Other Views: Inslee Should Let Building Industry Get Back to Work

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Are we to believe that workers in the construction trades are able to practice effective social distancing and other pandemic-related safety guidelines only when they are working on government projects and public-financed affordable housing?

Very few people in the building industry think this to be the case -- nor do most executives from other states, apparently, as construction projects find themselves securely on the essential-activities list in Oregon, California and nearly every other state in the union.

Gov. Jay Inslee is a rare exception. His March 23 statewide stay-at-home order left most construction activity off the essential-activities list, including residential construction projects -- some of which were just days from completion. Guidelines issued two days later were more specific about what's allowed but still restrictive: Construction tied to essential industries, developments that serve a public purpose, and work necessary to ensure safety or to prevent spoilage of housing materials are OK -- and that's it.

"In general, commercial and residential construction is not authorized under the proclamation because construction is not considered to be an essential activity," those guidelines state.

However, industry officials, lawmakers and others are pushing back on the

nonessential listing, and rightly so. Inslee needs to listen to their defensible arguments, rethink his restrictions and let thousands of Washington residents -- carpenters, plumbers, electricians, laborers, heavy equipment operators, finishers, et al. -- get back to work.

Single-family homes "are an important part of Washington's economy and the effort to address our state's housing crisis -- a housing shortage brought up countless times during our recent legislative session," state Sen. Mark Schoesler, Senate minority leader, noted in a recent opinion piece in The Seattle Times. "How is building low-income housing safer than building 'regular' housing across the same street? If construction workers on public projects can find a way to work and maintain physical distancing, workers on private projects can do the same."



Said Chelsea Snodgrass, executive officer for the Central Washington Homebuilders Association: "Our industry is committed to a safe work environment, that's the message. There are situations where we can have folks on job sites, and there are very small crews, and safety can be focused on."

U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, also have co-written a letter to Inslee urging him to allow construction as an essential industry.

Most who are calling for construction to restart have noted their appreciation for Inslee's efforts to secure the health and safety of Washington residents since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.

But the sooner this misguided guideline is relaxed, the better, for many reasons. The housing market in the Yakima area is already too tight for comfort, and any new housing would boost the stock of existing homes for young families, first-time buyers and others who are tired of renting. Statewide, it also would put thousands of people back to work and remove them from unemployment lines, including people in peripheral lines of work -- those who sell or rent construction equipment, for instance.

"I think everyone agrees and is sympathetic to all public officials as they're dealing with this. This is uncharted territory," said Brian P. McGuire, president of Associated Equipment Distributors. "But we want to make sure these projects continue because it's a part of the economy you want to keep running."

Snodgrass, who spoke to the Herald-Republic for a story that was published Sunday, said she fears that a long construction layoff might chase workers away from the industry -- something that happened during the Great Recession. The industry continues to be plagued by a shortage of qualified workers, she noted.

All the more reason for Inslee to relent, and quickly. If it's deemed safe to drive a nail on a project related to a public purpose, then it's safe to drive a nail on a new townhouse.