Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Happy New Year? New WA Laws Take Effect, Reducing Liberty for All
Most states have new laws which take effect in January. California has a new law preventing its doctors from disagreeing with the medical establishment, on pain of losing their licenses. Here are some of the wonderful new laws taking effect in Washington.
The statewide minimum wage rises to $15.74/hour, and this applies all across the state. In places like Eastern Washington, with sparse population density, my prediction is lower employment across the board, as small businesses simply cannot afford to pay their employees such inflated wages. In Seattle, the minimum wage rises to $16.50/hour. There may be some job losses, but most businesses will simply increase their prices, contributing to the very high cost of living in Western Washington.
The Pay Transparency law now takes effect.
employers with 15 or more employees are required in job posts to include the wage scale or a salary range, plus a general description of the benefits offered. Employers also must provide existing employees who are promoted or offered a new position with a wage scale or salary range of the new role, the law said.
A new Rideshare Drivers Rights law takes effect. Those oppressed drivers now have the “right” to minimum trip pay, paid sick leave, workers’ compensation pay, and employers are prevented from retaliating against drivers for exercising those “rights.” Prediction? Higher fares, fewer riders, and lower overall pay for drivers.
New reductions in Second Amendment rights for gun buyers and owners.
A gun regulation will go into effect early in 2023 that prohibits selling or purchasing ‘ghost guns.’ Beginning March 10, 2023, Washingtonians cannot knowingly or recklessly possess, transport or receive an unfinished frame or receiver that has not been imprinted with a serial number issued by a federally licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, dealer or other federal licensee authorized to imprint serial numbers, according to giffords.org.
…
The crackdown on ghost guns comes after the state prohibited the distribution or sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition on July 1.
As predicted, deductions for the state “family and medical leave” premiums rise in 2023. There is NO limiting principle on these fees.
The rate for paid family and medical leave premiums will increase to .8% on Jan. 1 as employers will pay 27.24% of the total premium and employees will pay 72.76%.
Businesses classified by the Employment Security Department as having fewer than 50 employees are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium but must still collect the employee premium, according to the Washington Hospitality Association.
And this is what the DemocRats who run the state have in store for the 2023 legislative session.
Democrats throughout Washington state will introduce numerous abortion protections during the 2023 legislative session, including a reproductive health bill package that features a constitutional amendment codifying the right to an abortion, a prohibition on non-healthcare-related organizations to access patients’ health data and the prevention of healthcare consolidation from restricting patient choice, according to stateofreform.com.
The Holy Sacrament of Abortion will now be enshrined in the state Constitution. The Culture of Death rules the State of Washington. Which, by the way, was the first state to approve “human composting.”
All quotes in this post are taken from an article on the KOMO Web site about new laws taking effect in 2023.
Locally, more reductions of individual liberty are being enacted. The city of Tacoma has just lowered their city speed limits, ostensibly to reduce traffic accidents.
And, as usual, a church in Seattle is pleading for help from the City, due to an expanding homeless camp near the church making it unsafe for parishioners to attend church. Response from the city government? “We’re working on it.”
I count no fewer than four separate articles on the KOMO Web site today, describing various shootings in Western and Central Washington. Never a day goes by without new news of someone being shot.
Happy new year, Washington.
Published in General
Leftists never think that leftism is the problem. At most, they figure that the problem is not being leftist ENOUGH.
At my place of work, I was salaried and didn’t have to bother punching the clock. Preferred it that way. Now the state says I have to punch the clock. Thanks, WA.
How cute that someone seems to think there’s a difference between “employers will pay” and “employees will pay.” Anyone who has worked with payroll budgeting knows the only answer is “employees will pay the whole thing.” It may not appear as a line item on their pay stubs, but it will be hidden as a reduction in gross pay rate. Anything an employer has to pay on behalf of an employee is part of the cost of having the employee on the payroll, and will reduce the amount that can be paid directly to the employee.
You know, even though early on I saw so much value in the thinking of conservatives on this board, my first 18 months here I really thought that the idea that people of color committed most of the crimes was simply a Republican talking point.
Then on one of my numerous trips into the San Francisco area, my tape player was broken. So I had to listen to the radio and its half hour news reports. And just inside San Francisco limits there would be three murders every two days, all of them gang-related and committed by Asian, hispanic or African American gang members. It was quite eye opening to finally “get” it.
When I listen to college radio stations, some of them in Germany near our military bases, there are continual “public service” announcements that the horrid burden of paying for crimes is being unfairly handed over to innocent people from the community of people of color. This is a steady relentless bit of propaganda.
And so when even our military is brain washed, what can we expect but our state legislators across the nation to start acting like certain groups of people don’t commit serious crimes and they must be forgiven for those minor crimes that occasionally they might accidentally commit?
Yet on top of this lunatic-leniency, we who are law-abiding must answer to more and more draconian gun laws.
Rush babe, I have heard that there are several lawsuits going after the new Calif law that stipulates what doctors can or cannot say in terms of medical knowledge. (A most clear violation of the First Amendment.)
I am rather sure that some of these will be rather well funded.
Yes, the suits were filed before the law went into effect. In the meantime the law is in effect. I think all doctors should defy it and dare the state medical board to pull their licenses.
I wish they would, but that’s a pretty big investment you’re asking them to risk.
You really think the state would pull the licenses of hundreds of doctors at once?
They only have to scare a few.
No, they should just move to another state. There are doctor shortages everywhere.
This just blows my mind.
Can you imagine being 15 or 16 years old, with (as @henryracette once eloquently put it) nothing to offer other than energy and enthusiasm, and making sixteen bucks an hour??!! Teenaged me is bright green with envy. And those poor employers! Fat chance they are getting $16 of value for those hours of “work”.
The year I spent teaching in juvenile hall in Seattle was a pretty good indicator of who is committing crimes. The vast majority of the population of the hall was blacks. I did an informal survey of the kids I worked with and did not find one kid who did not have one or more gun charge against him. We had kids who were in an out on a weekly basis. They would steal a car, get caught, get jailed, and then released, then a few days later they were back again on a similar charge. The revolving door was remarkable. I am sure that there are a lot of whites committing crimes. The difference is that as percentage of their demographic, there are far more black kids involved in criminal activity than any other racial group. Hispanics are also over represented in that population of inmates. Asians were rare as hen’s teeth.
Of the kids I worked with directly I have to say that the majority fit into the category of Conduct Disorder as defined in the DSM. These were people who would likely commit crimes throughout their lives as they simply lacked any sense of responsibility for their acts or empathy for their victims. They were often master manipulators, even in their teens. It is easy to see how parole boards or justices could be convinced of their, if not innocence, at least their willingness to reform. It is all an act, well rehearsed and convincingly acted out. Of course, the modern prosecutors don’t need much convincing, so the whole thing is a great farce. I have said it before, and I repeat: I am so happy to be retired and living in a relatively rural environment, well armed, and well trained if the need arises.