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We are more than halfway done with the 2021 legislative session and there is a lot of good news for families and businesses here in the 10th District. Here is a quick look at major bills that have passed the House and will make a meaningful difference if they get signed into law. Broadband and technology access The covid pandemic has shown the weaknesses in our state’s broadband infrastructure, especially in rural areas like our communities. Fast and reliable internet is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity, just like electricity and r...
Monday was International Women’s Day, celebrated around the world. It is always a good idea to look back, whether it is two days or two centuries, almost as critical as looking forward. The future is where everyone lives. We can take this slogan with us: “‘Choose to Challenge.” It was the theme for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2021. It is the theme for a year and for a lifetime. “A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. So let’s all #ChooseToChallenge.” It is as easy as raising your hand. That is the message...
COVID-19 has a lot to teach the human family. The underlying chronic malaise of the body politic is glaring inequality and its consequence, sheer poverty, which means lack of adequate income, shelter, health care, food, job security and education. In short, human misery. School is a great leveler, and without it children from poorer homes are having almost insuperable difficulties trying to continue their education through home-schooling. It has been hard enough for middle-class families in book-lined homes. What happens to children in noisily...
As the pitiful craziness grows called “cancel culture,” and freedom of speech is denied, I want to submit just one quotation: “Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist.” Frederick Douglass (born a slave, became a free man, was a friend to Abraham Lincoln, and a hero to Martin Luther King). Nancy Burlison Shelter Bay...
The Swinomish Tax Authority reduced the levy rate for 2021 to $11.98 per thousand from $12.35 per thousand. The assessed value of homes in Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned remained roughly the same, so most taxpayers will see a 3% decrease in taxes. The Swinomish government plans to collect $2,142,674 in taxes from Shelter Bay, Pull & Be Damned, Thousand Trails and Dunlap Towing. It will contribute $1,077,702 to three taxing districts. These are: Fire District 13 at $200,000, La Conner Library at $27,702, plus $250,000 to a sinking fund for...
Confronting the financial challenges caused by COVID-19 continues to be my primary focus during this session. Although there is growing confidence the rapid deployment of the vaccine may end the health pandemic, the economic impact will be felt long into the future. Unemployment continues to be a problem as thousands of individuals and families wonder how they will keep a roof over their heads and food on their table. Some industries have been more wounded than others, with jobs in retail, restaurants, even dentist offices, wiped out across...
The word “environment” has become to some a political word. In the last four years the presidential administration in Washington dismantled many environmental policies and rules. For instance, the Obama-era Clean Power Plan was replaced, the Endangered Species Act was redefined and the Oil and Natural Gas extraction ban was lifted. The Coal Ash rule, which regulates the disposal of toxic coal waste, was weakened and mercury and Clean Air standards were revised. During this time a coal lobbyist and an oil and gas industry ally were leading the...
Hardy souls that ventured beyond the Washington Street sledding hill during the hefty snowstorm Saturday, Feb. 13 and trudged downtown saw the Town’s public works staff laboring mightily, blowing, shoveling and plowing First Street’s sidewalks and roadway. Once the staff finished First, they came back Sunday to finish Morris Street, go up Maple Avenue and circle the town’s perimeter, blowing snow off Caledonia Street’s sidewalk. The Town’s staff did yeoman’s work in difficult weather. That they are the backbone of La Conner’s infrastructur...
My mom was a great cook and baker. Every year as we neared my birthday, she would ask what kind of cake I wanted. It was the same every year, but she would ask anyway before making the four-layer chocolate cake with a pudding-based filling and a hard frosting. As much as I loved that cake, I could not make it through a second piece. In other words, no matter how good it was, enough was enough. It often resulted in a queasy feeling in my stomach. I am having that feeling right now. While this pandemic has been no party, I am a little concerned...
Gov. Jay Inslee’s made an unexpected gift to the state Feb. 10: the state’s Department of Health found all regions meeting metrics showing control of the coronavirus. Just like that, every county was in Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery from COVID-19. Inslee was quick with that announcement, but the state has not posted end of January data in what was supposed to be the two week report update. Still, a look at Skagit County’s February COVID-19 cases reported by Skagit Public Health show a dramatic decline in new i...
Last week’s editorial offered excerpts from foundational American documents, the bedrock that we stand on as citizens, as Americans. The pledge of allegiance is not codified – it is not legislation. Yet more citizens probably say it more often in more government halls, schools, fire stations, churches and stadiums than any single American document. Here is a fact: It was written by Francis Bellamy, a minister and socialist. I printed the preamble to the Constitution and the presidential and congressional oaths of office. As I have written...
While so much of our economy is suffering from COVID-19 these days, there is the beginning of what I believe to be a sea change that is actually stimulating the real estate market in places like La Conner. First of all, La Conner is awesome. For most of us, that’s the only reason we are here. In a small town like this, there aren’t large employers attracting people from all over the country. Yes, there are small businesses like our mayor’s wonderful jewelry shop and there is our local newsp...
As a non-Republican, I applaud Sen. Ron Muzzall for his View From the State House, in the February 10th edition. I am discouraged that no one, it appears, has previously commented or complimented him for his message and mission. He is spot on: we have for too long been in the midst of a pandemic of hate. Not only has no one from either party assumed even partial responsibility, but, even worse, too few have even acknowledged the existence of a pandemic of hate and divisiveness Mr. Muzzal and his fellow 10th District delegates are to be...
Thank you dear Pope Francis, and Debra, and Rich, and Bill and Fr. Treacy, Ken and the Michael that has come to help us row the boat ashore. We have so much to be thankful for, even when the storm batters our shores. But being thankful is only just a part of the chore, we also must repair and innovate new infrastructure. Yeah, we are mostly a great group of folks, trying to find solutions to vexing issues, and we often do the right thing. We just had a great show of support for our schools, hooray! The election to the tribal Senate was what...
Our state has a diverse economy, and manufacturing plays a key role. Aerospace is what usually comes to mind when we talk about manufacturing – but our state has a rich history across a number of important industries. When our state, businesses, labor and local communities collaborate to make the right decisions and investments, we will have a prosperous future producing what people around the world need. This is a bipartisan issue: Democrats and Republicans alike recognize that increasing the number of manufacturing jobs is good for our...
Today is the best day of Donald Trump’s life. From here on out things can only go downhill. Because of his actions after the November election culminating with the vicious attack on the Capital building, Trump is now so toxic that corporate America is walking away from him. The Trump brand has been permanently damaged and, according to Forbes magazine, he holds a billion dollars in debt. Much of this is personally secured. He cannot write it off through corporate bankruptcy as he has done so often in the past. His main banking house, D...
For the past few years oligarchs on the right and anarchists on the left have turned father against mother, brother against sister, child against parent, neighbor against neighbor and Christian against Christ. Seems that now 57% of Republicans consider Democrats “enemies” rather than “political opposition,” and 41% of Democrats consider Republicans “enemies” rather than “political opposition,” according to a CBS poll. Neither the rich nor the lawless can win this fight on the basis of right, or education, or law, so they must club their enem...
What do we stand for as Americans? These passages from foundational documents in our history show us our roots. The Pledge of Allegiance: I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. Preamble of the U.S. Constitution: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Bles...
One of the greatest stories of reverence for life is found in the Jewish scriptures, in Chapter 2 of Exodus. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, gave an order to all Egyptian subjects. “Throw into the river every boy who is born to the Hebrews but let the girls live.” A woman with a son hid him for three months from the pharaoh’s decree. Then she placed him in a basket, daubed with bitumen and pitch. She released him on the River Nile hoping some mother might help him. The boy’s sister remained close to the river to see what would happen. Pharaoh...
On Feb. 3 the day was crisp and sunny and what awaited was a COVID-19 vaccination for the educational staff of the La Conner School District. This opportunity was shared with our district because the Swinomish Senate had, by resolution, voted to share the Moderna vaccination with our staff. This generous offer is accepted as the gift it was meant to be. Jennifer LaPointe, health administrator invited us to the parking lot on the west side of the casino. The whole event was well organized. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was very friendly and...
HB 1519, in the Washington state legislature, is bad legislation. It addresses tax shift, but only stretches out the impact on taxpayers by imposing the increase in taxes over four years. It should make the shifting of taxes illegal, once and for all. In 2013, after the Great Wolf decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Washington Department of Revenue decreed that improvements on Indian land cannot be taxed. As a result Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned were removed from the tax rolls. The Skagit County Assessor...
There are two important bills I would like to share with you. One involves rural broadband and the other health care. Both of these common-sense solutions do what good legislation should, they transcend party division by simply doing what is best for all of Washington. First, let us talk about rural broadband. More than any other previous generation, we have been forced to reimagine communication. Because of the pandemic, we communicate with each other with fewer face-to-face interactions. Online tools that enable individuals to meet virtually...
“We,” the people of the state of Washington and, indeed, everyone in the United States, are approaching the anniversary of the diagnosis of the first coronavirus case in the U.S. Last Feb. 29 Gov. Jay Inslee, like governors across the country, first issued a state of emergency. On March 25 he told us to stay home to stay healthy and restricted people’s movements and economic activity in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and maintain the community public health necessary for reopening the economy. The governor’s orders have slowed...
Somehow, we think impeachment is just for presidents. In democracies of the past, like Athens and Rome, it was extended to any and all high-ranking public servants and their accomplices. According to Plutarch and Aristotle, it included members of the executive branch aside from the chief executive, such as budget and treasury managers and military commanders. Members of judiciaries could be impeached, and members of the legislative branches as well, such as Roman senators. Financiers of corrupt political leaders could be impeached or otherwise...
An open letter to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and to all elected officials in the United States of America. Let us call for a series of regional constitutional conventions in order to: (a) Let we the people be heard (b) Avoid anarchy and suppression of voices in the name of law and order (c) Instill hope for democracy to live by example here in the heart of the free world (d) Guarantee representation at the table of all people invested in this country by birth, by naturalization, by labor and by service for the common good. To “get real,” pe...
