Washington, a state where extreme liberal policies are causing more harm than good, continues down their destructive path.

Major retail chains such as Starbucks, Target, Nike, Amazon Go, and most recently, Saks OFF 5th, cited theft and organized retail crime as factoring reasons into the decision to close their retail stores.

During the previous year, Seattle police received 13,103 calls from the top 100 retail locations in the city. Responding to those calls cost police officers more than 18,000 hours of time, which is equivalent to the annual work of nine full-time patrol officers.

Even Seattle’s University District Parnership explained, in part:

“Theft and organized retail crime continue to thrive, unchecked in Seattle–facilitated by loosely regulated online marketplaces and fueled by the insatiable demand of the current fentanyl crisis. Our local leaders must continue to act with great urgency to stem the impacts of this ecosystem on our city.”

Washington is a Democratic trifecta meaning the party holds the governorship and majorities in the state Senate and state House.

Citizens are becoming more active against the destructive liberalism as it overcomes closer into their homes.

Libs Attempt to Ban Natural Gas is Resisted

Supporters of Washington Initiative 2066 submitted 431,063 signatures on July 3 for a ballot initiative that would prohibit restrictions on natural gas access.

● To qualify for the ballot, 324,516 of the signatures must be valid. Initiative 2066 would be the first Initiative to the People to qualify for the Washington ballot since 2018.

● The initiative seeks to repeal changes to House Bill 1589, which the Legislature approved in March 2024 and liberal Gov. Jay Inslee signed.

The Building Industry Association of Washington’s (BIAW) Executive Vice President Greg Lane is the primary sponsor of the initiative. Lane said, “It is very simple. If you have natural gas, this protects you to be able to keep natural gas in your home or your business. And it protects the freedom of every single Washingtonian to have the clean energy of their choice.”

The law sets a 2027 deadline for utilities to submit plans to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), showing how much it would cost to electrify the state’s power grid. The UTC creates plans for regulations on electric and natural gas consumption consistent with the state’s greenhouse gas emissions goals.

Other initiative supporters include the Washington Hospitality Association, Washington Realtors, and Associated General Contractors. The coalition’s ballot measure committee, Main Street Matters to Washington, raised $771,890 through June 26.

Let’s Go Washington, a conservative group that collected signatures for three initiatives already on the November ballot, also helped gather signatures for this initiative.

Climate and Clean Energy Director for Washington Conservation Action Caitlin Krenn said, “I-2066 would take away communities’ choice, jeopardize rebate programs that help families and small business owners afford building upgrades, repeal common-sense measures that make homes and workplaces more energy efficient and healthy, and erode clean air protections.”

Republicans, who have made no secret of their staunch disapproval of the bill, said it ultimately imposes enormous costs on customers in order to protect PSE from the financial consequences of bad energy policy.

“Customers will be responsible for replacing gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves and commercial and industrial equipment,” said Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup.

Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility with more than 1.2 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers, said it is “deeply concerned about the misinformation that continues to be spread about natural gas” and that “there is no ban on natural gas. PSE has an obligation to serve any customer who wants natural gas.”

The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) estimates PSE’s residential customers will face a cost of $7 billion to $10 billion converting to electricity, with average costs expected to be about $40,000 per home.

According to CBS News, “gas-fueled kitchen stoves have emerged as [an] unexpected cultural and wedge issue.”

In July 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the “Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act,” which would prevent the federal government from banning gas stoves. The U.S. Senate has not voted on the bill.

In an April 2023 op-ed, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) wrote, “The U.S. Department of Energy proposed an “energy efficiency standard” for gas cooking products. For those who are unaware, this is a blatant backdoor attempt to ban gas appliances — at least half of gas stove models sold in the United States today would not comply with this regulation.”

If the initiative qualifies for the ballot, it will join three other initiatives sponsored by Let’s Go Washington:

• Initiative 2109 would repeal the capital gains excise tax on individuals’ long-term capital assets with capital gains over $250,000.
• Initiative 2117 would prohibit carbon tax credit trading and repeal provisions of the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act (CCA), a state law that provided for a cap-and-invest program intended to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 95% by 2050.
• Initiative 2124 would allow employees and self-employed individuals to opt out of the state’s long-term services and supports trust health care program, known as WA Cares.

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IN GOD WE TRUST

Loralyn ‘Dodie’ & Jack Dennis

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