As the first week of business wrapped up in Olympia on January 12, the state GOP sent out a press release decrying the Democrats' agenda. With an eye on Senator Rosa Franklin's (D-29, Tacoma) income-tax bill, Senator Ed Murray's (D-43, Seattle) gay-marriage bill, and a proposal to increase legislative salaries from $36,000 to $42,000, the press release trashed the Democrats for "creating their own mandate to impose a state income tax, redefine marriage, and increase their own paychecks while ignoring the real priorities of transportation [and] education."
The GOP complaint concluded: "Week one of the Democrats' agenda is not what the people of Washington want."
In addition to the fact that the legislative pay-raise proposal isn't a Democratic bill (or even a bill at all), but a mandate from a citizens' commission, the GOP attack is a canard. First of all, the GOP is lying about the Democrats' priorities. In just one week, I count at least 46 bills about schools, including one that pushes a major Democratic priority—changing the local levy hurdle from a supermajority public vote to a simple majority. Also on the Democratic list: aid for low-income public-school students, shoring up accountability measures to meet education standards, and expanding high-school-completion programs.
I also count 17 transportation bills, including one that would make sure highway development is in sync with the Growth Management Act.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are zooming in on several other real priorities such as a drug copayment bill for seniors, a health-care-coverage bill for children, and a bill to outlaw toxic flame-retardants.
Second, and more important—whether the GOP wants to acknowledge it or not—the Democrats won in a landslide in November. They now control the state house 62–36 and the state senate 32–17. Tax reform and gay rights happen to be real priorities for Democratic voters.
Indeed, if there's a legitimate criticism of the Democrats, it's that the income-tax bill has only two cosponsors: Senator Franklin and Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36, Ballard, Queen Anne), and it probably won't even get a hearing.
So, let's cherry pick a few GOP bills from last week to get a sense of the Republican Party agenda. Hmmm... let's see, they're sponsoring a bill to exempt fraternal orders from paying property taxes, sponsoring a bill to make it legal to "run down or harass" elk and deer from your snowmobile, and they're talking up a bill to outlaw gay marriage.
So, how's this for a week one press release? The Democrats are for marriage and a fair tax system (under our current sales-tax system, the richest 1 percent pay just 3 percent of their income in taxes while the poorest 20 percent pay 17 percent.) And the GOP is for tax giveaways, cruelty to animals, and discrimination. 
