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Ben Livingston writes in Slog about how the state Office of Financial Management was using some fuzzy calculations to overestimate the tax revenues that’ll be generated by I-502. It’s not terribly unusual to see drug law reformers overstating this case, but it’s a clear sign of how times have changed when a state agency is doing it.

This concern over failing to pull in the expected revenues from I-502 is echoed by Mark Kleiman, the state’s new “pot consultant”, in his recent interview on TVW (which you can see at the bottom of Livingston’s post). From that same interview, Kleiman is additionally concerned about whether people who are already in the medical marijuana community will switch over to the non-medical market when it’s available:

Washington state many he headed toward a situation where recreational sales of marijuana are not profitable due to heavy taxes, regulations and, most importantly, competition from the untaxed “collective gardens” where the state’s medical marijuana is grown, Washington’s newly hired pot consultant said last week.

“Any revenue estimate depends on actually having people come to the licit market rather than having them use one of the parallel markets,” UCLA professor and author Mark Kleiman commented last week’s episode of the Washington-based news program “Inside Olympia.” “What if you gave pot legalization and nobody came? It is entirely possible that by the time we finish regulating and taxing this product, it’s going to be uncompetitive with what you can get at the collective gardens.”

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Obama, you’re better than this:

Speaking at a Bay Area fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, the president said Harris is “brilliant,” “dedicated” and “tough.” Then he added, “She also happens to be, by far, the best-looking attorney general.”

According to reports from the fundraiser, the crowd laughed and Obama said, “It’s true! C’mon.”

Some cringed at the remarks, given the historic hurdles women have faced to be recognized for their accomplishments rather than their looks.

Ugh. No. I mean, I get it: you were trying to pay her a compliment, and it didn’t work. It ended up saying we should judge her on her looks on top of her brilliance, toughness and dedication. It happens, and now is the time to apologize.

– Who could have predicted the GOP budget would be a clusterfuck?

– the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Fortnight for would-be Pacific Northwest coal exporters

– Washington’s tax code is so full of holes it’s a doily

– The religious right are supporting Mark Sanford. Because of course they are.

– Thank God they protected us from Sharia Law!

– Hockey would be more interesting if they had hypersonic gas guns.

Rob McKenna had an editorial in The Seattle Times over the weekend about how the Republican party can come back. I guess I’m doing metacommentary on it.

Op-ed: How Republicans need to change in Washington state

Spoiler, it’s not how they can adjust their policies to be decent, it’s about branding. Now, I won’t say branding is totally bad, but you can only make a bad product look good for so long.

DEFEATS like those suffered by many of my Republican colleagues and me last November are cause for sober reflection, as opposed to finger pointing. Rather than focus on blaming others for our defeats, party leaders and activists should instead consider how changing demographics, rapid technological change and relatively swift shifts in public attitudes have contributed to the Democrats’ recent successes in our state and nationally.

Also, how Democrats’ policy positions have been good for those groups of people. There has been a long move over the last century from the Democrats being the whites only party to being the party of everybody deserves a spot at the table. The GOP has let itself become the party of white male identity politics, and they can’t shake that off without changing policy.

The challenge and opportunity for Republicans is in offering bold solutions that encourage more voters to support GOP candidates.

Fortunately, I’ve seen that constructive approach offered in recent weeks by leaders such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, among others. All have championed forward-looking policies that will benefit all Americans, not just those in battleground states or among narrow constituencies.

Policies that I will say exist, but won’t say what they are.

I heard the same approach last month when I hosted a roundtable with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and two dozen of our state’s most active campaigners. I came out of that meeting impressed that Northwest Republicans, despite our losses, remain motivated to build the party and offer real alternatives to Olympia’s stale political culture.

What same approach? You didn’t say what the approach was, only that you think it exists. Name some policy that you think will help move people rather than some people.

If we want to be trusted to improve our public schools, grow our economy and govern more effectively, then as Northwest Republicans we must build stronger governing coalitions — and we need to welcome new people inside our party’s tent to do so. As Priebus said, we will win through addition and multiplication in our ranks, not through subtraction and division.

I’m not inherently opposed to what he’s trying to say. But again, it’s the GOP policy that isn’t inclusive. It’s the policy that’s cruel. It’s the policy that people don’t want. And even here, he says schools and the economy are important but doesn’t mention any actual policy for improving them. Anyway, blah blah blah, the national party. I’m skipping that.

In the ethnic and minority communities I visited while running for governor, I invariably received a warm welcome and much encouragement.

So I hired someone with a history of making fun of Asians on Twitter. Also, I didn’t mention policy.

And to be clear, if you want to reach out to minority communities, you have to actually reach out to minority communities. The Democrats were once the party of white supremacy and were worse for minorities than the Republicans are now. But the Democrats took the long, difficult, sometimes painful road to inclusion. It cost us the solid South (LBJ said for a generation, but he seems to have underestimated it), and probably more than a few elections in the North. But the party transformed itself by listening, and by actually changing policies. As Darryl’s post this afternoon demonstrates, that’s not something the GOP seems to be willing to do right now.

In the Sikh temples, at Latino and Asian-American community events, in meetings with African-American education reformers, and on the Indian reservations I revisited during my campaign — in all these communities and places, people expressed their appreciation for my presence. But they also asked, “Where are the other Republicans”?

Maybe this would be a good time to mention a policy change that happened when you went to those communities and listened to what they had to say.

They would go on to say, we have seen you many times outside of campaign season, but often our elected officials (in both parties) wait until election year to come around. That must change. In the deepest sense, Republicans “must be present to win,” as in winning over more support in these communities.

Mention policy.

Our candidates must improve their connection to our state’s many diverse communities. Before we can win their votes, we have to spend time in their communities, and not just in the few months before Election Day, to learn how their personal priorities align with Republican principles.

(a) Mention policy. (b) I love how this paragraph reads like like Rob McKenna knows that none of the GOP candidates might actually be from those communities he’s trying to get votes from. What we’re done with the part about trying to recruit minorities without mentioning policy? OK. I’m going to skip over most of the rest of it, and in fairness he will mention vague outlines of policy in his section on getting younger voters. I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this paragraph though:

Fortunately, we are starting from a competitive position in Washington state. In the governor’s race, I won majorities in five of 10 congressional districts, in 31 of the state’s 39 counties and collectively in the 47 legislative districts that were not located entirely within Seattle city limits. To put it in perspective, had fewer than 48,000 of the more than 3 million voters who cast ballots chosen differently, this would be a very different guest column.

TOO BAD WE LET SEATTLE VOTE. It’s always a great way to expand your votes by literally saying if we ignore a segment of the population, we’d have won.

The Republican Party 2012 Autopsy that goes by the name Growth and Opportunity Project is a couple of weeks old now. Two major foci of the report were on messaging and on building “demographic partners.” Essentially, communicating in a way that doesn’t promote the widespread perception that the G.O.P. doesn’t care about people.

Let’s look at today’s news to see how they’re doing.

From the “Killing Us Softly With Our Song” file: Today, RNC Chair Reince Priebus pens a piece at Redstate (via Steve Benen):

The President, the Senate Majority Leader, the House Democratic Leader, and the Chair of the Democratic National Committee (in whose home state this hearing occurred) made funding Planned Parenthood an issue in the 2012 campaign. They should now all be held to account for that outspoken support. If the media won’t, then voters must ask the pressing questions: Do these Democrats also believe a newborn has no rights? Do they also endorse infanticide?

The inference is that if you support Planned Parenthood you support INFANTICIDE! Clearly, users of Planned Parenthood are part of the vast infanticide conspiracy!

There’s one hell of a make-over there! It’s a big tent…unless you support or use the services of Planned Parenthood.

And from the “South Will Do it Again” file: Eleven NC lawmakers come up with a novel interpretation of the U.S. Constitution so that they can do things like establish a State religion:

The Constitution “does not grant the federal government and does not grant the federal courts the power to determine what is or is not constitutional” according to a resolution sponsored by North Carolina House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes (R) and ten of his fellow Republicans — a statement that puts them at odds with over 200 years of constitutional law. In light of this novel reading of the Constitution, Starnes and his allies also claim that North Carolina is free to ignore the Constitution’s ban on government endorsement of religion

Ian Millhiser points out that this is a sorry attempt to undo the Fourteenth Amendment that is a major constitutional legacy of the Civil War.

Really…it IS a big tent, as long as you worship the right God (i.e. atheists and non-Fundamentalist Christians need not apply). Oh…and you believe North Carolina was on the right side of the Civil War.

And, from the “Catholic Schoolgirls Rule” file comes this from Tennessee:

Republicans are taking a second look at [a school voucher] bill after the possibility arose that some Islamic schools could apply for the same funding made available to other religious schools.

The bill is a top priority for Republican Governor Bill Haslam, but several anti-religion lawmakers in the state senate, led by Sen. Bill Ketron who sponsored several anti-Islam bills in the last few years, are hoping to strip away the ability for any school that caters to Muslim children and their families to receive public dollars:

You see…it REALLY IS a big tent UNLESS you worship the RIGHT God (i.e. the Old Testiment God shared by Islam, Christianity and Judaism) but under the wrong brand name.

And from the “Jamie’s Got a Gun” file comes this NPR interview with Rocky Mountain (CO) Gun Owners President Dudley Brown:

“This is a very Western state with traditional Western values,” he says. “And citizens had to have firearms for self-defense, and right now that’s still the case.”

And maybe the need for guns is for reasons bigger than just self-defense….

“I liken it to the proverbial hunting season,” Brown says. “We tell gun owners, ‘There’s a time to hunt deer. And the next election is the time to hunt Democrats.’ ”

Yes…in this time of troubled shootings of school children, politicians, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel and movie-goers, there is nothing that says, “We care about you” more then not-so-subtle calls for violence against your political opponents.

Feel. The. Love. (or else!)

Today’s news blurbs are just a microcosm of a trend that spells big troubles for the future of the G.O.P.:Republicans are increasingly isolated on major political and policy issues”.

It’s a Big Tent…a Big Empty Tent.

– It’s a sign that the right wing are losing the culture war every time they freak out about a Google Doodle.

– Bicycle Sunday is coming up soon, Seattle (h/t).

– The good news is that they had the good sense not superimpose crosshairs on the picture of the president. Baby steps.

– If I Admit That ‘Hating Men’ Is a Thing, Will You Stop Turning It Into a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

– True Facts About the Naked Mole Rat

– It’s opening day, everybody. Let’s imagine how lovely the Mariners will be this year.

O’Donnell: Sarah Palin is back to pickpocket Teabaggers.

Young Turks: Hypocritical new abortion laws in North Dakota.

Kimmel: This week in unnecessary censorship.

Jonathan Mann: George W. Bush paintings:

Young Turks: Veteran GOP Rep. blasted for ‘wetbacks’ comments.

Thom with more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Sharpton: Republicans “reach out” to minority voters by enacting stricter voter ID laws!

Oral Arguments for Same Sex Marriage:

• Maddow: The GOP’s “incoherent, low rent and … pathetic” positions on same sex marriage
• Stephen slams Sen. Saxby Chambliss on his anti-gay marriage reasoning.
• Jon: Supreme injustice.
• Young Turks: Scalia’s five worst homophobic statements.
• Ann Telnaes: Justice Kagan exposes DOMA’s intent.
• Maddow: An historic week for gay rights.
• Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: Santorum blames TV show for gay marriage.
• Adam Gabbatt surveys the crowd outside the Supreme Court
• Young Turks: GOP cat fight over gay marriage.
• Al Sharpton with Chris Hayes: Republicans are losing the culture wars.
• Stephen on the Supreme Court’s arguments
• Young Turks: How will the SCOTUS go on gay marriage?
• Mark Fiore: Dogboy and Mr. Dan: learn that love hurts.
• Ann Telnaes: Making babies and marriage.
• Stephen is shaken to the core by Bill-O the Clown’s flip-flop

Sharpton: Glenn Beck’s latest conspiracy is that Bachmann’s Ethics Probe is a plot by ‘Radical Islam’ .

Rep. Don Young (R-AK): Wetbackgate.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: A State of the Union promise kept–presidential commission on voting.

Young Turks: Republican OUTRAGE over spring break for Obama’s kids.

White House: West Wing Week.

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX-1) “Pulls Rank”:

• Young Turks: Gohmert (R-TX-1) freaks out over parking ticket .
• Shapton: The rude teabagger.

Jon is unimpressed with GOP’s Post-election plan (via TalkingPointsMemo).

Washington’s groundbreaking (vaporized) pot bar.

Young Turks: Bill Maher vs. Catholic League.

Sam Seder: FAUX News mocks 102 year old woman who waited hours to vote.

Mental Floss: 45 presidential facts you probably didn’t know.

Gun Safety Reform…or Not:

• Obama: We have NOT forgotten (h/t howieinseattle):
• Joy Reid: Obama raises the stakes….
• Ann Telnaes: NRA’s LaPierre criticizes Bloomberg’s ad campaign.
• Matt Binder: NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s insane lack of self awareness.
• Young Turks: Jim Carrey causes the nutjobs at FAUX News to go totally insane.
• SlateTV: Rand Paul eyes gun control filibuster
• Thom: America’s latest penis enhancer…the AR-15 assault rifle

Thom: Science makes you a more moral person.

The Common Sense Alternative to the Columbia River Crossing (h/t Carla).

Maddow: The stuff Alan Simpson says.

Sharpton: GOP bigots and racists attack Obama’s children.

Finally…an honest cable TV advertisement.

Pap: Right Wing hate turns violent.

Young Turks: Should male politicians be able to vote on abortion?

Detroit’s Lost Democracy:

• Thom: Detroit’s bloodless coup.
• Al Sharpton files lawsuit against GOP’s emergency manager law in Detroit.

Bill Press: Michele Bachmann is a ‘one woman carnival cruise’.

Jeff Wattenhofer: Barack Obama is mint.

Sam Seder spars with a lightbulb Libertarian.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

That’s my executive summary of every GOP press release on Inslee’s proposal to close tax loopholes and not let temporary taxes expire. Take for instance this blog’s favorite legislator, Senator John Braun (R-Hates Workers, Especially Women).

Sen. Braun unimpressed by governor’s tax-increase proposal

If a terrible state Senator is impressed or not should be the main quality we should look for when we judge a proposal. If only I knew Pam Roach and Rodney Tom’s level of impressitude we could really figure this out.

Sen. John Braun’s reaction to the governor’s proposed new taxes totaling $1.4 billion in the next two years, including tax increases on businesses, oil refineries, beer and bottled-water drinkers and out-of-state shoppers, is simple:

I sort of get that this is press-releasees, and he wants to separate the quote out from the build up. But it reads strange to not just have it in the same paragraph.

“What happened to the promise you made six months ago to avoid tax increases?”

I haven’t studied the plan enough, or gone through the transcripts of the debates, etc. to see if that’s a fair assessment. But, that’s a political debate, not a policy one. If Inslee’s pledge was violated, then I’m sure there are campaign ads to be made and Kirby Wilbur will complain on all the TV and radio that will have him. That’s fair. But if a legislator wants to do it, he should maybe stick to the policy.

Braun is also concerned about the increases for state employees while increasing in state tuition by as much as 5 percent.

“The governor’s proposal is a slap in the face of college students everywhere,” said Braun, R-Centralia. “We outline a plan that reduces tuition by 3 percent across the board, and he intends to increase rates for students enrolled in our two biggest schools by 5 percent per year?”

Argh press-releasees. Having a paragraph just to lead up to a quote and then a completely unnecessary “said Braun” in the middle. That’s terrible. Although this is actually on the merits, of the policy. I guess those merits are we can’t pay public workers unless there’s no tuition hike? I’m against any tuition hike, but that seems like silly logic.

“This is about a promise to working families and our unemployed friends, family and neighbors,” Braun said. “How are we going to promote private-sector job growth when the state budget calls for additional taxes on state businesses, computer software, phone service and new taxes on automobile purchases?”

Now we’ve broken the next paragraph up with “Braun said.” I literally hate his legislative aid, and I don’t even know who they are.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. Here’s the answer: By being able to afford to educate children who’ll be able to start the next business and who’ll make better employees. By not further dismantling the safety net so people are willing to take risks to start businesses. By contributing to the infrastructure that makes Washington attractive to businesses. Oh, that was a rhetorical question.

Also, for the trillionth time, while private sector job growth is important, a job is a job is a job. If that job is one of the state jobs that were bemoaned pay increases in the previous paragraph, or in the private sector, it still is important for the person who has it.

There’s more, but it’s basically more of the same, so I’ll leave it here. No actual proposals of its own, but plenty of bashing state workers and whining about taxes.

The sequestration cuts to the FAA are forcing the agency to close 150 control towers at low-volume airports (including 5 in Washington state). As a consequence, some Republicans are discovering their inner socialist.

Exhibit 1: Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL-15).

What really bothers Rep. Ross is that Flordia’s Lakeland Linder Regional Airport will lose its control tower. The airport is a relatively low-volume airport, except for one week each summer, during the annual Sun ‘n Fun aviation convention, in which it becomes one of the busiest airports in the world. To put the traffic volume in context, Lakeland Linder has an average of 208 aircraft operations/day making it is slightly less busy than the Tacoma Narrows Airport ( 216/day) and the Renton Municipal Airport (221/day, where the 737 is manufactured).

Ross whines (my emphasis):

The state’s largest convention, SUN ‘n FUN, which is held in April at Lakeland Linder Airport, not only provides incredible economic value to Lakeland, but it serves our children by investing $1.4 million dollars annually in education. It is unacceptable to close this important control tower. Sun N Fun will now have to pay the FAA $284,000 in order to keep this control tower functioning during the convention. This is more money that they must raise that will not go to help our children who are struggling in school.

Really? He wants to keep the control tower so that my tax dollars and your tax dollars will subsidizing the local school systems in Florida’s 15th Congressional District?

FUCKING SOCIALIST!!!!

Exhibit 2: Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27). He is…

deeply troubled by the proposed actions of the FAA regarding smaller airports, like the one in Victoria, Texas, as they have long played a vital role in local economies across the country.

At 125 aircraft operations/day Victoria Regional Airport, it isn’t even as busy as Olympia Regional Airport (131/day).

No doubt the airport does play an important role in the economy, but why should my tax dollars be subsidizing the economy of the Texas 27th Congressional District?!?

You’d have to be a FUCKING SOCIALIST to want that kind of Big Government solution to a regional problem!

Exhibit 3: Michele Bachman (R-MN-6):

One-el Michele frets over airport tower closures:

I am deeply disappointed with the FAA’s decision to close the air traffic control towers at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport and St. Cloud Regional Airport. Throughout this decision-making process, I have been in touch with FAA and DOT officials urging them to focus first on eliminating waste and trimming non-essential items in the FAA’s budget before they even consider shutting down essential safety operations.

Wait. WE have to pay for safety in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District? Can’t the regional or local government do that even better?

Yeah…the Anoka County-Blaine Airport is goddamn busy with an average of 536 operations/day, but It isn’t the Anoka FEDERAL airport. What part of “COUNTY” doesn’t Michele understand?

And St. Cloud Regional Airport?!? Give me a fucking break. At 87 operations/day it hardly warrants a paved runway (and federally subsidized, no doubt), let alone a labor-intensive control tower. St. Cloud is nothing compared to Yakima’s McAllister Field (126/day) and Spokane’s Felts Field Airport (156/day).

I have to ask…where in the Constitution does it put the federal government in charge of county safety? Clearly you can only justify this by abusing The Commerce Clause.

You know, I think the major newspapers of the country need to investigate these members of Congress to find out if they are pro-America or FUCKING SOCIALISTS!

BTW: those five Washington state airports whose control towers will be shut down? Renton Municipal, Olympia Regional, Tacoma Narrows, Felts Field, and McAllister Field.

– But if punching down at the less-wealthy women in his congregation is the price of indulging in smug self-congratulation, that’s a price Rick Warren is happy to pay.

– Comfortable Shoes and the Gender Gap

– Money is speech unless it’s used against the NRA.

– How Sea‑Tac Airport’s substandard working conditions hurt our region and how other major airports changed course toward growth and prosperity. (PDF)

– Bidness owners who want increased revenue from the state. (point 2)

– I’m sure most of you who care already know, but PZ Myers is coming to town this week.

I’m super provincial and I don’t care. I love that Washington was mentioned as a point of hope in this otherwise dispiriting roundup of reproductive rights at the state level.*

Finally, a bit of good news! From the state of Washington, legislators are seriously considering mandating that insurance companies must pay for abortion services just as they are required to pay for maternity services:

The Reproductive Parity Act, as supporters call it, would require insurers in Washington state who cover maternity care — which all insurers must do — to also pay for abortions.

The bill passed the state House earlier this month by a vote of 53-43, though it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. […]

“It’s not expanding abortion coverage,” said Democratic Rep. Eileen Cody of West Seattle, the bill’s primary sponsor. “It’s ensuring the rights of women to get what they’re paying for now and to continue their freedom of choice.”

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Public Health Care Committee on April 1st.

So while, as we’ve discussed earlier, this bill got to the Health Care Committee as a way to stop it from getting to the floor, well it’s still being heard in committee. And since it will get a hearing, here are the members of the Health Care Committee. If they’re your Senator, great! Let them know you support this common sense piece of legislation. If not, you can still email them at first.last@leg.wa.gov.

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Good on President Obama for creating a San Juan Islands National Monument.

President Obama on Monday will create a 955-acre national monument in Washington’s scenic San Juan Islands, using his authority under the same 1906 law deployed by President Theodore Roosevelt to begin preservation of this state’s Olympic Mountains and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The monument was championed by Western Washington lawmakers after legislation to create a National Conservation Area stalled in the Republican-controlled House Natural Resources Committee. Its chairman, Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has not even bothered to hold a hearing on the proposal.

[…]

Both federal, state and local officials have backed the monument not just to protect unspoiled places in the San Juan archipelago, but for economic reasons. Preservation is no longer “locking up” land, but rather welcoming visitors. “A national monument increases recreation dramatically,” Ranker said.

It’s quite amazing, and a testament not just to the administration and the legislators who made it happen, but the activists as well.

Last week when I wrote about the state version of the DREAM Act passing the Washington State House, I was cautiously optimistic:

I’m glad that this has passed with bipartisan support. Hopefully the lopsided nature of the vote and the number of Republicans supporting it means that it has a shot in the Senate.

One of the biggest hurdles was getting to committee in the GOP controlled Senate. And now it looks like at least that will happen.

The Wash. Senate Higher Education Committee has scheduled a hearing on the Dream Act for next Thursday, 3/28, per spokeswoman. #waleg

— Brian M. Rosenthal (@brianmrosenthal) March 21, 2013

So, here are the members of the Senate Higher Education Committee. The forces of basic human decency just have to peal one Republican (or Rodney Tom), so if you see your Senator, you might want to give them a call or an email. If they aren’t your Senator, it’s firstname.lastname@leg.wa.gov, but probably don’t mention that they aren’t your Senator. If it gets through then presumably they’d be able to find some GOP members like it did in the House.

Usually when the party out of power in the legislature proposes taxing or spending policy, or a budget, they don’t have to worry about fancy stuff like basic math. It isn’t going to pass or be the basis of negotiations, so who cares? Then the party that was out of power gets some power, and they then have to propose realistic things. But I think the GOP have been out of power for too long, that now they control the Senate again, they’re proposing things, but not paying for them (h/t).

The Senate Majority Coalition rolled out a $300 million plan Tuesday that would partially reverse years of cuts in spending on colleges and universities and hold the line on fast-rising college tuition – but already the signs of conflict are apparent.

[…]

The coalition proposal increases higher education spending by roughly 10 percent, from the current $2.7 billion to $3 billion. Where that $300 million will come from, no one knows – that’s a matter for budget-writers to consider in the weeks ahead.

Seriously, that was the sort of thing you could do when you were the scrappy opposition. But now you have to find someone who can actually use a spreadsheet, or something.

The Seattle City Council has voted unanimously to say that any department (presumably just the police, but I’ve got my eye on you animal control) that wants to have drones or other surveillance equipment has to get it approved by the council and submit a plan for how they’re going to do that.

The Council has set out hoops through which the cops, or any other city department, much jump through before any big brother starts watching. Before acquiring surveillance equipment, the Seattle Police must obtain approval by the the Council. The police must propose protocols that disclose how cameras will be used, how and where data will be retained and stored and accessed.

The Council legislation requires Seattle Police to provide a description of “the nature and extent of public outreach conducted in each community in which the department intends to use the surveillance equipment.” And the police will have to explain “how the department’s use of the equipment will be regulated to protect privacy and limit the risk of potential abuse.”

The police would have to say how long data would be retained, and how it would be labeled or indexed, and who would have access to it.

If the Council has approved a request to purchase surveillance equipment, the Seattle Police cannot install cameras until the Council has formally set rules for its operation.

It’s obviously a better protection for civil liberties than the status quo, so great. We’ll get to have better knowledge and a chance to weigh in on future surveillance before it goes into action. Still, it doesn’t forestall abuse by the city. It only makes it somewhat tougher and more transparent. So vigilance is, as always, needed.