Ferguson has said would have a difficult time backing a budget plan that involves the level of taxes initially proposed by legislators.

“As we’re waiting for the Democrats, do you think that the governor has been putting a lot of pressure on them passively or behind the scenes?” State Senator Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn) was asked on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

“Budget-wise, he’s not been too bad,” Fortunato answered. “He put the squash on a couple of things, sent them back during a little bit of turmoil. The (Democrats) won’t let his staff people into their wings without permission, so there’s a little bit of a fight with the governor’s office.”

House Democrats revoke rule regarding access for governor’s staff

In January, House Democrats changed a “longstanding rule” that previously granted automatic admission to the House of Representatives’ chambers for both the governor and their staff. During this current legislative period, a member of the governor’s office is not allowed in unless a House member invites them.

“And that is due, in large part, to the governor, unlike the previous governor Jay Inslee, has been more involved and more vocal on not just allowing Democratic leadership to do whatever they want and then propose something. He’s actually being responsible,” Fortunato noted.

House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon (D-West Seattle) has denied that there is any “friction” between the Democrat caucus and the governor, and that the alleged “friction” was the reason for the limiting access for the governor’s staff.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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Patrick M. Mahoney, a 34-year-old graduate student and instructor, was “relieved of all teaching responsibilities” following the alleged assault, according to a statement to The Seattle Times. Mahoney admitted to police that he grabbed student Jay Sani’s Trump hat. After Sani appeared to defend himself, police said WSU staff member Gerald Hoff, 24, joined his friend Mahoney in taking Sani down to the ground.

“He essentially grabbed my head, crushed my head on the concrete, that reminded me of some of the posts; all these weapons people would make,” Sani, in an exclusive interview with “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, explained of Mahoney. “Some of these posts, they would say, ‘Crush the head of the opposition.’ And actually, what they would really say was, ‘Crush the head of the fascist.’ And when he did that, it gave me that flashback of those propaganda posts I would see. And I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ this is serious.”

WSU terminates two staffers over alleged assault

Both Mahoney and Hoff have been charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.

“While WSU remains committed to the freedom of speech and expression for all members of our university community, we will not tolerate acts of violence or hate speech,” Phil Weiler, WSU vice president of marketing and communications, wrote to The Seattle Times.

While Mahoney was relieved of his instructor position, he is still enrolled as a student.

Mahoney told police what happened

An investigating officer with Pullman Police said he contacted Mahoney and asked him what had happened.

Mahoney referred to Sani as “ol’ boy,” according to the officer. The police report stated that Mahoney admitted to grabbing the hat and throwing it in the street, telling the officer, “You know, you’re f**king wearing that hat, you wanted someone to f**king look at it, right?”

“I asked Mahoney what happened tonight. Mahoney said that he saw ‘ol’ boy’ walking around. Mahoney did not name Sani by name but said ‘I’ve seen this guy, f**king, on campus before. I know he’s like f**king Right Wing dude. He’s got a f**king, like, Make America Great Again
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Mahoney told police that Sani responded with a “body check” or “grab,” and that’s when he took Sani to the ground, before he “punched Sani and specified that the punch was to Sani’s jaw.”

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The student, Jay Sani, told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Friday that the attack reminded him of far-Left propaganda he read online.

“He essentially grabbed my head, crushed my head on the concrete, that reminded me of some of the posts; all these weapons people would make,” he shared. “Some of these posts, they would say, ‘Crush the head of the opposition.’ And actually, what they would really say was, ‘Crush the head of the fascist.’ And when he did that, it gave me that flashback of those propaganda posts I would see. And I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ this is serious.”

Sani told Pullman Police that he was walking to a restaurant when the suspect, a WSU instructor and PhD student identified as Patrick Mahoney, grabbed the MAGA hat and threw it onto the street. After attempting to defend himself, the police reports say that Mahoney, along with a second suspect identified as Gerald Hoff, “grabbed Sani and took him to the ground.”

“Once on the ground, Mahoney grabbed Sani’s head and slammed it into the ground. Sani then moved his hands to approximately shoulder height and said something to the effect of he put his hands up to not make the fight worse. Mahoney then said ‘F**k you or f**k off’ to Sani before walking away,” the police report states.

Suspects in attack of WSU student wearing Trump hat arrested

Mohoney and Hoff were subsequently arrested. The incident was captured on .

Sani said that while he’s happy the two have been dismissed from WSU, he has a larger message for the public.

“The bigger goal is—I wish that the entire country, I wish everybody, was nice to each other,” he said. “And I wish everyone were accepting of different beliefs and different tolerances. Because if you want to judge someone because they disagree with some stuff from you, that’s not OK. And I say that’s not OK because that hurts the country down the road. Because united we stand, divided we fall. So we have a lot of work in terms of cultural and social issues to fix, and I’ll do my part too to change that.”

Listen to the full conversation below:

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The spring 2025 survey says an alarming 12% of Washington employers say they plan to relocate out of the state, up from 9% in the winter survey. Worse, 26% want to expand outside of Washington state, up from 21% three months ago.

A full 61%  of employers who intend to move out of state point to Washington’s tax burden as their main reason. In the broader survey, 52% of all respondents named the overall tax burden as the biggest challenge facing their business, and 43% said reducing taxes should be the state’s top priority to help them.

Businesses are already warning Washington Democrats about tax hikes

The report comes as big businesses have forcefully and publicly pushed back against Washington Democrats’ plan to implement tax hikes on large and small businesses, property owners, and “the wealthy.”

“Washington state cannot sustain continued tax and spending increases and simultaneously maintain our economic resilience and competitiveness,” dozens of big businesses wrote to the legislature earlier this month.

The signatories include Amazon, Microsoft, Seattle Mariners, Alaska Airlines, Costco, and Puget Sound Energy.

Governor Bob Ferguson recently rejected the second tax-heavy plan announced by Washington Democrats. The plan would have raised $12 billion from five new taxes in order to help fill a $16 billion deficit.

“At a time of great economic uncertainty and assaults by the Trump Administration on core state services for working families,” Ferguson said, “raising $12 billion in taxes is unsustainable, too risky, and fails to adequately prepare Washington state for the crisis that looms ahead.”

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Cliff Mass, an Atmospheric Sciences Professor with the University of Washington, told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Thursday that wet weather will dampen the weekend.

“This is one of the clearest days that we’ve had, in my memory, I mean, it’s like no clouds in the sky. It’s perfectly blue. So today is the extreme in terms of no weather, but unfortunately, we do have some weak systems coming in over the weekend, so we’re going to cool down, and we will have some showers over the weekend. So I hate to say that today is good, tomorrow will be fine too, but it’ll get back to normal as we get into the weekend. So it’s not gonna last,” Mass explained.

He added that this stretch of sun is not unusual for April.

“I looked at the numbers and we’ve had these kind of dry periods in April. It happens quite frequently,” he shared.

Listen to the full conversation below:

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The Washington Supreme Court concluded that the initiative was administrative—it “administer(ed) the details” of an existing, comprehensive city policy on homeless encampments—rather than legislative in nature, which alone is permissible for local initiatives.

Because the initiative merely tinkered with implementation steps already adopted by the city of Spokane, it fell outside the people’s power to legislate directly at the local level. The decision was 6-3.

Implications of the decision

Bothell-based attorney Mark Lamb argued you can’t understate the implications of this ruling, in an exclusive interview on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. He concurs with the dissent that this “decision effectively guts the local initiative power in Washington state.”

“What they’re really saying is that if a city takes a policy position and stakes it out with any kind of enforcement or administrative mechanism, the voters can’t do anything about that,” Lamb explained. “That is antithetical to everything that we understand about our state constitution. It’s everything that we understand about being a state where we want to have the people involved. Candidly, it’s deeply troubling in an era when we’re lectured about democracy being under attack, that 75% of the voters of the City of Spokane made a policy choice and made a policy choice that I think the dissent correctly identified was well within the rights to do it, and the majority simply discards it.”

What the majority argued

Under state law, the Washington Supreme Court said that a local initiative is only valid when it declares a new policy. But it is invalid if it executes or amends a plan already in place.

Lamb, who represented the respondent Brian Hansen, countered the claim that his client’s initiative was administrative in nature. He argued a camping ban falls under the city’s general police power, not zoning. He also noted that the initiative established a new public-safety policy meant to protect children.

The Court of Appeals sided with Hansen, saying the initiative was not in conflict with state law. But the Washington Supreme Court disagreed.

Dissent raises alarms

In the dissent, the Washington State Supreme Court justices argued that the Hansen Initiative “does not simply amend one small provision” of existing law.

“Instead, it represents a significant shift in the core policy expressed by the ordinance. The majority acknowledges this, observing that the Hansen Initiative ‘greatly expanded Spokane’s criminalization of camping’ and ‘effectively reverses Spokane’s comprehensive homeless camping policy,'” the dissent reads.

The dissent argues that, “It is well within the local initiative power for the people of Spokane to pass measures that take a different policy direction from the legislative enactments of the
city council.” It says the majority “effectively eliminates the local initiative power altogether.”

Regardless of the Washington Supreme Court decision, the Spokane City Council can choose to turn the initiative into legislation if it chooses. Lamb hopes they opt to do just that.

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“Well, first off, they never even contacted me about it, and just one of my supporters sent me an email and said, ‘Sheriff, have you seen this?’ And of course, I hadn’t seen it. I have so many things going on. I didn’t have time to see that they’re trying to pass or they’re going to pass a resolution that doubles down on , which I believe is unconstitutional,” Swank shared on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Thursday.

The sheriff said because of the lack of communication, he is going to contact the White House.

“Since they didn’t get ahold of me, I’m going to reach out to ICE and Washington, D.C., the Trump Administration, Department of Justice, and I’m going to tell them what’s going on here and ask them for a hand,” he said.

Pierce County Sheriff looking into ICE’s 287 (g) Program

Swank said he is also considering entering into ICE’s 287 (g) Program that authorizes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate specific immigration officer functions to state and local law enforcement, .

When it was brought up that in doing so, Swank would be going against state law, he responded, “Yes, absolutely. Of course, I believe it’s unconstitutional law.”

Swank mentioned that the Adams County Sheriff’s Office is going through a similar situation.

Earlier this month, on “The John Curley Show”, Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner explained why authorities feel stuck between state and federal law and the impact of “fearmongering.”

“The reality is that the law enforcement across the country, no matter where you are, has a responsibility as best that we can to keep people that are harmful to our community in custody, if that’s the case, or at least try and protect them as best we can,” Wagner said.

Swank said he is going to seek legal help and will decide the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office’s next move in the following days.

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Activist Brian Heywood of movement told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH “the irony is really rich in Washington.”

“We’re worried about homelessness, we’re worried about affordability, we’re worried about taxes that are, as they say, not progressive, and then we go into a super aggressive tax like this one, especially when they’re talking about allowing the increase to be 3 or 4%,” he shared.

Heywood believes the government is disregarding everything else homeowners have to account for.

“I think people feel it. They know it. What Washington, what Olympia, is ignoring, is that it’s not just the rate, it’s that all the other regulations that they’ve got going that makes it difficult to build houses when we have a low supply, a high demand, that makes the valuation more expensive. So then the rates going up on the value of your home already going up. So you get a double whammy, and it just puts people out of even be able to afford to live in the state,” he said.

Washington Democrats’ property tax plan

A 1% cap was established by in 2001, reflecting voters’ desire to rein in property tax growth. Although the state Supreme Court struck down the initiative in 2007, the Legislature promptly reinstated the cap during a special session.

Now, Democratic lawmakers want to replace that cap with a formula tied to inflation and population growth, potentially allowing increases of up to 3% per year. They argue the current cap handcuffs local governments trying to keep up with rising costs and growing demand for services.

“When it comes to talking taxes, we get this doublespeak speak, and I guess the good thing is, I don’t think people are as stupid as Olympia thinks they are, and I think there’ll be a pushback on it,” Heywood rebutted.

As for Tuesday’s protest, Heywood is asking people to bring their property tax bill with them.

“I’m thinking about doing a raffle, or you put your property tax bill in—and it doesn’t cost anybody anything, everybody can participate—but you put your tax bill in and we would pull one out and the lucky winner, we take care of the property taxes. We’re still working to see if I can make that all work.”

Listen to the full conversation below:

Contributing: Matt Markovich, ����Xվ Newsradio

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“The irony is really rich in Washington, where we’re worried about homelessness, we’re worried about affordability, and then we go into a super aggressive tax like this one,” Brian Heywood, founder of the political action committee , said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Announcing two new initiatives

Heywood said Democratic lawmakers will continue to push for higher taxes unless a group speaks out to offer pushback.

“I think what people don’t understand is that the left overreaches so consistently, and they get away with it until someone punches back,” Heywood said. “So if we don’t fight back, they’re just going to keep pushing and pushing and pushing.”

It’s why he announced two new initiatives.

The first initiative, recently filed, would cap the property tax increase at 0.5%, which is lower than the current law, and reverse the direction from what Democrats in legislature are trying to do. The second initiative will be filed in the coming week. It would assess your property at 100% of real value, but only allow the state to charge you on 50% of that assessed value.

“So it would significantly reduce, for now, and significantly give tax relief to everybody until the legislature figures out how to fiddle with it and raise it again. But for a couple years at least, it would give some serious tax relief,” Heywood explained.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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“Let’s remind everybody we employ people who have come from the streets, who are in recovery,” Suarez explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “We live on ‘social services row.’ I’m on the Blade, and this level of hatred actually affects all of the people they all claim to want to protect.”

Still, Suarez said she and her staff “feel a little bit vulnerable with the people who want to kill us.”

‘Nothing short of a death threat’

Suarez said she and her staff fear for her safety, calling the graffiti message, “nothing short of a death threat.” She also worries her property will be targeted again.

“I have staff members that come to work and have to walk through our front door and call and say, ‘Andrea, why are people writing this on our building?’ You know, this is affecting our most vulnerable population,” she explained.

This isn’t the first time We Heart Seattle has been targeted.

“Our offices have been ransacked. We’ve had our windows broken into. Our truck was tagged with the word ‘fascist’ on our QR codes,” she explained.

‘These people are cowards’

Suarez said it’s a shame that some far-left activists find what she does so controversial.

“By and large, these people are cowards. It’s tiring. It’s not productive,” she explained.

We Heart Seattle connects homeless people with services, while cleaning up encampments. But Suarez rejects the failed “housing first” and “harm reduction models” that she said helped create the homelessness crisis she’s trying to address.

Suarez said she pulled surveillance footage to share with Seattle Police.

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“I have five amendments going forward, making it to where we affirm everybody’s access to gender affirming care,” Bingle said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “No. 1, it says no city dollars, directly or indirectly, should be used for puberty blockers. No. 2, it protects the parents’ right to know. No. 3, it protects conscientious objection. No. 4, it says no men in women’s bathrooms.”

Lastly, his fifth proposed amendment would bar men from competing in women’s sports.

Do the amendments have a chance at passing?

The legislation also defines sex as the biological indication of male and female, barring the use of phrases such as biological male or biological female. Although he doesn’t expect the amendments to pass, Bingle is worried the Legislature might snuff out the discussion entirely.

“Because there’s a super majority on our city council (and) they like to play procedural games, I have every indication that they might shut down debate early,” Bingle said.

Even though he is discouraged, Bingle is determined to bring his side of the conversation to light, even if the Legislature puts an end to his proposed amendments.

“Is it fair to say the intention behind all of your amendments is just about getting the conversation going and raising awareness?” Jason Rantz asked Bingle. “You don’t think any of your amendments will pass, right?”

“Correct, absolutely none of my amendments will pass,” Bingle answered. “And the frustrating thing about this is, like I said, this is largely regulated by state and federal agencies, so this is mostly performative. But every opportunity that I get, where I get to protect the vulnerable, i.e. women and children, I am not going to miss that opportunity. We’re going to stand up for those who are seemingly being overrun right now by an ideology.”

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Morgan claimed that Alvarado violated state laws (RCW 42.52.020 and RCW 42.52.110) due to her role as vice president. He argued that Alvarado has a conflict of interest, as legislators are prohibited from holding certain positions with organizations that engage in lobbying. This week, he appeared on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH to discuss his ethics complaint against Alvarado in more detail.

“She actually has a paid lobbyist as well, and she’s head of their organization,” Morgan said. “And then, the lobbyist is lobbying for the policy that she’s drafted and endorsed and signed.”

In 2016, Morgan founded , an outlet dedicated to supporting conservative movements and fighting against corrupt politicians. He previously filed similar complaints against other state senators, resulting in fines.

The bill in question is , which looks to cap rent increases at 7% for most units and 5% for mobile homes, with some exceptions, according to .

Senator faces conflict of interest complaint

Conflicts of interest arise all the time; however, the proper course of action, according to Morgan, is to refrain from voting on them. And while he acknowledged that similar conflicts of interest are common, he believes this situation is particularly egregious.

“They can dance around these rules if they want to, but this isn’t even pretending to do that. This is just flat out; she was violating it,” Morgan said. “It’s a little bit more significant of a violation than some of those other ones that I’ve had.”

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But the activist said that’s not quite what happened.

The man, who goes by “James Madison,” after classes ended, prompting “concern and disruption,” the district said in a March 28 email to families and staff. He said he was visiting to submit a public records request and check up on claims that the school was mismanaging equipment and having issues with the property, including a problem with the sewage system.

One staff member seemed alarmed when the man , and did not let him in. He was filming with a camera on his chest while wearing a wig that came with long hair, a long moustache and a full beard covering his face. He also had on thick ski goggles.

The school’s principal “monitored and responded to the situation,” according to the email.

What was the cause for concern?

According to the district, the activist has visited the district office three times over the past seven months.

Officials said he has “recorded staff, attempted to record computer monitors, and asked staff to verbally interact with him.” They also confirmed he was previously seen on an elementary school campus after hours when no one was present.

The district labeled his actions as consistent with those of “First Amendment Auditors,” individuals who film in public spaces to “test, assert and document their constitutional rights.”

In response, the district said it’s taking several steps, including working with law enforcement to bar the individual from all district campuses, and updating school protocols on handling unauthorized visitors. The school called King County Sheriff’s deputies during the last incident, but they did not issue a citation to the man, noting he had the right to record on public property.

‘James Madison’ responds

The activist operates a YouTube called “Auditing Liberty.” A site description says, “We expose Karens, hypocrisy, and those looking to stifle our freedoms and actively hurt others.”

In a recent video, the activist responded to the district letter, saying he didn’t do anything illegal, so he’s not sure how he could be considered a trespasser.

“There was not a single thing listed [by the district] that was illegal, that was threatening, including recording people, that is not a threat,” he said. “‘Oh my gosh, don’t get me on your camera.’ There’s nothing violent, threatening, or even intimidating. There’s nothing at all. There’s no apparent risk to a single person, child, or dog.”

He said he was on campus to file a public records request and noted that he had a First Amendment right to record and be on property after school hours.

“It’s a very stupid email,” he said.

However, Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has expressed his opposition to hiring non-citizens. He cites concerns about their ability to carry firearms and the thoroughness of background checks. Swank also doubts that this bill will significantly impact law enforcement staffing.

“I do not want to have police officers who are not citizens enforcing the laws of our country or of our state against people who are citizens. That’s what it comes down to,” Sheriff Swank explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “I don’t know how you can look at it and say, this non citizen—and they could be a great person—is going to arrest the citizen of America under these laws. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

It’s unclear if DACA recipients can carry firearms as cops

Swank notes that not all non-citizens, such as those under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), can legally carry firearms. DACA recipients are generally prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under federal law.

DACA recipients are generally prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under .

However, according to a Biden-era interpretation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that DACA recipients “can possess duty firearms and ammunition as part of their official law enforcement officer duties.” But that position may not hold under the Trump administration.

“What do you do if they can’t carry a firearm? They can’t be police officers then? Or do you just give them a firearm and let them violate federal law?” Swank asked.

He also raised concerns about the additional scrutiny or legal liability if a non-citizen officer used deadly force. Would a consulate get involved, and what would that mean?

Concerns over background checks

Swank emphasized his concerns over the background check process.

He conducts thorough background checks for potential deputies, but he said it’s problematic if someone comes from a foreign country, as they can’t verify their history in their country of origin.

“I’m all for people that are here legally, that are working to join the military, to become a citizen that way. I’m all for all the other jobs for them to have, except to be in law enforcement, arresting United States citizens,” Swank said.

Help with staffing? Not a chance

The Pierce County Sheriff also rejects the state legislature’s claim that this bill will help with staffing. He argues that there are not enough non-citizens in Washington to significantly impact the staffing crisis in law enforcement agencies.

“The reason why it’s hard to hire law enforcement officers in Washington state is because of the laws passed in Olympia that make it so problematic for deputies and officers, where they are afraid that if they do something, use force on somebody, they’ll be looked at as, ‘Maybe we should charge that deputy or officer with a crime?’ That’s why we’re having difficulty hiring people,” Swank noted.

He said it’s already challenging to find qualified officers from the general American population. Most Americans, he notes, aren’t qualified to be officers. Using a smaller population size won’t suddenly produce more qualified candidates.

Advice for non-citizens interested in law enforcement jobs in Washington state

Swank says he’s received mostly positive feedback on his position. Most Washingtonians, he said, didn’t even know this bill was being considered. He also clarified that if a non-citizen becomes an American citizen, qualified applicants will have a place in the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff offered advice for DACA recipients who aspire to be police officers.

“I know it’s laborious to become a citizen, but do what you can become a citizen if you want to serve, and you ultimately want to be in law enforcement. I was in the military. Join the military, do a couple years there, become a citizen there, and then come join the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. We’d love to have you here, but you need to be a citizen,” he said.

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Constantine has served as the county executive of King County since 2009. One of his biggest critics, Burien Council member Stephanie Mora, is celebrating his transition away from King County executive.

“I am very excited that he’s no longer going to be in charge of King County,” Mora said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “I’m a little frustrated that he’s going to be the CEO of Sound Transit, but I am happy that we no longer have to deal with him as far as being the executive for King County.”

Constantine beat out more than 60 other candidates, including four who were chief executives of other U.S. transit agencies. Critics of Constantine’s appointment noted that he selected several members for the council who subsequently helped decide who would helm Sound Transit.

How Constantine plans to staff Sound Transit police

One of Constantine’s immediate decisions as Sound Transit’s CEO is to relocate police officers from White Center to Sound Transit.

“That’s going to put a huge strain on our city because the City of Burien is one of the police forces that answers for White Center if they need extra help,” Mora said. “It’s very frustrating. We do have a lot of crime that happens in (Metro), but I don’t think we’re going to see even a benefit anytime soon. I’m wondering how him being the CEO is going to fix or even change that. I’m hoping that it ends up better than I’m expecting, but there is a little fear in me that knowing how he ran King County and what he did to the City of Burien with our police force, it does put a little fear in me.”

Listen to the full conversation here:

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Jovinni Martinez-Rodriguez, 27, was arrested on Sunday, according to ICE Seattle. They said they’re deporting him back to Mexico.

According to Skagit County court records, Martinez-Rodriguez was arrested in Burlington after police were dispatched to a physical domestic violence call on March 2, 2024. Police said Martinez-Rodriguez’s girlfriend called 911 and reported that he pulled her out of a vehicle and “strangled (the victim) with both of his hands for five minutes,” following an argument.

Working with , arrested Jovanni Martinez-Rodriguez, 27, a citizen of Mexico previously removed from the U.S. and charged by WA with domestic violence assault. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

— ICE Seattle (@EROSeattle)

He denied the assault

When friends began to call 911, police said Martinez-Rodriguez fled in a vehicle. The victim reported feeling dizzy, but was otherwise physically unharmed.

Martinez-Rodriguez was arrested the following day. He denied the assault and said he was the one assaulted by his friends.

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The bill, which has garnered bipartisan support, allows unions representing state employees to negotiate for a second publicly funded retirement pension, according to Maxford Nelson, Director of Research and Government Affairs at the Freedom Foundation. He has serious concerns about the bill.

“House Bill 1069 would open the door for unions to bargain with the state for a second pension, which is union-operated and union-managed,” Nelson explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “Why should taxpayers be on the hook for two pensions for state employees?”

Nelson highlighted that public employees in Washington already have state-funded pensions managed by the Department of Retirement Systems.

“Unions want the ability to bargain over retirement benefits for state employees, which historically has not been the case at the state level,” he explained.

Retirement pension bill gets support from some GOP members

The bill has received support from some Republicans, which Nelson attributes to its presentation by the Teamsters Union.

“The Teamsters argue that some corrections employees want to retire early and need the right to purchase health benefits from a union fund to bridge the gap until they are eligible for state benefits,” Nelson said. “However, the bill opens up collective bargaining over everything, including medical and retirement benefits.”

Nelson warned that similar arrangements at the municipal level have led to poorly managed and underfunded pension plans.

“These private sector pension plans needed a $90 billion bailout from the Biden administration to stay afloat,” he said. “Unions see public sector members as a way to keep these plans afloat.”

Despite the bill’s bipartisan support, Nelson urged citizens to contact their state legislators.

“Even if they don’t think you’re going to listen, it’s important to let them know what you’re thinking,” he said. “The fiscal reality in the state right now is not good, and opening up this massive loophole for unions to drive up the cost of public employee pensions is fiscal insanity.”

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“I ended up getting a ticket a while back. I swear up and down it was for 22 miles an hour,” Stanzel said on “The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.” “I thought that was pretty Mickey Mouse and started looking into it, and found out exactly how these programs work, and I had some problems with it.”

Stanzel’s investigation revealed the funds collected from these cameras often do not go towards safety programs as initially promised.

“They did actually put it back into the general fund, which they claimed they weren’t doing,” he explained.

Traffic cameras make Edgewood about $500,000 annually

In Edgewood, the cameras have generated about $500,000 a year, but Stanzel questions their effectiveness.

“Since 2014 to 2019, there was never an incident, not one incident, in an Edgewood school zone that was reported,” he said. “So they’ve accomplished nothing other than collect revenue.”

Stanzel has taken his concerns to local officials, including the mayor and police chief, and has set up a petition on to gather support.

“There’s a lot of people that are very upset about these cameras,” he noted. “Edgewood is the only city in the Puyallup School District with traffic enforcement cameras, and it’s probably one of the safest school zones and cities in the area.”

Despite mixed studies on the effectiveness of traffic cameras, Stanzel remains determined to see them removed.

“It just doesn’t seem like there was really a purpose in Edgewood to stand those things up in the first place,” he said. “They never performed a traffic study. They just held up that company, and they had them start standing them up, and they’re paying them $400,000 a year to write these tickets.”

On his website, Stanzel said the Edgewood Police Department has issued 23,570 citations and has collected over $3,432,880 since October 2019. Stanzel has a for people who want to see the cameras removed.

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The result? Eyman and others were removed from the public hearing by security.

“The room there was packed full of people that were against the bill, yet all the Chair did was continually call on people remotely that were in favor of the bill,” Eyman said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “It was completely stacked. You have all these people that drove in on a weekday from out of town, and yet they were prohibited from speaking, and it was just really outrageous. This farce went on for like an hour.”

Eyman says 80.5% signed initiative against House Bill 1296

According to Eyman, more than 5,500 regular citizens signed an initiative against House Bill 1296—80.5%—while just 1,300 favored the changes.

“We have 5,500 people that are opposed to this bill, and you’re not listening to them, and then they cut off the mic and called over security,” Eyman said. “I mean, they made my point. It was just a perfect example of the way they’re acting down there. They have the votes to do whatever they want, but that’s not good enough.”

The biggest concern for Eyman and other people voting against the changes that House Bill 1296 presents is how the prioritization pivots from parents back to the government.

“They had almost a unanimous Legislature agree, we’re going to change the policy of the law that says the parents are No. 1, the government is No. 2,” Eyman said. “This bill that they’re pushing puts government right back at No. 1, and parents probably even lower than No. 2 in the category.”

What’s next for HB 1296?

HB 1296 is now moving forward in the legislative process and faces further discussion in the Senate. Advocates from both sides continue to debate the balance between safeguarding student privacy and ensuring robust parental involvement.

Eyman is convinced House Bill 1296 will pass in the House and the Senate with ease, meaning it will come down to a decision by Governor Bob Ferguson.

“It’s a small price to pay to have security walk over and ask me to get out of the room,” Eyman told “The Jason Rantz Show.” “It’s a small price to pay to be castigated by the Chair. If they’re taking away our rights, if they’re taxing us to death, I don’t see the problem in us being more vocal about it and not being so concerned about being polite about it.”

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Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the University of Washington, Cliff Mass, told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Tuesday to expect a thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Mass said the Storm Prediction Center has an area of enhanced concern over the Northwest.

“We’re getting very high values of something called CAPE, convective available potential energy,” he explained.

CAPE, he added, is used to measure how much energy there potentially could be in a thunderstorm. Mass said the thunderstorm will bring wind and lightning but will be most prominent in the Cascades.

“Thunderstorms are going to be on the east side and towards the foothills of the Cascades,” he explained. “I think it’s going to decrease as you get over Seattle and over to the Kitsap. So, it is definitely going to be an east-west gradient of this thunderstorm. So expect to see it on the Cascades and on the foothills and cascades. I think that’s where it’s really going to hit.”

Storm could cause power outages

Mass said the storm may knock out power locally, but the damage will not be nearly as broad as the big cyclone and wind events.

“There could very well be a few localized power outages, particularly in the east side, but it’s not going to be all over the place,” he said.

What about tornadoes?

����Xվ 7 Meteorologist Nick Allard a low tornado threat but overall a greater chance to see the wind event in the region.

To which Mass said, “Tornadoes, I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“I mean, there have been tornadoes here, but they’re very rare,” he continued.

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