Wrong move, GOP: Check of Inslee’s power should come via statehouse, not courthouse
Despite Gov. Jay Inslee’s phased “Safe Start” plan closely matching those in other states, four Washington Republican lawmakers aim to upend it. They’ve pinned their hopes on a lawsuit that accuses Inslee of executive “overreach.”
The eight plaintiffs include Republican state Reps. Andrew Barkis of Olympia, Drew MacEwen of Union, Chris Corry of Yakima and Brandon Vick of Vancouver. The other four are residents from around the state.
These Republicans have one thing right: When the 1969 Legislature gave future Washington governors sweeping emergency authority, they weren’t thinking of a once-in-a-century pandemic. Nor did it cross their minds last year, when they passed a law that tweaks around the edges of the governor’s emergency powers.
Republicans want Inslee to call a special session as soon as mid-June. In addition to bailing out a sinking state budget and other coronavirus-related issues, House GOP minority leader J.T. Wilcox told us he expects lawmakers to file “a bunch of bills” regarding emergency powers.
Likewise, Democratic Sen. Christine Rolfes said at a recent Bellevue Chamber webinar that there will be “a conversation” about amending Washington’s law, which gives governors more unchecked power than many other states. Rolfes chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
We agree that conversation needs to happen. But Republicans should keep in mind that emergency decisions aren’t executed well via a show of hands.
Though the lawsuit is not a caucus action, Barkis told a member of our Editorial Board that he and his fellow plaintiffs have Wilcox’s full support.
We say legislation before litigation. Bipartisan policy debate should be the first attempt at a remedy.
Barkis says he and his fellow GOP caucus members have largely been left out of Inslee’s decision making. The brief Kumbuya moment shared by Democrats and Republicans at the onset of the coronavirus crisis quickly dissipated in a sea of economic despair.
But questions of constitutionality and the general public welfare aren’t the only reasons these GOP leaders are gunning for Inslee. Read the 28-page lawsuit and find a legal document driven by personal interest.
Take Barkis, for example. He’s the owner of Hometown Property Management, Inc, and, according to the lawsuit, Inslee’s emergency orders are prohibiting him from “evicting tenants” and they’ve restricted his ability to “raise rents, charge late fees, serve compliance notices, and collect debts as a result of the Proclamation.”
When one-third of Americans can’t pay their rent, it’s hard to view Barkis’ grievance as a noble pursuit.
Millions of Washingtonians are collapsing under the economic strain caused by the shutdown; meanwhile, Barkis and his fellow plaintiffs are seeking compensation as the “court shall deem just and appropriate.”
But, hey, they’re doing it for us, right?
Elected representatives have every right to sue; the question is, should they? Some would argue they have another recourse: doing their job.
And is all this revolutionary zeal undermining public health efforts? Well, it sure isn’t helping.
The governor’s office says they’re receiving thousands of calls from across the state that some businesses and individuals aren’t complying with stay-home rules. And then there’s the Seattle cop who was suspended this month for refusing to enforce what he called Inslee’s “unconstitutional’ social distancing orders.
Hmm. We don’t have to wonder where he got that idea.
So, here’s the GOP’s chance to lead from the rear and encourage folks to maintain social-distancing rules and limit contact until testing and tracing capabilities are up and running. If ever there was a time we could use a unified call for common purpose, it is now.
They should also stop saying “the emergency is over,” or as the lawsuit states: “The threat has faded, but Inslee continues on.”
Barkis cited the lack of overwhelm at area hospitals, the 97-percent recovery rate and the “flattened curve.” Maybe so, but an analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model updated on May 11 shows that as states relax restrictions and reduce social distancing, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths will grow to “alarming levels.”
In Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and other early-reopening states, preliminary numbers are a mixed bag.
Even if Washington’s GOP lawsuit plaintiffs prevail in court, not everyone is going to rush back into restaurants, bars, churches and movie theaters.
Confidence in public health won’t materialize with the pounding of gavels or the filing of lawsuits. Like Inslee, most Washingtonians are watching the numbers. When they go down, we’ll go out.