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By Sen. Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick and Rep. Mary Dye We are back in Olympia for this year's legislative session, which began Jan. 13 and is scheduled to end April 27. Many classic rock fans remember The Who song "Won't Get Fooled Again." It has a line, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," that likely will apply to our state's incoming governor, Bob Ferguson. Having seen how Ferguson operated during three terms as attorney general, we suspect he will simply continue in the same...
It seems the more money thrown at the so-called CO2 emissions and climate change scenarios propagated through the never-ending and ongoing climate-related programs instituted by Washington State has created a burden on the tax payer with less outcome. For those of us who manage our household and business budgets to glean the greatest outcome from the shrinking dollar, it’s time to look in a different direction, maybe even hand environmental conservation back to the people–along with their money. An article by Todd Myers, Vice President for Res...
By Jeanine (Richardson) Kern East Washingtonian Guest Columnist As an incoming Freshman at Pomeroy High School, I memorized the FFA Creed, and those opening words still have meaning today: I believe in the future of farming (agriculture). I write this letter as someone who cares about the future of Garfield County, as a landowner representing Richardson Family Farm, LLC as managing member, and with insight into energy demands, and specifically renewable energy demands in the private sector. I am...
OLYMPIA–After twelve years of Jay Inslee’s time as governor, he leaves with a record of missed opportunities to leave the state better than he found it. Washington has one of the largest budget shortfalls in state history, falling student test scores, high cost of living, a poor environmental record and many other challenges. Washington has been blessed with governors who are models of successful governance. Governor Chris Gregoire and Governor Dan Evans both showed that transparent lea...
OLYMPIA–Who benefits from Washington state’s paid-leave program? While most workers don’t use the program, despite paying hundreds of dollars into the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) fund each year, workers with higher incomes and new parents are the fund’s most frequent users. Many people also have used PFML for more than one claim. The fund can be used for bonding with babies, medical needs or both. The payroll tax for the program is set to rise again this week. Under the new rate of...
Gratefully attributed to my friend Rose Bunch. -Charlotte Baker, editor Afterwards Barely the day started and It’s already six in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday And it’s already Friday. …and the month is already over …and the year is almost over. …and already 40, 50, or 60 years Of our lives have passed. …and we realize that we lost Our parents, friends …and we realize it’s too late To go back. So let’s try, despite everything, To enjoy the remaining time. Let’s smile a the little things in life that put balm in our hearts. Let’s keep...
“Just as a leaking faucet results in the loss of water for no gain to the homeowner, concurrent enrollment results in additional costs to taxpayers without a benefit to the people served by Medicaid,” writes Democrat Pat McCarthy, Washington state’s auditor. She wrote it in a summary statement for an October report about wasteful spending in Medicaid that hurts both state and federal taxpayers. In an October report, “Examining Washington’s Concurrent Medicaid Enrollments,” the auditor’s o...
It's always gratifying when a major news organization cuts through the political spin and informs readers of what is really happening with government budgets. Amid loud claims of a supposed state budget deficit, a Seattle Times editorial on Sunday correctly notes that "...tax collections for public services are up." Only in the public sector is a slowdown in the rise of expected tax revenue called a "shortfall." For most of us a rise in household income of say, 8%, instead of an expected 10%,...
OLYMPIA–Amid impending federal changes to immigration policy, state Senator Phil Fortunato is reintroducing legislation to protect Washingtonians by removing violent criminals who are in the state illegally. Senate Bill 5002 aims to repeal Washington's sanctuary status and remove barriers that currently shield violent offenders from being apprehended by federal authorities. In 2019, Governor Jay Inslee signed an executive order that prohibited certain state agencies from cooperating with f...
Well, this doesn’t help me like Washington state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) any better. A state audit published Nov. 14 found that more than 2,000 people who tapped a fund that benefits only some workers with up to 18 weeks off work with pay — while harming the paychecks of most other workers, including those with low incomes — violated state law by taking money from the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) program at the same time. They had their PFML and ate up UI benefits,...
Tomorrow is the sixty-first anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. Like Pearl Harbor for my parents’ generation, and September 11 for our sons’ and daughters’ generation (an ours, of course), you remember exactly where and when you heard the news: Jeannie Hofer’s mom Ginger told Jeannie and me on the lawn in front of Waitsburg High School when Mrs. Hofer came to pick Jeannie up from Kindergarten. Like 1963, this year’s November 22 is a Friday. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject and my dad was fascinated...
Dr. Pam Kohlmeier Special to the East Washingtonian and Dayton Chronicle Suicide has rocked my family. In memory of my child, Katie Thew, who battled chronic pain and died by suicide on Oct. 6, 2022, I offer this article to help other families avoid this grief. Rampant mental health challenges including depression and anxiety, along with more and more communities recognizing they lack adequate resources to help when help is needed, inspired the creation of a month devoted to suicide prevention. Suicide Prevention Month (September) has just...
Since Joe Biden was inaugurated, it has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Thousands started streaming across the southern border. No amount of exposure of this disregard for our nation’s border and the laws that keep them secure had any effect. The vice president was put in charge of the border and she did nothing. For three years, we watched helplessly while migrants from around the world waded across the Rio Grande. This went on until Kamala Harris was repositioned as the presidential candidate at the national convention, a...
To the editor, Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Due to Biden/Harris policies, the cost of living has risen. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the S and P, and Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, home prices from January, 2021, when they took office, until March, 2024, were up 33.9% (Shiller). Household energy from January, 2021, to May, 2024, was up 29.8% (BLS). Vehicle Maintenance and Repair from January, 2021 – May, 2024, up 30.5% (BLS). Motor V...
Thursday: Rain. High near 52. Southwest wind 7 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Thursday Night: Rain. Low around 35. South wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Friday: Rain. High near 50. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Friday Night: Rain, mainly before 11pm. Low around 34. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Saturday: Rain likely....
To the editor, Since I do not claim to walk on water like some who write to you do, I just want to suggest that people do their own research to find out how the Project 2025 would affect their well being. If you care to enlighten yourself about how the GOP/Trump plan to severely change the American society and how government would do this, please follow this path to find out. First enter onto your search engine the words "2025and me". Click on this site in your choice menu. This will give you a...
I have been watching and listening to arguments over the presumptive utilization of a governing plan called Project 2025. I have read most of Project 2025. Yes, it takes an extreme position, and some parts are bold. Each election cycle, the Heritage Foundation typically authors a new position paper, such as Project 25, to make corrective alignments aimed more with how the United States Constitution was written and intended. Project 2025 has NOT been adopted by any president, in whole, that I know of, or has anyone solicited the Heritage...
To the editor, I am disappointed in the coverage you have given to the Lower Granite Fire or Dub fire. First, I am told that it destroyed many buildings on a farm that I am very familiar with. There were about eight buildings on this farm and I believe your coverage should have pictured these along with naming this farm. In addition, this fire started somewhere on the upper South Deadman Creek. This fire needs an official designation as to cause as this might affect legal rights to recovery of d...
It's a bit premature to say the bell tolls for community newspapers. Sure, big city media printing the same diatribe you see on television is declining. (That's because the city media moguls have forgotten their place in society.) And sure, with the Googles of the world, cellphones and social media have impacted our advertising, which, by the way, is how we pay our bills. But in our community newspapers, we haven't forgotten our place. Our reporters shop in the same stores, eat in the same...
Will prices at the pump fall if voters pass I-2117 and repeal the state's CO2 tax? One of the largest donors to the campaign to keep the carbon tax admits they will fall. Significantly. One of the main messages of the campaign to keep Washington's CO2 tax, known as the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), is that there is no "guarantee" that gas prices will go down if I-2117 passes and the CO2 tax is repealed. Rachel Smith, the head of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, made this implausible claim in fro...
I was invited to write two opinion pieces about Initiative 2124 for The Seattle Times and The Spokesman-Review. Both were published this past weekend to offer readers different perspectives on a Nov. 5 ballot measure that would make a payroll tax and participation in the WA Cares program optional. These guest columns highlight different things about the trouble with WA Cares and the value of I-2124, so if you are interested in the initiative and how it could impact workers, read them both here...
Following up on Washington Policy Centers (WPC) article that shows Washington is the 46th worst state in which to do business, a new study of business startups in the US also shows a bleak history of business growth in Washington over the last few years. What’s more amazing is the report is from the left leaning Center for American Progress who normally champion progressive tax policy. The report details that while the rest of the US is seeing new business start-ups grow, despite of federal g...
In this case, give them $2.2 billion in fuel taxes, and they’ll take your roads too. Attorney General and now Candidate for Governor Bob Ferguson, Senator Andy Billig and other proponents of the state’s disastrous cap-and-trade scheme have crossed the line, threatening Washington families by holding vital road construction projects hostage. They’ve made it clear: if we don’t keep their crony system in place, “every road project, including the North Spokane Corridor, will be in jeopardy....
By Paul Guppy Washington Policy Center Washington voters will soon have an opportunity to have their say on an unusual and corrosive tax the legislature passed in 2021. The controversial tax imposes a levy of 7% on capital gains income over $250,000. While that seems like it would only apply to “the rich,” the legislature has already proposed expanding the tax until it hits working-class incomes. Here’s how we got where we are now. Three years ago, lawmakers passed and Governor Inslee signed SB 5096, creating the first-ever tax on capit...
By Roger Harnack Guest Columnist Special to 2Over Publishing, LLC Under outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee, the state has been greenwashing just about everything it can. What is greenwashing? It’s the act of using false or misleading claims that an action will have a positive impact on the environment. This November, voters will have an opportunity to undo some of the greenwashing done by the Inslee Administration and state agencies. Two initiatives on the ballot are designed to restrict government agencies from continuing policies that have, little-to-n...