Safely Reopening Washington Discussed in Legislature
On Wednesday, January 20 a hearing was held for Senate Bill 5114 on safely reopening Washington that was co-sponsored by Senator Tim Sheldon (D- Potlatch). Nearly 1,300 individuals weighed in on the bill, with more than 1,100 of those being in favor of it.
Through this bill, the legislature would immediately and safely reopen all businesses (currently specific industries such as restaurants, gyms, and theaters are closed indoors) to resume under the provisions of Phase 2 of the “Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery” plan. The bill further calls for the legislature to rely upon the best available public health data to determine whether additional actions should be taken.
The Washington State House of Representatives sponsored its counterpart HR 1321 on the following day, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Drew MacEwen (R-Union). Written comment is currently being accepted online and the public can sign up for email notifications including if/when in-person testimony will be heard.
With the senate’s hearing concluded, the public can weigh in on the subject via written comment.
NOW CLOSED: To register for your voice to be heard, go to the Senate Remote Testimony webpage, selecting the committee “State Government & Elections” and choosing “1/20/2021 8:00am” as the meeting. A popup will ensue, select “SB 5114 Reopening/Public Health) and then the type of testimony you would like to provide.
Items to note for Senate Hearings:
- to testify live, you must register an hour in advance of the start time of the committee. You may participate via videoconference or phone. Any registration after 6:59am will not be considered valid.
- written testimony will close 24 hours after the start time of the hearing. In this case, it will close at 7:59 AM on Thursday, January 21.