Inslee repeats his call for the president to ramp up production of protective gear
Gov. Jay Inslee repeated his call Wednesday for the Trump administration to invoke a federal law dating to the Korean War to ramp up supplies of personal protective equipment that would adequately safeguard healthcare and frontline workers.
“The inadequacy of the federal stockpile, the over-reliance on foreign suppliers, and the limited domestic production of PPE have meant that in our time of greatest need, our nation has been unable to adequately protect healthcare and other frontline workers,” the governor wrote in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and shared with media.
Washington and other states have struggled from the start of the pandemic to procure sufficient PPE, which includes surgical masks, N95 masks, gloves, surgical gowns, and face shields.
Earlier this week, one of Washington’s major suppliers, China-based BYD Co., received final certification from the federal government for the N95 mask that the state had on order, Inslee said at a press conference.
“These masks have been all but impossible to obtain at scale since this crisis began,” he said.
The state now has 5 million N95 respirators on hand and another 50 million confirmed on order through BYD, Inslee said.
The governor said entities that are eligible to receive PPE from the state’s emergency stockpile should submit requests to local authorities, which will forward them to the state. Those entities include homeless shelters, long-term care facilities, hospitals, first responders, child care facilities, and congregate settings with confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Inslee said Washington is trying to build an in-state supply system for PPE. Last week, the governor met with 14 Washington-based manufacturers to discuss how the state can do more to “control our own fate here and manufacture our own products.”
“Scores of Washington companies already are producing hand sanitizers, surgical masks and a range of other PPE,” he said.
Inslee on Wednesday morning contacted U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn to ensure a timely review of the application from Seattle-based Outdoor Research, which is waiting for final certification of the surgical masks they are making.
The governor also repeated his call for the Trump administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase domestic PPE production to meet current and future needs. The act enables Trump to make U.S. manufacturers such as automakers switch production in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The President has invoked it for ventilators and swabs needed for coronavirus testing.
Now, the White House needs to invoke the federal law, which Congress approved in 1950 during the Korean War to help the government produce wartime materials such as aluminum and copper, for personal protective equipment, Inslee said.
“We need it to replenish and expand the federal stockpile to prepare adequately for a future COVID-19 surge and other potential pandemic outbreaks,” he said.
Reached for comment, Trump campaign spokeswoman Christiana Purves said in an email: “This is just more grandstanding from a governor desperate to distract from the fact that he’s failed Washingtonians throughout this pandemic. The Trump Administration has led an unprecedented response to the crisis, including invoking the Defense Production Act to ensure...ventilators were produced effectively and efficiently for all states.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped about 86,000 masks and 80,000 gowns to Washington nursing homes.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Inslee displayed photographs of defective PPE, saying the state had received “unusable medical gowns, sometimes without arm holes,” in the tens of thousands.
The governor said Washington has received 4 million items of PPE from the federal stockpile and nearly 80 million items from the state’s procurement, with an additional 200 million items purchased and awaiting delivery.
Petitioners oppose sex education bill
Inslee was asked about groups that turned in 266,000 signatures Wednesday in hopes of triggering a referendum to repeal the comprehensive sex education bill that the governor signed into law earlier this year. It takes effect on Thursday.
The law requires public school districts to teach comprehensive sexual health education to all K-12 students beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
The Secretary of State’s office will determine if the supporters of the repeal movement collected the minimum 129,811 valid signatures of registered voters to place it on the ballot.
Inslee said he would oppose repeal.
“I think it makes sense that we give our young people scientifically credible information rather than fear and mis-impressions,” he said.
Mindie Wirth, sponsor of the referendum measure to repeal the law, said in a statement: “The grassroots and community response to this effort was extraordinary — especially since the state was essentially closed down at the time.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 5:45 AM.