Luke Esser, Dino Rossi and the GOP can’t remember the facts
SEATTLE — Washington State GOP Chair Luke Esser has embarked on a concerted campaign to criticize Governor Chris Gregoire on the matter of community corrections and prison inmate populations.
In recent interviews on talk radio shows, Esser has accused the Governor of policy mishaps regarding the earned release of prison inmates.
The inconvenient truth is that Esser’s ally Dino Rossi supported the policy to increase the amount of earned release time for some offenders and reducing the number offenders subject to supervision. And, then-Senator Luke Esser voted for Rossi’s program.
Despite only having lost his seat this past November, Esser’s memory of his time in Olympia appears to already be fading. Dino Rossi and Luke Esser both voted for Senate Bill 5990 in 2003 that increased the amount of earned release time for minor offenses from 33% to 50% of their original sentence. [SB 5990, 2003]
Dino Rossi wrote a budget in 2003 that saved $40 million by increasing the amount of earned release time available to some inmates and reducing the number offenders subject to supervision. [Yakima Herald- Republic, 4/5/03; Proposed Senate 2003-05 Operating Budget Highlights, 4/2/03]
“Luke Esser, Dino Rossi and the GOP can’t remember the facts,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz. “They supported this measure when they were in office. But now that they're out of office they're calling it a bad policy. They can't be trusted to lead or to follow.” ###
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