Now He's Gone Too Far!

Source: ShiftWA.org

Governor Jay Inslee uses data from the shutdown of the hospitality sector last Spring (before restaurants and bars were observing current safety guidelines) to justify why he is again attacking the industry.  Yet, Washington State restaurants and bars are now adhering to the most comprehensive safety protocols in the country, and the state’s Hospitality Association claims that three separate studies have found that restaurants and bars were the cause of less than one half of 1% of current COVID-19 infections.  A spokesman for the industry argue that having the restaurants and bars safely serving customers indoors is safer than not having this option available.  With safe indoor service unavailable, restless people will gather in locations where safety measures are not followed.  The spokesman pointed to the explosion of coronavirus cases that hit college campuses across Washington State when students gathered in dorm rooms and fraternity houses.  The governor and his staff continue to claim that scientific data is driving his random decisions, yet the “data” they are using is old and does not represent current conditions. You would think that Jay would work a little harder on a justification for causing over 100,000 people to lose their jobs during the holiday season. (TVW)

Even a group of Democrat lawmakers believe Governor Inslee’s restrictions on restaurants and bars are too severe.  A group of nine Democrat legislators sent the governor a letter stating, “the impacts of this specific measure will leave lasting holes in the economic and cultural fabric of every community across the state.” (Everett Herald)

The Washington Retail Association say that its leadership has been meeting with the governor’s staff and state health officials, but that Governor Inslee has ignored their advice and concerns.  While retailers have gone through the expense of installing plexiglass, increasing their cleaning procedures, and purchasing masks and other safety equipment to increase the number of customers they can serve, the governor has disregarded these “data” points, and decided to reduce store capacity to 25% during the holiday season.  Retailers contend that the nature of their business keeps people from standing close to each other for an extended period while shopping.  Yet, retailers have found that when stores restrict capacity, waiting customers form lines where they are in close contact with others for long periods, thus increasing the opportunity to spread the virus.  Governor Inslee has said the state will set aside $50 million to help retailers who are being financially impacted by his decision, though that promise is of dubious legality since the governor is not allowed to appropriate money with legislative approval.  Retailers contend this is a “drop in the bucket” to relieve the damage Inslee’s latest attacks on their industry will cause.  The $50 million state expenditure means that only 5,000 businesses can receive $10,000 grants, but there are 600,000 small businesses in Washington State. If only the retailers had done what the state employee unions have done, and given millions to Inslee for previous campaigns, they too could receive a pay increase from the state in the middle of a pandemic. (MyNorthwest and Shift)

While Governor Inslee continues to ignore the needs of employers and workers impacted by his recent attacks, his partners in the Democrat-only Western States Pact are calling for a special legislative session to assist their businesses.  Yesterday we reported that Oregon’s Democrat Speaker of the House is calling for a special session to help its state’s retailers, and today we learn that Colorado is seeking to do the same. Many Washington State businesses shut down for good during Governor Inslee’s initial “emergency orders”, while others were just starting to recover when he surprised everyone with his latest strict restrictions were revealed last weekend.  When Governor Inslee announced the Western States Pact (which excludes Washington’s neighbors Idaho and Alaska because they elected Republican governors), it was proclaimed that the Pact “agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies.”  As we have seen on numerous occasions, this is not true, as Washington’s employers and workers have consistently suffered far more severe “approaches” than their counterparts in other states. (Washington Policy Center and Governor Inslee’s Press Release)