SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Dori: Jay Inslee makes you pay for troopers to rent skis, bikes
Nov 20, 2018, 7:23 AM
In this photo taken June 21, 2018 and provided by the National Governors Association, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, right, and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, left, sit in front of a painting made by Inslee as they take part in a panel titled "The Intersection Between the Arts and Commerce in the States" at a meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Rebecca Drobis/National Governors Association via AP)
(Rebecca Drobis/National Governors Association via AP)
With all of Jay Inslee’s cross-country travel to promote other Democratic governors, the Washington State Patrol’s Executive Protection Unit — Jay Inslee’s eight-person security detail, akin to the president’s Secret Service — is asking for a huge increase in what you and I pay for the governor’s security when he travels around for Democratic events.
The State Patrol’s EPU had a $2.6 million allotment this fiscal year, but is going $400,000 over budget; overtime and travel account for 62 percent of that, according to The Seattle Times. They say they need another $1.3 million because the governor is going to continue to travel in order to, as we know, up his visibility as he prepares for his 2020 presidential run.
Can anybody explain to me why you and I have to pay for this? Is there one person who can explain why the Democratic Party does not pay for Jay Inslee to be the Democratic Governors Association chair and travel around the country in this role?
Apparently, troopers must drive Jay Inslee to events and fly with him around the country. Because troopers have to stay close to the governor, they have flown business class with him, and have even rented skis and bikes to be near him at all times.
So we’re paying for state patrol officers to ski and go bike-riding because Inslee and the Democratic Party won’t pay for his own protection as he goes on his own pre-presidential campaign travels around the nation. Meanwhile, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve got a drug and crime problem in this entire region that is horrible. Maybe we would do better spending that money on treatment, rehab, mental health counseling, and jail time instead of renting cross-country skis in Montana.
It’s just a thought. I know, I know — prioritization is not something our politicians are particularly good at. But I find it absolutely outrageous that you and I have to spend our hard-earned dollars on this travel when it’s purely for one-party politicking.
RELATED: Governor Inslee spends more time traveling than fixing Washington
Follow @http://www.twitter.com/dorimonson
