Gov. Inslee meets with editorial board, touts pandemic response

Gov. Jay Inslee is proud of how he’s steered Washington through the COVID-19 pandemic, and said he’s confident the state will emerge stronger at the other side of the crisis.

In a conversation with The Columbian’s Editorial Board, the Democratic governor seeking a third term said his early, aggressive action to halt the spread of the virus helped to stave off the steep infection rates currently ravaging other states and ultimately saved lives.

Asked by the board if he’d do anything differently in retrospect, Inslee said no.

“The frustrations of people have been real. But the fact of the matter is, I believe a governor’s job is to protect people from losing their lives,” Inslee said. “People can carp from the cheap seats, but the proof is in the pudding. We have reduced our infection rate dramatically because we have made decisions based on science.”

Washington was the first in the country to see a case of COVID-19. Inslee used his executive power to mandate safety measures, and his phased, county-by-county reopening plan requires face masks to be worn in public spaces and limits or bans large gatherings.

He’s been criticized by Loren Culp, his Republican challenger for governor, and GOP lawmakers for his handling of the pandemic. Some have taken the governor to task for acting unilaterally, implementing emergency measures while declining to convene the Legislature for a special session. He’s also been criticized for shutting down whole sectors of the economy while allowing others to continue — the phrase “picking winners and losers” has been a common refrain among his detractors.

Inslee told the editorial board that he prioritized things that ultimately benefited the public good, like at the start of the pandemic, when he temporarily halted private construction but allowed public projects to continue.

“If we had to finish building a police station to provide police protection, that has to be a priority,” Inslee said. “I think that was the right decision.”

The governor also said that it was wise to hold off on convening the Legislature until the state had a clearer picture of its financial shortfall. Instead, he said, his office acted immediately to slow the bleeding by implementing a hiring freeze, canceling a previously scheduled 3 percent raise for nonunion state employees and canceling $200 million in previously approved spending.

In the months since lawmakers started pushing for a special session, Inslee added, the state brought in an additional $4.5 billion of revenue over its initial projections. Making deeper cuts earlier would have been hasty, he said.

Boeing’s announcement

Inslee’s virtual meeting with The Columbian came on the heels of an announcement from Boeing that the company would be moving all production of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Everett to South Carolina. The move is expected to cost the region around 1,000 jobs.

Inslee said he was “profoundly disappointed” by the news, and that his office had tried to work with Boeing executives to convince them to stay.

“It was disappointing principally because the company would not explore bringing back these jobs when market conditions improve,” Inslee said. “They refused to even consider that, and that’s extremely disappointing to state taxpayers, who have shelled out $2.2 billion in tax relief to a company that we want to have good long-term relations with.”

“I would recommend that we evaluate our financial relationship to the Boeing company, to ensure that our tax treatment is fair to the taxpayers.”

He added that Washington’s economy still ranks as best for business by U.S. News and World Report.

Enforcing laws

Inslee was critical of Culp, who currently serves as chief and the only sworn officer of the Republic Police Department, for his refusal to enforce a gun control bill passed by voters in 2018.

Culp first grew to national prominence for publicly announcing he wouldn’t enforce Initiative 1639, which raised the age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 and implemented stronger storage and waiting period requirements. A federal judge dismissed a challenge to the initiative in August, ruling that I-1639 was constitutional.

Culp, who dropped out of high school but later earned a GED, told The Columbian’s editorial board that enforcing the law would amount to violating the state Constitution.

Inslee, a graduate of the University of Washington and Willamette University’s law school, views the situation differently.

“The people have voted, through constitutional means, to have this gun safety legislation … we cannot have public officials thinking they are smarter than the U.S. Supreme Court or the state Supreme Court,” Inslee said. “This is a really dangerous precedent. Our democracy would not function if all of us thought we had the right to ignore our judicial system.”

Inslee declined to meet with the editorial board alongside Culp, which is The Columbian’s usual practice with candidates ahead of an election. The two instead participated in remote conversations with the board on separate days.

Culp and Inslee will appear on Washingtonian’s ballots statewide in the Nov. 3 election.