House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, and Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, on Tuesday criticized Gov. Jay Inslee’s new “Healthy Washington” plan for reopening the state, saying that the state’s chief executive needs to take more responsibility for the shortfall of his state agencies.
Inslee’s latest plan to reopen the state, announced Tuesday afternoon, divides the state up into eight distinct regions that will be required to meet certain parameters to advance to subsequent phases of reopening.
The state will enter into Phase 1 of his plan on Jan. 11, which is expected to be similar to current lockdown restrictions.
Despite his new plans, Republican leaders in the state Legislature are pivoting the focus of discussion toward the shaky rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the massive fraud reported earlier this year by the Employment Security Department and other shortcomings from state leaders.
“We need the governor to hold his state agencies accountable, help those who have been devastated by his actions, and safely reopen businesses and schools,” the two leading Republicans said in a joint statement. “The legislative session begins Monday. Republicans have already introduced solutions and will be putting more ideas on the table soon. We will also bring the voices of forgotten Washingtonians to the legislative arena.”
The governor, Rep. Wilcox and Sen. Braun say, has demanded “no accountability from important state agencies involved in the pandemic response.”
The Department of Health on Tuesday reported that the state had received roughly 356,550 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with providers reporting that 102,099 of those have been administered. The state first started receiving vaccines in mid-December.
So far, about 1.3 percent of Washington’s population have received the vaccine.
“After nearly a year of sacrifices, involving jobs, businesses, stress, homelessness, suicide … vaccination rollout in our state is slow, experienced providers wait for approval,” Wilcox, a 2nd Legislative District lawmaker, wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “Think of the vulnerable infected this week, who should have been vaccinated already and the outcome.”
“Governor, our constituents are in agony,” Braun, a 20th Legislative District lawmaker, continued in a Tuesday letter explaining his caucus’s opposition to a number of proclamation extensions. “Our constituents have not been able to buy food, medicine or pay their rent or mortgage. Many have used every last drop of savings. Years of life efforts have been destroyed. Dreams have been shattered.”
According to Inslee’s office, the new plan aims to “safely ease some restrictions while also maintaining crucial hospital capacity, ensuring care for Washingtonians that need it and paving the way for economic recovery.”
“We aren’t out of this yet, but we are close to turning the corner on COVID-19 and this third wave of infections,” Inslee said.
The spread of COVID-19 still remains high in the state. According to the Department of Health, the state added 2,337 new cases, 59 deaths and 167 hospitalizations on Tuesday.
