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February 17, 2022...
Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee attempted an end run around the legislature by banning natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings via the state’s building codes. It was a bad idea. Now, some fellow Democrats who control the legislature are working on legislation trying to do the same—also a bad idea. Inslee’s proposed regulations forbid the use of fossil fuels for heating and hot water in new structures. Prohibiting natural gas is expensive for home and building owner...
Palouse Falls has long been one of my favorite places to hike. Over the years, I’ve hiked the mile or so trek to the top of the main falls on numerous occasions. I’ve hiked it by myself, with friends and even my daughter when she was very young. I’ve meandered along the Palouse River to the upper falls and descended the basalt rim to the pool at the base of the falls about 189 feet below. For those of us who grew up in Eastern Washington, hiking Palouse Falls trails has long b...
Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced in October, they’ll listen to diverse viewpoints with open minds to recover salmon and potentially breach the four Lower Snake River dams. Their focus on restoring Snake River salmon and steelhead runs is too limited. It needs to be expanded to cover the entire Snake River drainage. Currently, the four lower dams---all in Washington---are targeted to determine if they should be torn down to improve ocean-going fish r...
Last week, I wrote that two bills addressing the state’s flawed and controversial long-term care program (nicknamed the “short-term care program”) and the costly payroll tax (dubbed the “long-term tax”) funding it had come over to the Senate after being passed by the House. The Senate fast-tracked these two measures this week, as the Ways and Means Committee held public hearings on them Monday and then approved them Tuesday. The full Senate yesterday passed the two bills, sending them to Gov. Jay Inslee for his likely si...
The first order of business when Washington’s Legislature convenes in Olympia is replacing the state’s new long-term care law. It is fatally flawed. Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats who control the state legislature wisely postponed implementing the sweeping “Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program” but it is beyond repair. It is time to find a better alternative. The new law, also known as the Washington Cares Act, is a mandatory, public, state-run long-term care insuran...
My first session was way back in 1993, and as a freshman state representative, I was very humbled and excited about being elected to serve the people of the 9th District in the House. Now, almost 30 years later, I’m still humbled and excited to serve you and other 9th District residents, even if I’m now considered to be a Senate veteran. This year’s legislative session started Monday and is scheduled (by our state constitution) to last 60 days, finishing on March 10. This will be what we call a “short session” instead o...
Increasing river flows to wash young salmon to sea works; however, once water goes down stream, it is gone. What if we could recycle it in key parts of the Columbia River system allowing us to increase electricity generation as well? The Columbia River and its tributaries offer enormous potential for innovation. Power planners are looking for new ways to increase electricity output while providing sufficient water for migrating salmon and steelhead. The good news is we are...
What’s in a word? Think tanks have been very successful in directing our thoughts to the way they want us to act. Lakoff’s book, Don’t Think of an Elephant, suggests that the words we use have consequences. Words often become popular and may be used to our detriment. For example, “tax burden” brings to mind something very unpleasant, maybe unfair. Yet, we all need to pay for the benefit of government provisions, such as roads, schools, libraries and disaster relief. Every American benefits from roads, for example. For years...
The last year ended with a bang. Well, more accurately, 2021 ended in smoke, at least here at the newspaper. That smoke came from the meltdown of our labeling system. And as a result, your newspaper was likely late. And for that we apologize. I want to assure you we are already in the process of resolving the issue. Hopefully, this edition of the newspaper reaches you on time, a sign that the labeling system problem has been resolved. Who would have thought that just getting...
Public school student enrollment has nosedived as parental disgust with school COVID-19 policies, student learning losses and controversial curricula has gone through the roof. In the wake of this enrollment implosion, homeschooling has boomed across the country. At the beginning of the current school year, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that 1.5 million students had left the public schools since the COVID-19 pandemic began. If students are not enrolling in public schools, where are they going? The numbers show...
Washington motorists have choices when it comes to fueling their vehicles, thanks to the free market – but the benefits of competition, beginning with cost and quality, aren’t consistently available throughout our state’s energy sector. Reliable and affordable home energy continues to be a challenge for Washington, including locally. During the last summer’s heatwave, for example, thousands of customers in the Spokane area were victims of blackouts that were intentional – outages that were deliberately engineered to deal with...
As a university math teacher, then K-12 mentor in afterschool programs for 22 years in retirement, I can assure you that most white students in our country experience more psychological stress and anxiety when learning math than learning anything about U.S. racial history. So, are we supposed to eliminate or “dumb down” (teach less) math in our K-12 education, as many Republican legislators and school board members insist we do teaching racial history, just because they think it might make some white students anxious? It...
Merry Christmas! There. I said it. Not happy holidays, but Merry Christmas. It’s Christmas time here and around the world. Throughout our region, families are shopping for festive meals and gifts, decorating, and anxiously awaiting the moment they see “long-lost” family and friends. It’s a time where children and adults express wishes, not just for gifts from Santa Claus, but also for happiness and prosperity for friends, family, and sometimes even mankind. And while Christm...
Earlier this year, state legislative leaders said they wanted to reduce institutional racism in the public schools by enacting Senate Bill 5044 and similar bills to require that school and university employees attend mandatory Critical Race Theory sessions. This flawed political ideology teaches that white people in all situations are oppressors and other groups are automatically oppressed. These leading lawmakers, who ironically control the very power structure they condemn,...
With Christmas coming up, I’ve been out shopping for gifts for family members. During these busy times, I’m sure all of you have noticed (like I have) that many items in stores – especially groceries – have increased quite a bit in recent months due to inflation. Now, you’d think Gov. Jay Inslee would be well aware of the financial hardship that this historic inflation — we’re talking the worst inflation since the early 1970s — is causing families and individuals statewide. Judging by the rollout of his state supplemental op...
In a U.S. Chamber of Commerce poll released in early December, the findings spell trouble for America’s employers – both private and public. It found that more than 60% of the respondents are in no hurry to return to work and over a third of the unemployed are not actively going after a job or looking at all. The problem is growing worse. A large number of respondents feel they can get by for at least another six months before they have to find employment. The survey dis...
This morning, Gov. Jay Inslee announced his latest climate proposals for the 2022 legislative session. Despite proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in additional spending, none of the governor’s proposals today will reduce additional CO2 emissions. Every policy – from subsidizing solar panels, to subsidizing electric vehicles – duplicates an existing policy. They are expensive but add nothing. Additionally, the creation of a new office to ensure accountability for CO2 r...
In recent years, Democrats have taken issue with a number of harmless things (math and advanced academic classes, for example), deeming them racist and demanding their removal. We’ve seen progressive outrage over historic statues, holidays, and a seemingly endless number of topics. Their most recent targets are farmers markets and food charities. Washington State University is now reinforcing claims that farmers markets and food charities are examples of “white dominant culture” and “white supremacy.” WSU’s agriculture...
Instead of the front page headline “High school vaccine clinic causes concern” (Cheney Free Press, Nov. 25, 2021), how about a more relevant headline such as “High school vaccine clinic proves popular,” with the subheading, “Vaccine slots fill quickly by parents grateful for opportunity to protect their kids and community?” Kristin Mansfield, DVM Cheney...
Due to the federal government changing the unemployment benefit eligibility rules mid-pandemic, some Washington residents, who have been receiving unemployment benefits, will now have repay the benefits despite being approved to receive benefits initially. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, launched shortly after the pandemic started, did not fully verify that a benefit claimant was eligible for program benefits. Claimants that applied under the rules of the...
Last week, the Cheney Free Press ran a column with statements which I find incorrect or misleading. For example, in regards to Senate Bill 1084, the column states, “Prohibiting natural gas is expensive for home and building owners many of whom installed…” Senate Bill 1084 would eliminate on-site fossil fuel combustion for space heating and water heating in new construction in order to reduce climate impacts. Buildings account for almost 40% of CO2 emissions in the U.S. Senate Bill 1084 would only affect new const...
Remember the television ad where the auto mechanic looks viewers straight in the eye and says: “You can pay me now or pay me later!” The message: if you change your car’s oil and filter every 5,000 miles, you can avoid a disastrous engine replacement later? The same principle applies to our national debt. Congress can either take steps to control spending and debt now, or watch interest payments swallow up our hard-earned tax dollars and starve needed programs. Ignoring massi...
Under the guise of water conservation, the state Department of Ecology is once again moving to take water rights from farmers, ranchers and other private holders. Last month, the agency announced plans to fund creation of local “water banks,” in addition to the state “water bank” already in existence. The agency says the program helps municipalities buy water rights from private owners. It has set $14 million aside for the program. The goal, agency spokesman Jimmy Norris...
Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota was never a darling of conservatives; however, in his later years he shocked fellow Democrats by his outspoken backing for streamlining government regulations and eliminating frivolous lawsuits — positions championed mostly by Republicans. McGovern, a decorated World War II B-24 pilot who flew 35 combat missions over North Africa and Europe, was an unabashed self-professed liberal. He won the Democrat presidential nomination in 1972 but l...
