Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week and what is coming up in the week ahead.
Remembering Dori Monson
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kind words during a difficult week. It has been so uplifting to hear what Dori meant to all of you. His loss not only leaves a void for those who loved him, but a huge void in the Seattle media landscape.
If you missed it, you can read my tribute to Dori here.
Legislative session
The 2023 legislative session gets underway on Monday in Olympia. If you want to hear what lawmakers and the governor had to say about what’s to come, I highly recommend taking some time to watch Friday’s legislative preview. Legislative leaders discuss their priorities starting at the 33:00 mark, budget writers from both parties speak at the 1:08:00 mark, and Governor Jay Inslee offers remarks at 1:55:00.
Also featured in the preview was pollster Stuart Elway, who offered some interesting takeaways about what voters want to see accomplished this year.
Of 403 registered Washington voters who were polled last month, 34% said the economy should be a top priority for lawmakers, including addressing inflation and housing costs.
Public safety was second on the list, at 23%, followed by homelessness (22%), and taxes (17%).
Just 2% of respondents said COVID-19 should be a top priority. Praise be.
Read the entire Crosscut/Elway poll here.
One little stat that also stands out to me from the poll is this one:
So let me try to understand this. Only 13% of respondents believe Inslee is doing an “excellent” job as governor, yet 34% are already willing to say they would support him for an unprecedented FOURTH term? That’s insane.
I should note that I believe there is a 0% chance of Inslee running again, but why would anyone want the same person to run the state for 16 years?
"Legislative privilege"
An issue you are going to hear a lot about in the coming weeks is the concept of legislative privilege, so let me get you up to speed with what’s going on so you can tell all your friends about how terrible it is.
One of the most effective ways the public and the press alike can access information about what is happening behind the scenes in government is via public disclosure request. Having the ability to request emails, text messages, and other documents that those in power might not want us to see is a critical tool to force transparency.
A few years ago, there was a battle in Washington state to ensure that lawmakers were subject to the same public records law as everyone else in government. In 2018, the state legislature passed a law to exempt themselves from the Public Records Act. Let’s just say, that didn’t go over well.
More than 20,000 Washingtonians called and emailed to share their objections. The pressure was so intense, Governor Jay Inslee had no choice but to veto the bill. Media organizations then successfully ushered the issue to the Washington State Supreme Court, which ruled in 2019 that lawmakers were, indeed, subject to disclosure.
That should have been the end of things.
Unless you are the majority party, apparently.
On at least three occasions since then, Democrats in Olympia have denied public records requests – citing “legislative privilege.” Except, and this is a big except, no such privilege exists. You will not find it anywhere in the Public Records Act.
In a scathing op-ed this weekend, The Seattle Times Editorial Board explained the bullshit Democrats are trying to pull:
Lawmakers have manufactured it with a tortured reading of Article II, Section 17 of the state Constitution, which reads, “Freedom of Debate. No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate.”
That’s a sensible provision on its own, one modeled on language in the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers need the ability to debate without fear of being hauled into court for libel or something else. But it protects debate, not emails, text messages, white papers nor any other public record. In fact, and this is significant: It doesn’t even allow the debate to be secret, just immune from being the grounds for a court action.
Therein lies the gaslighting. Lawmakers didn’t formally announce this radical reinterpretation of the state Constitution. They just started invoking it as if it had been there all along. They want to trick Washingtonians into believing that this is nothing unusual.
But it is unusual. It’s insulting, exasperating and profoundly troubling. So far, the privilege has been invoked on the advice of attorneys of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses.
So, what can we do?
Unfortunately, the only path forward is a legal one. News agencies will once again have to force the issue to court, likely resulting in a costly and completely unnecessary legal battle – the price of which will be paid by taxpayers.
Every single Washingtonian should be pissed about this. Make your voices heard. Reach out to the House Speaker and Senate Leader to demand their caucuses follow the law. Keep your emails and phone calls civil, but don't let them off the hook. They work for you, after all.
Hope for Seattle
I went to a dinner last night that gives me so much hope for the future of Seattle.
The Seattle Leadership Retreat was a gathering of advocacy leaders from all over North America – California, Canada, New York, Colorado, Oregon – who are pushing for common sense solutions to the drug crisis that has taken over our streets.
The event was put together by We Heart Seattle, a citizen-led group of volunteers who started by picking up trash at homeless camps.
Last night’s featured speaker was Michael Shellenberger, author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Shellenberger was also one of the independent journalists recently tapped by Elon Musk to share “The Twitter Files.”
“Our civilization is at stake,” Shellenberger told the crowd, railing against what he called “pathological altruism” – the misguided belief that letting people live in squalor and addiction on our streets is somehow empathetic or righteous.
“We are going to save our cities by saving our fellow human beings,” he concluded.
Never have I been in a room of people so committed to telling the truth about our homeless crisis and dedicating themselves to being part of the solution. The commonsense movement is catching on. Keep pushing. Keep saying what needs to be said.
Housekeeping
Starting Monday, I’ll be temporarily hosting on KIRO Radio from 12-3pm. The station has big shoes to fill, and I share your hope that they can find someone who is dedicated to being a watchdog of government. There is simply no replacement for Dori Monson. As for me, I am committed to continuing to grow [un]Divided. There will be no changes to our weekly [un]Divided lineup as I help my friends at KIRO Radio for a few weeks.
Thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback! Have a great week.
