Our Legislature Is Spending Time on Debating A State DINOSAUR?

Source: ShiftWA.org

Democrat legislators continue to demonstrate that they do not want to be bothered by those who are suffering due to Governor Inslee’s economic shutdowns, and would rather spend time debating the state dinosaur. This has frustrated Republican lawmakers who are seeking to help those who are on the verge of losing their businesses, or who want to earn a paycheck again.  House Republican Leader JT Wilcox said that legislators had agreed prior to the start of the session to limit bills to the state budget and operations, and to COVID-19 response. “I can think of an awful lot of bills getting hearings, including the state dinosaur and gun bills that were not part of that list,” Wilcox reminded Democrats. (KING5 News)

We Told You So: From yesterday, a new report reveals that the Inslee Administration is using old data to determine when regions can advance to Phase 2.  The Washington Policy Center also determined that one of the criteria (“percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive”) the state is using in Governor Jay Inslee’s “Roadmap to Recovery” is meaningless, for it can be easily manipulated and is not a scientific indicator of the infection rate in a community.  If the state used current data and eliminated meaningless criteria, then King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and nearly all of Eastern Washington, would be advanced to Phase 2.  This would result in the reopening of many restaurants, bars, theaters, and other businesses. (Click to Read Full Shift Article)

Once again, Governor Inslee’s stubborn refusal to work with local officials and legislators, has resulted in him having to significantly alter the state’s methods for re-opening Washington State’s economy.  The governor announced this afternoon that there will be changes to his latest unscientific and random “Roadmap to Recovery” plan. Most notably, advancement can occur if just three of the four criteria are met (this is likely due to one of the criteria, “percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive”, being meaningless and easily manipulated).  The governor also announced that the time frame for analyzing COVID data will move from a one-week period to two weeks. While all of this is good news to many people around the state, the repeated altering of state plans and the resulting confusion could have been avoided had Governor Inslee and his administration led with inclusivity and considered the ideas from anyone outside of the small circle Inslee depends on for determining policies.  The governor has not only been disparaged by Republican legislators for not listening to their concerns and suggestions, but also by local elected officials across Washington, who have been critical of Governor Inslee for making important decisions without seeking their input. The governor also announced that the Puget Sound Region (King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties) and the West Region (Grays Harbor, Thurston, Lewis, and Pacific counties) will be advanced to Phase 2 (Austin Jenkins Twitter, Shift, and Yakima Herald) 

Members of the House Republican Caucus sent Governor Inslee a letter criticizing his unscientific “regional” approach in determining where and when areas of the state can reopen under his random “Roadmap to Recovery” plan.  The letter from 40 House members stated, “Tying rural counties with low COVID numbers to other areas of the state with high numbers is illogical.”  The letter points out that Kittitas County, which has had a low COVID-19 infection rate, is now aligned with Yakima and the Tri-Cities area, both of which have had among the highest infection rates in the country.  Also, small rural communities like Wilbur, Creston, Davenport and Odessa, which have had almost no COVID cases, are now tied to urban Spokane, where more infections are occurring.  Besides the examples in Eastern Washington, leaders in many small Southwest Washington communities are also upset that their local businesses are now dependent on the higher infection rates in the urban areas of Vancouver and Olympia. (Legislators letter to Governor Inslee)