: ShiftWA.org

An initial state audit of Governor Jay Inslee’s Employment Security Department (ESD) reveals that the department did not tell the truth about how much it allowed to be stolen, and had inadequate controls to prevent one the largest thefts in American history.  The first report from the state auditor’s office disclosed that ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine and her staff reported “inaccurate numbers” regarding the amount of money they allowed to be stolen and how much had been recovered. In the real world, this is called a “cover-up”. The report is a serious indictment of Governor Jay Inslee, his administration, the ESD, and most notably, his hand-picked leader, Commissioner Suzi LeVine.  Where else besides the Inslee Administration can someone keep their job after being responsible for losing hundreds of millions of dollars, causing financial anxiety to tens of thousands of people (due to subsequent delays in processing applications), provide false numbers to auditors concerning the amount lost, not provide documents required in a public disclosure request, and hamper a state investigation.  In contrast, Oregon’s employment department chief was fired for simply delaying benefit payments, which is old hat for LeVine, who has been doing that since March without consequence.)  Side note: it does seem slightly peculiar for an audit of this magnitude to be released on the last Friday before Christmas. It provides the appearance of a Democrat State Auditor providing a political favor to the Democrat Governor and his dysfunctional administration. (Puget Sound Business Journal, Shift Interview, Q13 News, and AP)

Governor Jay Inslee proposed a $1.3 billion increase in taxes that includes his dream – a state income tax (on capital gains).  Despite it being unconstitutional to tax income in Washington State, the governor is hoping his friends on the all-Democrat State Supreme Court will overturn past precedent and let the state tax income (after an inevitable legal challenge) if Inslee’s proposal is passed during the 2021 legislative session.  Even though the funds will not be available until July of 2022 – at the earliest – the governor claims the money is needed to “strengthen our state’s pandemic response.”  When asked about the obvious timing problem of his argument, the governor says he will simply raid the state’s rainy-day fund until the new tax money comes in.  Yet, if the tax opponents are successful in court (which is highly likely), then Governor Inslee will have irresponsibly emptied the state’s rainy-day account with no funds coming in to replace the money he has recklessly wasted.  We know the future Democrat solutions to this problem would be to raise other taxes to pay for their current bad decisions. (Crosscut and Washington Policy Center)

Governor Inslee’s proposed budget is 8% more ($5.5 million) than the current state budget, which is 20% more than the previous two-year state budget.  The governor claims his proposed increase in spending is to maintain the current level of state government services, yet 8% far exceeds the rate of inflation during the past two years. Every time you hear Inslee and other Olympia Democrats talk about the danger of budget cuts, remember that they are not suggesting any. Tax revenues are already projected to go up enough to more than cover the state’s current obligations.  The problem is that Jay Inslee and his Democrat allies want to spend billions more than they have coming in, so they plan new taxes to make up the difference from your pocket. (Crosscut)

A Washington Policy Center report discloses that Washington State has the funds to financially assist families for the expenses they have incurred as the result of Governor Inslee shutting down the state’s schools.  Many parents have paid for day care, tutors, technology improvements, and school supplies due to the state forcing a transition to distance learning.  Some parents have had to reduce their work hours or even quit their jobs to be home with their children to direct their education. It turns out the state has over $500 million that was not sent to school districts, due to reduced enrollments, and because there has been no need for bus transportation districts have saved an additional $600 million.  The report claims this billion dollars is sufficient “to provide families with at least $3,000 per student as compensation” for taking on these educational expenses, without having to increase taxes or reduce current programs. (Washington Policy Center)

Laughably, Governor Inslee said, “We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on-the-ground success,” in response to reports that Washington State will be receiving fewer COVID vaccines. This is coming from the governor whose administration has repeatedly failed to provide accurate data to back his job-destroying “emergency” orders which have imposed needless financial hardship on Washington State employers and workers. In fact, by its own admission, the state has failed by 84% to provide accurate contract tracing data, which the governor previously had claimed was the state’s key weapon to combat the spread of the virus. So, if Inslee has not been providing us with “accurate, predictable numbers to plan”, as he demands from the federal government, how can anything he puts forward be trusted?  (Seattle Times and Washington Policy Center)