Gary Parker's Column
Gary Parker's comments.
Friends,
Well it's been 77 days since the legislative session ended and I sent my last report. There are currently 179 day left until the next legislative session begins.
In the 77 days that have passed, we have seen 423 bills get signed into law and most will go into effect in 12 days. Including the biggest taxing package we the people have ever experienced. Yes, I used the word experienced on purpose because as a business owner I can tell you first hand that supply chain costs are on their way up -- Way up, and consumer spending levels are down. I am personally experiencing much less tourism this year. Which tells me that there are a lot less people seeing Washington as a destination. At least here in Gig Harbor. Further, by now we have all heard our three legislative leaders from the 26th struggle to answer our data driven questions. To quote Representative Richards "this session was a gut punch". and his party has a super majority! As a constituent that spent hundreds of hours tracking this last session, I agree with him. I could go on but everyone here gets the point. It's a mess and we the people are going to pay the price in so many ways.
We have also seen the election season move into high gear with Michelle Caldier and Deb Krishnadasan spearheading this year's ballot. As they both reach out to earn your trust and take the Senate seat in January, we need to remember to stay data driven. I want to remind each of you that you have a leg up on most voters. We have chatted multiple times about the six constitutional obligations of a Washington State legislator. We know from our discussion that this is the only true measurement of a political candidate who sat in the seat this term. I have given this team the voting records of these two candidates ( if you didn't receive it then just reach out and I will send it to you) and you have your notes from the session updates. So I encourage you to take the list of obligations and voting records and truly evaluate if you think they have represented you, your beliefs and did the best they could for the people of the 26th. I will not violate your trust by sharing my personal opinion but I do think the conclusion is obvious if you look at the data that has been provided. One last thing on this point. Please don't fall victim to the things you read on Facebook, in mailers and text messages. The soft pacs have so much money and freedom to say anything they want that they sway the average voters. We are data driven here. We know how the candidates have performed for us. Use your knowledge for good.
We don't often talk about things at the federal level but how could I resist helping this team understand the Big Beautiful Bill. What a piece of work. 817 pages of federal reconciliation. Who could possibly know what that bill actually says? The answer? You do. Attached to this email is a breakdown of the entire content of the Big Beautiful Bill. Yes, I put each section in plain English for you. Now when you hear a talking head make one claim or another, you have the ability to look at the details for yourself. Each section has been converted into a simple format that makes it easy to read and understand. Need more detail? In addition to my breakdown I have also included the actual bill so you have the legislative text as reference. My personal use model is when I hear something on TV or read a wild claim I simply search on the key words. Jump to the sections and read it. It only takes a minute. Try it!
Moving forward I wanted to spend a few minutes with you talking about The Pierce County Charter Review. Most, if not all the people I meet don't even know what this race is. However, I am here to tell you that this race is supercritical and we need to engage in it. The Pierce county charter review is a citizens commission to review the operating rules of Pierce county. It is a constitution of sorts and every 10 years the county council has to elect and fund a citizen committee to review and make change recommendations to the charter. These proposed amendments are then placed on the next election ballot for citizen approval. These potential changes cover complex topics like powers of the executives,the council, the courts, districting changes, elections and many more. If you live in Pierce county you only get this opportunity once every 10 years . That's why we must engage in this election. Unfortunately, the people of the county don't really understand what this race is because this only comes around every ten years. OK. With that said, I want to tell you that I am running for a seat on this commission. It's just that important. So, I am asking for two things from this team. First, Vote for me. If you like the unbiased, Data Driven way I do the work and drill into data I am your guy for District 7, Position 2. Second, Tell all your friends and family that this is important and they need to vote and turn in their ballots.
Number two is super important because so many people just don't vote in these off year elections. I get that but this charter review is a once in a decade opportunity so we need to get the word out. In fact, it is so important that several of us have set up a phone back to call people and let them know they need to turn in their ballots. If you want to participate we would love to have you on the team. We are not asking anyone to do political advocacy, just help us call people and get them to vote. If you are interested in helping with phone bank, just reach out to me and I will get you hooked up with the coordinators. Else, just call all your friends and family. Every ballots counts
On my final note, if you would like a chance to speak with me or some of the other charter candidates you might consider joining us on July 23rd at the Galaxy Theater for dinner and a movie. Yes! Movies and Mixers is back! If you haven't done one of these before you have to try it. The evening starts at 5:00 PM, You get a nice BBQ dinner sponsored by me :-). You get to mingle with candidates, ask them questions, and learn about the issues. Starting at 6:00 PM we kick off the program talking about the charter review and hearing from a few candidates and our Keynote speaker. At 7:15 PM you will be treated to the new Superman movie along with a discounted popcorn offer and we always have a very full candy table set up. Tickets are $45 and you get an evening of entertainment along with dinner and a movie. Not a bad deal. If you are interested Click Here and you will be taken to the registration page.
With that, I will leave to contemplate these topics and enjoy reading the BBB. (see below)
Check our Gary's website here.
Thanks for reading
Gary
