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May 20, 2022
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
One of my favorite events during the interim between legislative sessions is the Eastern Washington Legislative Tour, hosted by the Pullman and Clarkston chambers of commerce. This annual event attracts several legislators from the west side of the Cascades and gives them an opportunity to learn more about our region and talk with some of its key people.
This year’s tour began Sunday afternoon with a visit to the Whitman County town of Malden, which was nearly destroyed by the Labor Day wildfire in 2020. Participants then attended a panel discussion on agricultural issues, hosted by the McGregor Company in Mockonema. The issues covered included local and international marketing, challenges facing family farms, transportation, and the Snake River dams.
After staying Sunday night in Pullman, tour participants hopped on a bus that took them to Tri-State Memorial Hospital in Clarkston for a health-care panel discussion that covered COVID-19, rural health care and workforce shortages.
The group then had lunch while receiving a higher-education presentation given by Walla Walla Community College and Spokane Falls Community College. Afterward, everyone stepped aboard tour boats at the Port of Clarkston and went on a short cruise to Lower Granite Dam, including a journey through the locks there. The tour participants then stepped off the boats and stepped back on the bus for the trip back to Pullman.
 Washington State University was one of the stops during this week's legislative tour of eastern Washington.
On Tuesday the group traveled to Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories for a short tour before going to the Washington State University campus to take a tour of WSU’s animal-disease diagnostic lab. After attending a panel discussion on border issues facing Pullman and Clarkston, the visiting legislators and staff had a wrap-up discussion before we all went our separate ways.
Senate Republican Leader Braun again calls for suspension of state gas tax
Even though it’s been mentioned in some previous E-Commentaries, it’s worth pointing out again how gas and diesel prices have reached historically high amounts here in Washington, adding to the terrible financial burden many individuals and families are facing during this period of very high inflation.
One of our Senate Republican staffers did some research on gas prices in Washington over the past 18 months or so. What he learned will make you shake your head: In January 2021, the average gas price in Washington was $2.68 a gallon. Today, the average gas price is $5.15 a gallon, an increase of $2.47 a gallon. (At some gas stations, regular unleaded gas costs $5.50 or more!)
According to our staffer, if a family has two cars that each get 20 mpg and each car is driven 20,000 miles a year, they’ll need to buy 1,000 gallons of gas a year per car. If prices stay at the current level, this family will pay $2,470 more annually for gas in each car (or nearly $5,000 more for the two cars) than they did in January 2021 – less than 18 months ago.
Drivers – from families to delivery people to truckers – need and deserve relief from these skyrocketing gas prices. That is why our state should take action to help drivers. On Monday my colleague, Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia, renewed his call for the state to suspend the state portion of the gas tax, which is 49.4 cents a gallon. Senator Braun said the following about this issue:
“In a matter of hours, the Legislature could meet and pass legislation to knock almost 50 cents off the price of a gallon. In the central Puget Sound area, gas has gone up 31 cents per gallon on average in the month since Republicans last called for legislative intervention. How much higher does it have to go before our Democratic colleagues decide their constituents should get some relief?
“The May revenue collection report is up 428 million dollars from the February revenue forecast. Clearly, the gas tax could be suspended through the end of this year – as Republicans first proposed during this year’s legislative session – without jeopardizing a single state program or service. The majority party should be able to agree on that point.
“The federal government has been ineffective at slowing the rise in fuel costs. Democrats at all levels can blame Putin all they want, but that’s not the underlying cause of the price increases, and in any case the Ukraine situation isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon. Our Legislature represents the only real hope for the people of Washington to pay significantly less at the pump.
“If our Democratic colleagues here in Washington are OK with the soaring gas prices because they see it as a way to get people out of their cars, I wish they’d come out and say so. If not, they should join with us to call a special session and suspend the gas tax with a strong bipartisan vote that could deter a veto. We have an affordability crisis in this state, and reducing the cost of fuel is a good way to get at that.”
Totally agreed. Our Democratic colleagues and Governor Inslee should call a special session right away. But I strongly doubt they’ll do it.
Fish and Wildlife needs to address Blue Mountains’ declining elk numbers
Many hunters in the 9th District and other areas in our state enjoy elk hunting in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington. The recent news that predators in these mountains are causing a decline in elk numbers is causing hunters to be very concerned.
That’s what prompted many hunters, ranchers and others to gather at an Asotin County Commission meeting early this week to tell their frustrations to state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials. You can read the Lewiston Tribune story about the meeting here. This part of the Tribune story stands out:
Anatone rancher Jay Holzmiller, a former Fish and Wildlife commissioner, said the elk population numbers in the Blues are “in the toilet,” and the majority of deaths are caused by mountain lions. However, when area stakeholders bring up the predator issue to the current commission, the conversation ends.
Four of the nine fish and wildlife commissioners are solid hunters, Holzmiller said, but the other five appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee have questioned the numbers and seem unwilling to take action on predators.
“We’re facing a pretty uphill challenge,” Holzmiller said. “As soon as we started talking about predation, we hit a brick wall.”
After reading the recent story by the Lewiston Tribune’s Eric Barker about the declining elk numbers, I wrote a letter to the editor in response. You can read my letter here. Here is the text:
I appreciate Eric Barker’s accurate May 5 report (Spokesman Review) on the trouble facing the Blue Mountain elk population. Based on visits with my 9th Legislative District hunters and property owners who possess real knowledge of the situation, it’s hard to swallow the state’s estimated increase of 300 animals. I suspect this number is wrong, based more on calf mortality in former and current years because sportsmen and property owners are not seeing the elk. If it’s based on Oregon data, then the counts are off on both sides of the border.
Elk hunting is more than part of our state’s heritage and culture; it’s important to the economies of the cities and towns in and around the Blue Mountains, which are already under stress due to the COVID mandates. Unfortunately, for the past several years the lack of elk has caused many hunters, including me, to skip the yearly trek to the Blues – and the situation isn’t going to correct itself.
The WDFW Commission must do more than simply acknowledge that 116 of the 125 elk calves fitted with radio-tracking collars a year ago failed to survive the year, mostly due to predation. Whether it’s bears, wolves or mountain lions killing the calves, there is little chance of restoring the elk population in the Blue Mountains unless and until the commissioners wake up and take action to limit, if not reduce, the predators. It’s not difficult to do, just a matter of priorities.
Let me know if you need help or have an idea
Even though this year's legislative session is over, I'm your state senator year-round. If you wish to discuss an issue or concern with me, or if you need help with a problem involving state government, please reach out to me by email at mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov or give my legislative office a call at 360-786-7620. I'd like to hear from you!
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I welcome your comments about anything in this newsletter and questions about what I’m doing on your behalf in the state Senate. Please call, email or write using the contact information at the end of this report.
Click here to visit my legislative webpage!
Legislative Email: Mark.Schoesler@leg.wa.gov
Legislative Phone: (360) 786-7620
Toll-Free: 1 (800) 562-6000
Olympia Address:
204 Newhouse Building
P.O. Box 40409
Olympia WA 98504-0409
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