|
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
May 1, 2026
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
It isn’t often that a court rules against a law passed by the Legislature, but that’s what happened this week when a Thurston County judge temporarily halted Senate Bill 5974, the controversial law passed by the Democrat majorities in the House and Senate during this year’s legislative session and then signed by Governor Ferguson. SB 5974 requires county sheriffs and police chiefs to meet tougher eligibility standards, and it requires sheriffs to receive their certification within nine months of taking office if they don’t already have it. Before then, sheriffs had a year to receive it.
But the part of SB 5974 that really upsets people is that if a sheriff doesn’t obtain, or if they lose, certification from the state, or if they otherwise don’t meet the new requirements under this law, they would be forced to vacate their office. I voted against this terrible and unconstitutional bill because I think local voters should decide who their sheriff is, not an unelected state board.
After the governor signed the “anti-sheriffs” bill, four eastern Washington sheriffs filed a lawsuit, arguing the legislation is unconstitutional and asking Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Schaller to temporarily halt it from going into effect while litigation proceeds on SB 5974.
Earlier this week, Judge Schaller agreed to put the brakes on the measure. The Washington State Standard has this story about the judge’s ruling. This part of the article is especially worth reading:
“It is a fundamental right to run for elected office, and to vote for elected office, with very, very few exceptions,” Schaller said, finding the Legislature “may have exceeded its constitutional authority.”
“It appears that the Legislature does not trust the people of the state of Washington to have good judgment” to elect sheriffs who promote trust in law enforcement and enhance public safety, the judge continued in lengthy remarks, delivering her ruling for over 40 minutes.
Schaller noted that the remedy to remove a disappointing elected official should be the next election, and “should not be to attempt to limit the candidate pool, or only allow a narrow class of people to be in a candidate pool by creating multiple qualifications for an elected office.”
However, the issue is far from over, as the state plans to appeal the ruling.
 Governor Ferguson addressing the Legislature in January.
Governor finally fills two PDC vacancies, but is he following state law?
In last week’s E-Commentary, I wrote that Ferguson appointed former King County Superior Court Judge Matthew Segal to one of two vacancies on the state Public Disclosure Commission. Since then, the governor chose Microsoft attorney Teebah Alsaleh to fill the other vacancy.
The Washington State Standard has this story about the governor finally filling the second of the two PDC vacancies.
As I mentioned last week, there is a question whether Ferguson’s recent PDC appointments are legal.
Under the state statute (RCW 29B.20.010) dealing with the PDC, no more than three commissioners shall have an identification with the same political party. The three current commissioners are considered to be identified with the Democrats, while nobody aligned with Republicans had been appointed. That being the case, Governor Ferguson should have appointed at least one person with Republican ties. Clearly, neither of the governor’s recent appointees identifies with Republicans. It can be argued that the two new appointees have Democrat connections. If it is not a violation of the law related to the PDC, it is a violation of the spirit of the law.
The Senate Republican Caucus suggested to the governor that he consider my longtime colleague, former 15th District Republican Senator Jim Honeyford, as a PDC appointee. But the governor obviously decided otherwise.
The PDC was created by Initiative 276 in 1972. The five-member commission enforces state campaign-finance laws.
 A tractor in a wheat field.
Farmers group argue CCA money being spent on anti-ag activities
Even before it went into effect in 2023, other opponents and I argued that the state Climate Commitment Act was going to take away money from hard-working Washingtonians and spend it on programs that fail to do anything to actually reduce carbon emissions in the state.
Here in eastern Washington, the CCA and its cap-and-trade program (or “cap-and-tax,” as I prefer to call it) are especially unpopular since farmers and others have to pay so much more for gas and diesel compared to most other states. By the way, AAA reported that Washington had an average unleaded gas price of $5.57 yesterday, breaking our state’s prior record of $5.55, set in July 2022. AAA says Washington’s gas prices are $1.27 higher than the national average.
There could be another reason to dislike “cap-and-tax.” According to a Center Square story this week, Save Family Farming Executive Director Ben Tindall says an activist group located in Yakima received almost $500,000 in CCA funds and then used that money for political attacks on Washington farms.
“The reality for Washington drivers is that some of the money they’re paying when they fill up is being funneled directly to activist groups like Yakima-based We Are ELLA, which has made a name for itself by pushing misleading and outright false accusations against farmers,” according to Save Family Farming news release.
The Center Square article quotes Tindall saying, “One of the areas where we kind of saw the red flags in these videos was as they were presenting this manipulative or false message, they would then put the Department of Health logo at the end of their video, which caused us to really question, is this being sponsored by the Department of Health?”
It's bad enough that drivers and others have to pay “cap-and-tax” every time they get fuel. But if that money is being used to let some activist group attack Washington agriculture, that is absolutely unacceptable.
 Senator Schoesler with Senator Joe Fain during the 2018 legislative session.
Small-business tax cut isn’t so helpful
In my session recaps at various chamber of commerce and economic development council meetings since this year’s session ended in March, I’ve been discussing the various tax increases imposed by majority Democrats.
But I’ve also talked about a bill passed by the Democrats that gives a small tax cut to small businesses, pointing out that the tax cut is more than offset by tax hikes.
One of my former Senate colleagues, Bellevue Chamber of Commerce CEO Joe Fain, recently made a social-media post that sends the same message that I’ve delivered before different business groups. Here is what Joe wrote in his post:
I have seen a lot of celebration for passing the “largest small business tax cut in Washington State history” – reducing taxes on 138,000 small businesses through passage of the “Millionaire’s Income Tax.”
The math here matters.
The average savings for each of these companies is $200-$400 per year. That doesn’t even put a down payment on the average $938 per year Unemployment Insurance Tax increase that will be phased in the same year for similarly sized companies.
Rank and file legislators are not aware of this. They believe they did something meaningful for small businesses because that’s what they were told.
The largest possible tax cut would cap at $1,920 per year, and would likely be realized by sole practitioners like accountants or lawyers, who won’t see UI increases. But any small business that actually hires employees will get hammered.
Legislators get their information from a well-tuned Rube Goldberg machine that takes facts and data in at one end, and spits out poll tested sound bites at the other. Things can be true and completely meaningless at the same time.
Meetings and events this week
Here is a rundown of my meetings and events this week in or near the 9th District:
- On Wednesday, I attended the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program work group meeting in Moses Lake.
- Thursday saw me meet with Scott Yaeger, the Adams County interim public works director and county engineer, to discuss a sidewalk and ramp replacement in Ritzville.
- Tonight I’ll attend the Odessa Healthcare Foundation Auction at the Odessa Community Center.
Let me know if you need help or have an idea
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!
* * *
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:
417 Legislative Building
P.O. Box 40409
Olympia WA 98504-0409
|
