The pushback from the legislative session that concluded on April 25 continues to pour in for Governor Inslee. Taxpayers, Republicans, tribal leaders and even traditional allies like legislative Democrat leaders have called the governor out for overstepping his legal authority. You can read more about that below. It has been...

We continue to see the fallout from the 2021 legislative session that adjourned on April 25. Less than two weeks after leaving Olympia, without addressing the governor’s emergency powers and one-person rule, members of the majority party from Pierce County are lamenting the fact that the governor has wielded his...

Conservatives tend to be positive people, trying to see the best in every situation, but the most positive thing that can be said about the 2021 regular legislative session is that it is finally over. Beyond that, the news is not good. While this session clearly reflected the values of...

We received disturbing news from our state auditor’s office last week: its findings in an audit of the state Employment Security Department. It now appears that ESD downplayed the extent of the unemployment-insurance fraud it allowed, and repeatedly failed to properly respond to Washingtonians who needed the agency to deliver...

Sometimes, the bills that survive the deadlines are not the best indicator of our state’s values – instead, you look at what fails to gain enough support to move forward. An example is the life-affirming defeat of legislation that would have expanded access to assisted suicide in our state. Due...

State government has never seemed to grow so much, so quickly. Last week, the House and Senate majorities adopted budgets that would spend record amounts of money. Besides draining the rainy-day fund, burning through billions in federal relief dollars, and exhausting enormous budget surpluses, they STILL raise taxes! This is...

Because state government operates on a two-year budget cycle, new operating, transportation and capital budgets must be approved during the 2021 session. Last week, the majority released its three budget proposals, and to the surprise of few the operating-budget proposal relied on unnecessary tax hikes – even though the state...

Today is Day 72 of the 2021 regular session, which is scheduled to last 105 days and end on April 25. The pace of the session has picked up, with Senate bills moving (or dying) in the House, and vice versa. This week, we will see the majority propose its...

One of the most baffling things in this session is the majority’s insistence on raising and creating new taxes. Despite predictions to the contrary, we have continued to see additional revenue come into the state. In the largest positive quarterly forecast change on record, the March forecast released yesterday increased...