The homeless population is exploding and housing prices are skyrocketing… a state Senator has a plan to tackle both. Tracy Ellis explains. #waleg
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Japanese researchers uncover glacial patterns unrelated to human carbon emissions
Washington’s Climate Commitment Act is being felt by drivers at the pump, driving gas prices higher by nearly 50 cents per gallon. The goal is to reduce human-caused carbon emissions by imposing a “cap-and-tax” scheme for so-called polluters.
State Sen. Phil Fortunato is asking the state agency in charge of implementing Washington’s aggressive climate-policy agenda how it is addressing emergent science that casts doubt on the policy of capping and taxing carbon under the CCA to address climate change.
In a letter to the state Department of Ecology director, Fortunato is pointing to new research from Japan that indicates there are larger astronomical forces at work that could be contributing to shifts in global climate.
“Science on this problem is constantly evolving and I think the citizens of our state would be better served if government were making decisions that are grounded in fact rather than ideology,” Fortunato, R-Auburn said. “This study seems to flip the approach by the governor and legislative Democrats on its head when it comes to only focusing on taxing citizens to address global climate change.”
Japanese researchers detail how shifts in the Earth’s axis point to a historical cycle of glacier creation and degradation every 41,000 years. Climate alarmists have claimed that carbon emissions from human activities would result in the loss of glaciers, rising oceans and other catastrophic results. However, these dire predictions that polar ice caps would disappear due to human-related activities are more reminiscent of Nostradamus than science.
“We can and should be good stewards of our environment,” said Fortunato. “No one wants dirty air or water or to pass along a degraded environment to our children and grandchildren. But the policy path in Olympia on climate change is only hurting working families. There are other factors we should be considering that isn’t a crony-capitalist shell game that makes our state even more unaffordable.”
You can read the study here and a copy of the letter to the Department of Ecology here.
While the Legislature met earlier this week for a one-day special session to address the controversial drug-possession law known as the Blake fix, Gov. Jay Inslee signed the three state budgets into law.
However, he quietly vetoed bipartisan provisions to look at why housing and homelessness in Washington is so bad.
The ranking Republican on the Senate’s housing committee, state Sen. Phil Fortunato, sponsored a budget proviso in the more-than-$70 billion state operating budget that would have created a task force to study the state’s housing supply and affordability problem.
“Most of the housing policies being adopted in Olympia only make the problem worse,” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “We aren’t building enough housing units, and the only solution from the majority is to either tax housing production or impose more regulations that make housing more expensive. My proposal would have taken a nonpartisan look at what’s driving our housing crisis.”
While hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars continue to pour into the state’s housing affordability crisis, Fortunato is expressing dismay and suspicion at the governor’s actions to kill any accountability for the state’s housing and homeless policy.
“I find the timing interesting,” said Fortunato. “Within a short period of time, we have The Seattle Times breaking stories about mismanagement at the King County Regional Homeless Authority and the director stepping down. Then, the governor is trying to cover up a bipartisan accounting of the state’s response to the housing and homeless debacle.”
In his veto message, the governor noted that the study didn’t spend enough money on the taskforce and that he didn’t want executive agency staff working on the taskforce.
“It’s a bit ironic because for years I’ve been working on a comprehensive solution on this issue that the majority Democrats have refused to hear, and now they’re actively trying to prevent the public from knowing why we’re in this situation,” added Fortunato. “Since the majority and the Governor have been doubling down on failure, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he wanted to spend more money.”
Fortunato sponsored the American Dream Homes legislation that would reduce government-imposed costs to build smaller starter homes. It would also include tax incentives for builders and requirements on longer-term affordability.
“The state is making construction of homes unsustainably expensive. From permitting costs to other regulatory burdens like the Climate Commitment Act, government is adding tens of thousands of dollars to housing costs. This study would have uncovered what those impacts really are and saved families hundreds of dollars a month on housing,” Fortunato said.
On the final day of the 2023 legislative session, the Democratic-led state House failed to approve a fix to the 2021 Blake drug possession decision, Senate Bill 5536, by a vote of 43 to 55.
That means that the stopgap bill approved that same year, which sunsets this July, would essentially legalize drug possession in Washington state. Sen. Phil Fortunato had previously voted in support of the contested measure, saying it was “50% carrots and 50% stick.”
After an impasse, the bill was sent to a conference committee and further watered down the state’s approach to dealing with the public drug use problem, and Fortunato, R-Auburn offered the following statement.
“What failed to pass at the last minute to address rampant drug use in our streets was no carrot and no stick. I would not have voted in support of it. After the Legislature adjourns for the year, I will be urging cities in my district to adopt common sense local laws to stop the drug use epidemic.
“The Democrat-controlled Legislature failed the public on this issue. They let the most extreme voices drown out compassion for people languishing in our streets with addiction. Local jurisdictions must act to help drug addicts and keep our communities safe.”
State employees eligible for bonuses while saving taxpayer money
Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Phil Fortunato that aims to find government waste was signed today in a ceremony with the governor.
Senate Bill 5015 reestablishes the state Productivity Board, which is tasked with creating financial incentives and awarding state employees who find government waste. The program was disbanded in 2011 as a cost savings measure, but as Fortunato points out, the initial cost far outweighed by potential savings.
“Politicians talk about cutting government waste, but the question is, how to find it?” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “State employees have the potential to save taxpayers much more in recurring costs than what we’re appropriating as potential bonuses for finding efficiencies.”
Fortunato believes this effort can save taxpayers 10 times more than the cost of the program. With a biennial operating budget now near $70 billion, there are many that need this kind of oversight from frontline workers.
Under the new law, the Productivity Board should be operational by July 2025 or sooner. The board would be required to evaluate the potential savings of a proposal and develop a list of possible productivity awards to be distributed to state employees, who could receive up to $10,000 or 10% of savings, whichever is lower.
“State workers know firsthand the inefficiencies in the programs the Legislature or state government creates. Now they will have more incentives to make the best use of those tax dollars,” Fortunato said. “State employees are taxpayers, too.”
The proposal was approved unanimously by the Legislature and goes into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns on April 23.
Revelations out of Washington D.C. are shedding light on concerning tactics by the Department of Justice targeting Catholic parishes. A leaked memorandum from the Richmond field office indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was indeed working to infiltrate Catholic churches to combat extremism, conflicting with testimony from the U.S. attorney general.
State Sen. Phil Fortunato is standing against similar anti-Catholic efforts by some lawmakers in Washington state to strip First Amendment protections on freedom of religion, warning the anti-Catholic fervor has spread.
Senate Bill 5280, which would establish a duty for clergy to report child abuse or neglect, was recently subject to controversy on the Senate floor during a usually routine concurrence vote. Approved unanimously earlier in the 2023 legislative session by the state Senate, amendments made by the House would force priests to divulge information heard in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
During a voice vote, the Senate appeared to have rejected the changes, but some lawmakers called for “division,”, a parliamentary procedure that requires senators who either support or oppose an amendment to stand without a recorded, individual vote. The move split the majority Senate Democrat Caucus and sends the bill back to the House as the Senate refused to concur.
Fortunato offered the following statement:
“This is a concerning pattern of anti-Catholic efforts that are apparently engrained in all levels of government. What the Department of Justice is now not-so-secretly doing and what some legislators are trying to do to the Catholic Church in Washington is an unacceptable afront to our First Amendment rights.
“The state Senate unanimously approved this proposal when it left the chamber to go to the House because it balanced protecting children and religious freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Requiring priests to divulge what they hear in confession is beyond reprehensible.
“I also find it incredibly hypocritical because many of these same lawmakers pushing to break the separation of church and state to purportedly protect children are simultaneously putting children at risk with lax drug and gun laws, and even going so far as allowing child predators to live unsupervised in our communities. I am doing everything I can to call out this double-speak and ensure that the sanctity of our sacraments is protected from this overreach.”
Banning some rifles won’t protect kids, according to a state Senator, but increasing security at schools will. I voted against the Democrat “assault weapons” bill that passed out of the Senate, but first tried to amend the legislation. Among other things, my amendment would have spent $50million to improve safety and add resource officers at schools to respond to threats. Democrats objected to the amendment and the Democratic Lieutenant Governor ruled it out of order.
Senators remember Alamo, face overwhelming odds, prepare to defend U.S. Constitution
As the Washington Senate readies for debate on Democrat-sponsored bills imposing severe new restrictions on gun ownership statewide, members of the Senate Freedom Caucus vow a last-ditch defense of Second Amendment rights.
Members of the Freedom Caucus, a group of senators concerned with the preservation of constitutional rights, say they know the odds are daunting, but they won’t let it dampen their fighting spirit. They are drawing a bead on House Bill 1240, a bill that would ban the sale of rifles with magazines of 10 rounds or more, and House Bill 1143, which would require gun purchasers to present certificates demonstrating they have completed a state-approved gun-safety training course.
The two measures have already passed the state House and appear good bets for passage in the Washington Legislature, as both chambers are under Democratic Party control. The rifle ban is on the Senate’s calendar and is posed for a vote at any moment.
Freedom Caucus member Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, said he was so disturbed by the Legislature’s lack of understanding that he introduced a bill creating a special course for lawmakers on firearms issues, and requiring their attendance.
“If I thought even for a moment that these bills would protect our children, I would vote for them,” said Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn. “Instead, we are debating a political agenda that does nothing to make us safer. Every year we see new efforts to make it more difficult for law-abiding gun owners to exercise their right to bear arms. Keeping faith with the people requires us to fight for them, and for the survival of our constitutional freedoms.”
Another bill with sweeping impact on availability of firearms already has passed the Washington Senate this year and awaits action in the House. Senate Bill 5078 would allow the attorney general’s office to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers for improper use of weapons, a novel approach that could force firearms off the market in Washington state for liability reasons.
The senators call the bills an unusually direct assault on Second Amendment rights and the even-stronger guarantee offered by the Washington state constitution. The Washington constitution declares the “right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired.”
The senators say the bills offer a clear impairment of the right to bear arms. They note the so-called “assault weapons” ban would encompass many commonly used rifles, including modern sporting rifles and others typically employed in target practice. They observe the training requirement places a cumbersome impairment on a constitutional right guaranteed to all U.S. citizens. And they say the bill allowing lawsuits against gun manufacturers is akin to suing GM and Ford for drunk-driving accidents.
Washington gun laws already go far beyond federal requirements, and the senators say national concerns have little to no bearing on Washington state. They point out Washington has passed 37 firearms-related restrictions since 2015, and is recognized as the 10th most-regulated state by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The senators anticipate a lengthy debate in the Senate that will explore every nuance of the issue. They note that the House spent four hours and 45 minutes debating the two bills before they came to the Senate.
During the 2023 legislative session, state Sen. Phil Fortunato proposed numerous bills to address substantial policy issues around homeless and housing, transportation, and environmental protection. The Auburn legislator has also taken to the Senate Floor to highlight exceptional aspects of the 31st District, sponsoring several resolutions that recognize local philanthropic organizations and a fallen Border Patrol hero with local ties.
Today, the state Senate adopted SR 8615, Recognizing the Blessing Movement. The nonprofit based in the Sumner-Bonney Lake area was founded in 2019 to help senior citizens, the disabled, people on fixed incomes, veterans or those facing terminal illness, with maintenance and up-keep projects at their homes.
This past Tuesday, Fortunato introduced SR 8621, which highlighted the work of The Market, a food security program of the Bonney Lake Food Bank. The organization operates much like a modern grocery store serving food-insecure residents. According to the organization, their innovation started during the COVID-19 pandemic when they saw a 700% increase in customers at a small and structurally unsound location.
In early March, the state Senate honored a fallen hero, United States Border Patrol Agent Donna Marie Doss with SR 8623. Doss was killed in the line of duty, struck by a vehicle while stationed in Texas in 2019. The federal government honored the Washington native, whose family resides in Enumclaw, in 2021 by renaming of the Rocksprings station as the Donna M. Doss Border Patrol Station.
“While we’re focused on big-ticket items like the homeless crisis or public safety fiasco, it’s good to take time to remember, honor, and recognize the people we serve back in district,” Fortunato said. “The resolutions are a positive way to focus on people and organizations doing the real work of helping our communities and I’m honored to have worked with these exceptional people who represent the best of our district.”
The state Legislature defines these Floor Resolutions as: “A written motion calling for action, which may be offered from the floor of either house. Floor resolutions are usually congratulatory, commendatory, or memorial.”
Friends and Neighbors,
We’re past the half-way mark of the 2023 legislative session, so there’s a lot to discuss. I look forward to giving you an update on where things stand related to my work on your behalf for our district and larger issues facing our state like housing, transportation, public safety and more. Please join me at any of my upcoming in-person town halls around the 31st District.
Feel free to share this message with your neighbors. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to my office. I hope to see you there!