Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 335
Washington has one of the highest minimum wage levels in the U.S. For workers who have a job this sounds like a great deal, but as with all things the government mandates, there are some serious, negative consequences, primarily on young and entry level workers who are forced into joblessness. Nowhere is the harm imposed by a high minimum wage demonstrated more clearly than in Seattle, where the city council has aggressively increased the minimum wage over the last few years....
A friend of mine, let's call her Mary, began college at the University of Washington in 1967 and graduated with an undergraduate degree in 1971. According to the university's records, she paid $3,160 (in 2020 dollars) for her final year of in-state tuition. Mary's granddaughter, Emma, graduated after four years from the University of Washington in 2020 and paid $10,630 for her final year of in-state tuition. Essentially, school administrators more than tripled tuition at the s...
This Sunday, our nation celebrates Independence Day. And on this 245th birthday of our United States, it's important to take time to remember why we mark July 4. Sure we celebrate the holiday with barbecues and fireworks, parades and apple pie. But that's not what it is about. Independence Day is about freedom from tyranny. It's about being able to own property, speak your mind, worship how you want, gather together, be protected from government corruption and overreach and,...
There’s a lot of talk about endangered species. But the most important endangered species in America, may not be a plant or a wild animal. The most endangered species may actually be in your home, a friend’s home or next door. The endangered species I’m talking about is the American Dad. This coming Sunday is Father’s Day, the one day set aside each year to honor the American Dad. Honoring and thanking the fathers in your life should be your highest priority this weekend...
Shortly after President Biden took office, he issued the sweeping executive order to transition America to TOTAL–-100 percent–-renewable electricity by 2035–-15 short years from now. Translated that means no more power from coal and natural gas ––quite a challenge considering 60 percent of the 4.12 trillion kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity we generated in 2020 came from burning fossil fuels while 20 percent came from renewables including hydro. Land is the wild card. In...
It’s time to decide if you want a COVID vaccination. If you want to take a precaution to help you avoid contracting COVID, then you can accept a free vaccination. If you don’t want a new COVID vaccine, you can turn down the free vaccination. It’s that simple. You are free to decide what you want to do with your body. The ugliest side effect of the COVID vaccinations is the nasty, bullying attitude affecting some people. I keep speaking with people and business owners about how...
When Congress established the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) in 1935, it was intended to provide temporary and partial income replacement for workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It was supposed to be a "bridge" to a new job and not "in lieu of compensation" to remain jobless. The coronavirus pandemic produced massive layoffs. The resulting economic downturn swelled the ranks of unemployed Americans by more than 14 million - from 6.2 million in...
Masks are coming off. Most residents wanting a coronavirus vaccination have gotten one. Sports are on and students are back in the classroom. It’s not a coronavirus emergency that’s keeping Washingtonians from going back to work. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with owners and managers trying to get their small businesses back on solid financial ground. Given residents’ frustration of being pent up for more than 14 months, you’d think that would be...
The prolonged renewable energy process by Klickitat County officials and others has led to an unnecessary crisis in public confidence, which has reached a point where an independent audit by an outside entity is necessary. I've heard enough about this issue that an outside examination of the process from its inception to the present is required which might restore a measure of integrity back in the system and hopefully repair public confidence in local government and elected public officials and employees. If the board...
Public records show lawmakers plan to use the capital gains income tax to set up a lawsuit to try to impose a broad-based graduated income tax. They’re going to get not one, but two. It could be years, however, before we know if the state Supreme Court decides to uphold its numerous rulings saying that you own your income or if they’ll instead reverse course. Just days after the Legislature approved Senate Bill 5096 — which institutes an income tax on capital gains — the Fre...
This will sound funny anywhere outside Olympia, but there is a question that for years has stumped half the Legislature. If an income tax is so good for the people of the state of Washington, why do they say no every time they are asked? Advocates of higher taxes and spending have tried just about everything. Big income taxes, little income taxes, income taxes dedicated to noble purposes and income taxes that are only supposed to hurt millionaires. Yet the people keep voting no — 10 times since 1934. The last time, in 2010, t...
Surprisingly, there is something U.S. Presidents agree upon — America’s economic and national security hinge upon maintaining our technology edge in semiconductors. Those tiny computer chips are the brains of modern electronics. They operate our laptops and smart phones and permeate every sector of our lives from farming and manufacturing to health care and public safety. They are embedded in our military’s most advanced equipment and give us a tactical edge. Semic...
Last week, the Legislature got a terrific piece of news. State tax collections have rebounded despite one of the worst economic situations we’ve ever faced. The latest projection adds $3.3 billion, and we’re right back where we were before COVID-19-related shutdown orders. The strange thing about it was the reaction of our Democratic colleagues. They said they wouldn’t let this good news stand in the way of their effort to impose an income tax on the people of Washi...
Everybody associates March 17 with St. Patrick's Day, that one holiday in which we are all encouraged to wear green. Around the Capitol last week, March 17 brought a different meaning of "green." That morning, the state Economic Revenue and Forecast Council announced the first state-revenue forecast for this year showed a surprisingly large increase of $3.3 billion through the 2021-23 budget cycle and $5.2 billion over the next four years. It is the largest positive quarterly...
It’s a solution in search of a problem. Lawmakers in Olympia appear to be fast-tracking House Bill 1356, which would ban the use of “racially derogatory or discriminatory” American Indian mascots, logos and team names in public schools in the state. Simply put, the bill is political theater, nonsense that kowtows to the politically correct crowd that’s bent on cancelling our culture, heritage and history. The bill is quickly moving through the Legislature even though I think...
The meltdown at the state Department of Employment Security ought to teach us a lesson. It's easy for government to create problems, not so easy for the Legislature to come back in and clean up the mess. We ought to keep this in mind as the Legislature debates some of the big, bold ideas our liberal colleagues are bringing to the table this year - for an income tax, big increases in gas prices, greater government control of industry, and many, many more. Many of these...
The culture, heritage and history of Eastern Washington - indeed all of Washington and Oregon history - is under fire again in Olympia. I'm talking about an effort this year in the House to erase Marcus Whitman's significance from the halls of the Capitol building in Olympia and the national statuary in Washington, D.C. Pushed by lawmakers, who obviously lack a full understanding of Whitman's significance, House Bill 1372 seeks to replace the bronze Marcus Whitman statues...
British historian Thomas Macaulay famously said, "The best government is one that desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy." That standard is clearly not what people are experiencing in Washington state. For years, leaders in state government have been increasing the tax burden and imposing ever-tighter regulations that limit personal opportunity, lower household incomes and fall hardest on working people, middle-class families and small business...
As much as we would love to see an end to impaired driving and with it, the need to keep sponsoring DUI legislation, we unfortunately know there is still much work to be done. Last week the Senate Law and Justice Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 5054, a measure I introduced with the support of Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, to strengthen the state's felony-DUI law and reduce the number of people who become victims of impaired drivers. Washington law now makes the...
Protests are nothing new in Olympia. Each year, thousands of protesters converge on legislative sessions to rally for special causes, object to government activities and generally just remind lawmakers who they work for. I cannot recall a time that the Capitol Building, other legislative office buildings and the state library weren’t available for public access. Indeed, each year I wander the Capitol campus during session to personally deliver a newspaper to those who r...
On Dec. 18, 1917, Congress proposed the 18th Amendment, which would later make it illegal to make, buy, sell or drink alcohol. Two years later, after ratification Jan. 16, 1919, prohibition became the law of the land. For nearly 14 years, Americans who wanted to have an adult beverage were forced underground. They danced, dined, drank and gambled in what became known as a “speakeasy.” Law enforcement and other public employees often knew about their clandestine watering hol...
Yes, Gov. Jay Inslee has issued new orders shutting down your favorite gym and movie theater, and limiting service at your favorite diner or watering hole. Yes, you’re directed to wear a mask when you go in public. And yes, there’s another run on toilet paper and paper towels (in some parts of our state). But it’s Thanksgiving. It’s time to count your blessings. You’re in America. You live in the greatest, most prosperous country the world has ever known. You have housing opportunities, electricity, running water and emplo...
There’s no other way to say, 2020 has been just an awful year. It is difficult to believe anything good can come from this mess but I’m really excited to see that one silver lining to our collective misery will be the opportunity for more public participation across the state during the 2021 Legislative Session. With news that lawmakers will primarily be conducting business remotely next year also comes the exciting announcement of expansive remote testimony for citizens. Acc...
If we can provide it, maybe we should return to polling place voting Over the last few months, all eyes have been on Washington’s 16-year-old vote-by-mail system. National media has been holding it up as an example of what should become the norm nationwide. But should it? Yes, we have fastidious local election employees resolving problems. And yes, we have years of experience making vote-by-mail work. But the nation isn’t ready for all-mail elections, whether it’s our system or another state’s. Simply put, voting by mail ap...
Olympia is clearly out of touch with Eastern Washington, and you won’t have to look any further than your ballot to figure that out. In addition to the East versus West gubernatorial battle, you’ll find Referendum 90, pitting many rural parents against a few city-based lawmakers and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal over the measure. Referendum 90 targets Senate Bill 5395, a so-called “comprehensive” and “inclusive” sexual education curriculum being mandated by those in Olympia. For the last few ye...