Olympia report this week

State Supreme Court strikes down $30 car tabs (Seattle Times)

Nearly one year after voters passed the initiative, the Washington Supreme Court struck down I-976 to reduce car-tab taxes. The court’s decision means state and local car-tab taxes – including sky-high car tabs in counties like King County – will remain at current levels.

The court appears to have based their decision on the anti-democracy belief that voters are not smart enough to read the initiative and understand it properly. Voter passed I-976 with about 53% of the vote statewide.

Republican Sen. Steve O’Ban plans to introduce legislation to make the $30 car tab a reality during the 2021 legislative session. 

$30 car tabs would be good for the people and in line with the peoples' voting, so Good Luck! with that.
        
State spending to increase by 20% from 2017-19 (Washington Policy)

According to the Washington Policy Center’s Jason Mercier the current revenue forecast indicates state spending “will still be substantially higher than the 2017-19 budget.” With a current 2019-21 budget at $53.7 billion, forecasts project a 20% increase in spending ($9 billion) from the 2017-19 budget of $44.7 billion.

Even with a $2 billion reduction in spending to balance the state budget, “state spending would still be increasing by 16% from 2017-19 levels. Taxes are going to increase.

Of course, Jay Inslee and Democrats refuse to convene a special session despite the pressing problem they created with their out-of-control tax-and-spend approaches. But, as Mercier points out, with smart budgeting tactics, all hope is not lost.
        
Report calls state’s Employment Security Department a “failure” (My Northwest)

Working Washington – a left of center group – agrees that the state Employment Security Department (ESD) is a bureaucratic failure in a new report. 

Bureaucratic incompetence has resulted in 20,000 people still waiting to see if they qualified for unemployment benefits. 

With so many out of work due to COVID-19 shutdowns, many Washingtonians have been struggling to meet day-to-day expenses. 

Their struggles have been made worse by months long incompetence by the state Employment Security Department (ESD). 

Of course, the ESD has yet to face any accountability for losing hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to preventable fraud.

It remains unlikely that Jay Inslee and his fellow Democrats will lift a finger to address major issues exhibited by the Employment Security Department government agency.
        
Attacks on Seattle police officers intensify (My Northwest)

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has arrested a suspect who set fire to a police vehicle while an officer was still inside. The officer was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening burns. 

It’s clear that – due to Democrats’ disrespect of law enforcement – criminals are emboldened to attack police officers openly.

Of course, Seattle Democrats have already defunded the SPD. Their plan reduces the force by 100 police officers, cuts wages, and even eliminates Navigation Teams, resources dedicated to managing and assisting the homeless population.

Democrats & Socialists’ move to defund the police occurred despite severe shortages in police resources.