Republicans in the state House and Senate have put a plan forward for Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Roadmap to Recovery,” which is currently stalled in Phase 2 with many businesses open at 25 percent capacity, and they’re hoping the proposal gains some traction and the attention of Democratic leaders.
The “Open Safe, Open Now” plan unveiled last week by legislative Republicans would immediately move the whole state into a newly-formed Phase 3 of Inslee’s plan, allowing for most businesses to open at 50 percent capacity, bringing all K-12 grade students back into the classroom and paving the way for all counties to fully reopen after three weeks without a significant spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, said in a recent legislative update that the plan focuses largely on the two concerns the state is currently grappling with: education disparities and the economic effects of closing businesses.
“We know that the cost of COVID has been high. We just passed a milestone of 5,000 people who have lost their lives in COVID-connected deaths, but it’s time to work on getting back to real life,” Wilcox said, adding later: “We cannot allow an emergency situation to take root so that it’s the new normal. It is time to begin unwinding all these things — in fact, it’s past time — and we and the governor, in particular, have a responsibility to show everyone how to do that.”
The state’s public health emergency has subsided, Republicans say, because of the sacrifices of its residents.
In a Monday letter sent to Inslee by Wilcox and Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, the two lawmakers commended the governor for his recent actions to reopen schools and further underscored the urgency in reopening classrooms and businesses quickly.
“Many of our job creators have been closed permanently by the pandemic. Many others are barely holding on and may not survive into April, the time when you projected that your Phase 3 might finally be defined,” the duo wrote.
Wilcox and Braun added that it was “heartening” to see other Democratic governors, such as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, move forward in similar fashion to their “Open Safe, Open Now” plan.
“Again, governor, we view our ‘Open Safe, Open Now’ approach as being a sensible and practical continuation of the path our state is already on, but with the hope and predictability and balance the people of our state deserve to see,” they wrote.
During a March 4 press conference, Braun said the goal was to create a plan forward amid silence from the governor’s office.
“We’re not rooting for failure,” Braun said. “We’re rooting for a path forward and for hope. We need something to guide the way, and in a vacuum created by the governor we’re providing a plan.”
Braun added the state has made some headway over the last couple months on bringing students back to the classroom, something he said Republicans have been asking for for about six months now. The hope is that the governor will continue to pick up on reopening efforts, he said.
