Editor’s note: The following is an original ConnellWA.com commentary summarizing an opinion column by Norm Luther of Spokane, first published by Franklin Connection. Views expressed are those of the columnist and are not news reporting by ConnellWA.com.

Why do some voters cast ballots that seem to run against their own economic interests? That long-running question is the starting point of a recent opinion column by Spokane resident Norm Luther, who directs the critique at supporters of U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner.

Luther recalls his father’s view that many people so strongly dream of joining the wealthy that they identify with them and vote accordingly. In Luther’s telling, that dream should be harder to sustain today: he argues economic mobility has diminished, including through what he calls the billionaire-friendly “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which he says Baumgartner championed. Hard work, Luther writes, may no longer guarantee economic security.

He also points to years of partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C. Luther says longtime Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, after vowing to make Democrat Barack Obama a one-term president, opposed measures from Obama and later from Democratic former President Joe Biden that Luther describes as aimed at helping the working class — leaving that class, in his view, justifiably feeling forgotten.

Emotion, not pocketbook math, is Luther’s main explanation for how many voters choose. He contends that many people relate emotionally to President Donald Trump’s angry rhetoric even though, in Luther’s assessment, Trump has not advanced their welfare and — together with congressional Republicans including Baumgartner — has made life harder for them. “Unfortunately, many people vote their emotions, rather than rationally in agreement with their best interests,” Luther writes.

For Baumgartner’s supporters specifically, Luther offers a simpler answer: he believes many have not watched the congressman’s record closely enough to see what Luther calls a sharp gap between what Baumgartner says and how he votes. Luther labels that approach “shrewdly deceitful” — a characterization that is Luther’s opinion, not an established finding.

Luther’s column does not present new legislative vote tallies or independent economic analysis; it is a personal argument about voter psychology and representation in Eastern Washington. Readers seeking the full original text can find it via the source link below.

Sources

• Emotions guiding voters in elections — Norm Luther (Franklin Connection), Aug. 27, 2026
• Same column — The Odessa Record (syndication)
• Same column — The Ritzville Adams County Journal (syndication)

Editor’s note: The following is based on an opinion column from the Washington Policy Center, republished by Franklin Connection. It reflects the author’s policy analysis and recommendations, not a ConnellWA.com news investigation.

For many North Franklin farm and ranch families, the pickup in the yard is less a status symbol than a rolling toolbox — dusty paperwork, ball caps, baling twine, and field dirt included. An agriculture policy analyst at the Washington Policy Center argues that when it’s time to replace that truck, Washington’s relatively new “luxury” motor vehicle tax could treat some everyday half-ton work pickups like luxury cars.

According to the Washington State Department of Revenue, the state began collecting an additional 8% luxury motor vehicle tax on Jan. 1, 2026, on the portion of a new or used vehicle’s selling price (or lease fair market value) above a deduction that started at $100,000. The tax stacks on top of regular retail sales tax and motor vehicle sales/use tax. The deduction amount rises 2% each July 1; for July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, DOR lists it at $102,000.

DOR and state law list several exemptions, including commercial motor vehicles, motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds (other than motor homes), and farm tractors or farm vehicles as defined in state statute — unless used in cannabis production.

In an August 2026 column, Pam Lewison, director of agriculture policy at the Washington Policy Center, says the rub for many producers is that they no longer rely only on heavier three-quarter- and one-ton diesels for daily work. Half-ton pickups, she writes, are often preferred for fuel economy and getting into tougher field spots — and many of those trucks sit under the 10,000-pound weight line while carrying sticker prices that can push past the luxury-tax threshold before tax, title, and license.

Lewison’s view is that those trucks function as both daily drivers and farm tools, not luxuries. She recommends the Legislature amend the tax — for example by lowering the weight exemption bar to about 7,500 pounds and/or raising the price threshold toward $150,000 — so more common half-ton farm work trucks are less likely to be swept in. Those figures and proposed changes are her recommendations, not current law.

Local growers and ranchers shopping for a replacement pickup may want to confirm with a dealer or tax professional how weight rating, farm-vehicle definitions, and price interact before signing — especially if the truck is a lighter half-ton configured more like a dual-use daily driver than a CDL-class commercial truck.

Sources

• Farm pickups may be subject to luxury tax — Pam Lewison, Washington Policy Center (Franklin Connection)
• Luxury vehicle tax: Farm pickups could be hit with additional costs — Washington Policy Center
• Luxury motor vehicle tax — Washington State Department of Revenue

Unquestionably, firefighters are the downright heroes of any community, saving thousands of lives every day. However, a lesser-known fact is that approximately 70% of firefighters are volunteers.

Washington State is no exception.

Local fire departments, especially in rural areas, rely heavily on the dedication of volunteers. Yet, many of them have historically been excluded from the Cancer Presumption Law in many states, including Washington.

The presumption law was designed to acknowledge cancer as a job-related illness for firefighters, making them eligible for compensation or disability benefits. However, in almost half the states, the law only protects career, paid firefighters, leaving volunteers with limited or no support, even though their exposure risks are virtually identical.

This kind of policy is discriminatory and fails to acknowledge reality itself.

Volunteer firefighters respond to the same emergencies, perform the same tasks, and are exposed to the same toxic hazards as their counterparts. Their risks include heat stress, cardiovascular diseases, life-threatening accidents, and, most importantly, exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.

Among the most concerning are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often referred to as "PFAS," which are present in both turnout gear and the aqueous film-forming foam that has been used by some fire departments and district to extinguish fires.

The military and firefighters have widely used them since the 1960s for combating fuel-based fires. While the chemical substance is very effective for this purpose, it is also dangerously toxic due to its PFAS content.

These so-called "forever chemicals" are water-soluble, persistent in the environment, and accumulate in the human body over time.

Decades of research linked PFAS exposure to critical illnesses, including decreased fertility, liver damage, immune system suppression and high cholesterol. More alarmingly, studies have connected PFAS, to life-threatening cancers like kidney, testicular and ovarian cancers.

Washington State has taken important steps to regulate PFAS in firefighting foams and was one of the first states to ban the sale of PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam.

However, airports and facilities that handle fuels are still exempted in exceptional conditions. Moreover, firefighters face toxic exposure from their PFAS-laden turnout gear.

The wear and tear of the protective equipment, combined with sweat and heat typical during interventions or

training, leads to accelerated absorption of the toxic substance through the skin. The risk remains ongoing, especially for volunteer firefighters who have been responding to calls for decades.

According to the National Fire Department Registry, 40% of the fire departments in

Washington state are volunteer-based. Yet, the state's presumption law only includes fulltime employed firefighters for occupational disease coverage, and it doesn't even mention volunteers.

Moreover, the law only covers career firefighters who have served at least 10 years before the cancer diagnosis. Needless to say, the financial burden of cancer treatment is considerably high. Without fair coverage, volunteer firefighters and their families are left without any support and protection.

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The Franklin Connection is an online news and sports site dedicated to Franklin County, Washington, and the surrounding communities. The publication offers news, marketing, advertising and online services to the residents of Pasco, Basin City, Mesa, Eltopia, Connell, Kahlotus and Burbank.