Washington state senators representing North County are once again calling for a special legislative session to address the impacts of COVID-19.
With Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement of new restrictions on businesses made in an attempt to slow down a surge in COVID-19 activity in Washington state, the state senators representing the 17th, 18th and 20th Legislative Districts each have made statements on their desire to have state lawmakers reconvene ahead of January’s normal session.
State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, made multiple statements regarding the need for a special session in the week following Inslee’s Nov. 15 announcement, where the governor spoke about new restrictions affecting restaurants, retail, religious services and private gatherings, among others.
Noting that the state’s final forecast for revenues in 2020 had $634 million more for the two-year budget schedule, Braun cautioned that the favorable news shouldn’t cloud the need for relief for employers and workers in Washington.
Braun said that in a special session the Legislature could work to direct a remaining $300 million in federal CARES Act funding toward employers. Braun said that small businesses had supported some 40 percent of government spending in the past four years.
Braun noted that Republicans had been pushing for a special session to address COVID-19 impacts since at least May.
“Instead, the governor has continued to cling to governing by proclamation and ‘guidance’ developed behind closed doors,” Braun said in the statement. He pushed back on Inslee’s past claim that there wasn’t a clear direction that those pushing for a new session would pursue, saying that legislators already had ideas for tax, fee and regulatory relief that wouldn’t result in “putting a larger hole in the state budget.”
“The regular session in January will simply be too late, and we also can’t count on additional federal help,” Braun said in the statement.
In both Braun’s statement about the revenue forecast and a prior one made shortly after Inslee’s announcement of restrictions, the senator remarked that the pandemic was too much of an issue to be handled by one branch of state government.
“The state’s response has consisted primarily of unilateral mandates from the governor, and no matter how well-intentioned he may be, no American would support the idea that a chief executive should use emergency powers indefinitely to decide any important issue,” Braun said in the earlier statement.
“(I)t’s clear that the number of small businesses needing help is only going to grow due to the governor’s new round of restrictions,” Braun said in the statement.
Inslee has repeatedly said that his decisions have been based in science and on data about the pandemic. In Braun’s statement, the senator said that conclusions could be made that differed from the governor’s based on the same data.
Braun said that the new restrictions “(ignored) the fact that it’s in the best interests of employers to ensure their customers and employees feel as safe as possible.” He added that the social gathering restriction was unenforceable.
“No one is questioning that the pandemic should be taken seriously, or that we should all take precautions to limit the spread of the virus,” Braun said in the statement. “But it’s one thing to inform the people, and trust them, and another thing to dictate how they should live. The dictates need to end.”
State Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, also spoke out about the lack of legislative input on the state’s COVID-19 response. Wilson, who has Republican leadership on the Senate committee on economic development and trade, had met with some 150 restaurant owners in an attempt to address the pandemic’s effect on the foodservice industry, a release including her own statement had stated.
Wilson said the data Inslee based the new restrictions on did not back up his decision-making.
“If the statistics from his own Department of Health say people are at the greatest risk in their own homes, and the hospitality industry is connected to only 1 percent of the COVID infections, why is he going after the restaurants again?” Wilson said in her statement. She added requirements on outdoor dining, which is still allowed under the new restrictions, would not be compatible with the weather during Winter.
Wilson noted she had served on Inslee’s business recovery task force “until it was abruptly disbanded in May, just after five weeks.”
“If it was up to me we would be in a special session right now,” Wilson said in the statement, something that would require the governor’s action or a two-thirds vote of the legislature.
Wilson warned about the possibility that the restrictions, which are currently set to run through Dec. 14, would be extended. The impact on out-of-work Washingtonians affected whole households, Wilson said, adding that there was reason for distrust on unemployment payments from the state Employment Security Department given their “atrocious” response to claims this year.
“When the governor puts his hand over his heart and says he has a ‘real feeling of empathy’ for those who will be hurt by his actions, I’d like for him to see the social-media posts from my constituents whose jobs are disappearing overnight,” Wilson said in the statement. “Maybe they can live without a Thanksgiving gathering or a birthday party or a football afternoon a lot easier than they can live without a paycheck, but the governor isn’t giving them any choice.”
State Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, took issue with the targeting of restaurants and bars in the latest restrictions.
“As a former science teacher I’m puzzled by Governor Inslee’s brand of ‘science.’” Rivers said in her statement, adding that latest data suggested that it was safer in a restaurant or grocery store than at home. She said that science indicated the current COVID-19 activity may be more contagious but less lethal than it was in the Spring.
“I get no sense the governor is accounting for that, and it’s disappointing,” Rivers said in the statement.
Rivers said that the new statewide restrictions were “a blunt instrument” compared to the county-by-county, phased-in approach that Inslee announced following the first round of restrictions affecting all of Washington, adding the approach seemed “misguided, like he’s confusing motion for action.”
Rivers said she had been in contact with healthcare leaders since the pandemic began, saying their primary concern was a reliable supply of nurses, not hospital capacity. A potential surge in hospital admissions due to more COVID-19 activity has been one of the reasons cited by state health officials for the need of restrictions.
Rivers said the legislature could come up with a way for nurses to move from state to state to help out, in a similar fashion to firefighters moving across state lines to help out during wildfires.
Rivers said she was concerned by a reduction in Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes that went into effect in the Summer, given that most COVID-19 deaths were among seniors and in long-term care facilities.
“This is one of the many reasons the Legislature should meet in a special session now instead of waiting until January,” Rivers said in the statement. “We need to restore that funding, along with pushing federal relief dollars or money from the state rainy-day fund to restaurants and other small businesses harmed by all these shutdowns.”
