||| FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE |||
Inslee announces universal masking, vaccine requirements for certain sectors
Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday announced a vaccination requirement for employees working in K-12, most childcare and early learning, and higher education, as well as an expansion of the statewide mask mandate to all individuals, regardless of vaccination status. The governor was joined for the announcement by Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and Secretary of Health Dr. Umair A. Shah.
K -12 educators, school staff, coaches, bus drivers, school volunteers and others working in school facilities will have until October 18 to be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment. The requirement includes public, private and charter schools, and comes as schools across the state prepare to return for the 2021–2022 school year amid rapidly increasing case and hospitalization numbers. This does not impact students, regardless of age.
“It has been a long pandemic, and our students and teachers have borne their own unique burdens throughout,” Inslee said. “This virus is increasingly impacting young people, and those under the age of 12 still can’t get the vaccine for themselves. We won’t gamble with the health of our children, our educators and school staff, nor the health of the communities they serve.”
Inslee also announced a vaccine requirement for employees in Washington’s higher education institutions, as well as for most childcare and early learning providers who serve children from multiple households. These individuals also have until October 18 to be fully vaccinated.
The requirements are estimated to cover more than 360,000 individuals working in these sectors in Washington state.
- Proclamation 20-25 is amended to adopt the most recent face covering order issued by the Secretary of Health, Order 20-03.4. Under this order, every person in Washington must wear a face covering when they are in a place that is generally accessible to any person from outside their household, subject to specific exceptions and exemptions.
- Proclamation 21-14 (Vaccination Requirement) is expanded to include all employees, on-site contractors and on-site volunteers at all public and private K-12 schools, public and private 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education, and early learning and child care programs serving children from multiple households.
Read the rest of the story on the governor’s Medium page.
Clemency relief available to those in community supervision solely for invalid drug convictions
Washington state has instituted a new process to allow individuals on active community supervision for certain drug possession convictions to directly petition Gov. Jay Inslee to commute their sentences.
Inslee is prepared to issue unconditional commutations for eligible petitioners to eliminate any remaining community supervision involving drug possession convictions that have been invalidated by the Washington Supreme Court, as well as any obligation to pay on related legal financial obligations.
“I am committed to doing what I can to try to remedy the situation and assist the courts who are doing what they can to get through this backlog of cases,” Inslee said. “I want to thank the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) and State Office of Public Defense (OPD) for stepping up to help me provide clemency relief to eligible petitioners.”
This new path to commutations will allow expedited relief for thousands of individuals following February’s State of Washington v. Blake decision, in which the Washington State Supreme Court declared Washington’s simple drug possession statute unconstitutional.
There are currently over 1,200 individuals who remain on active DOC community supervision, solely for drug possession convictions held invalid by the Washington State Supreme Court in Blake. These individuals are now eligible to petition for a commutation through this new program. The DOC has begun disseminating petitions to its community correction officers to share with eligible individuals, and DOC will pass those completed petitions to OPD, which will process the petitions and send along proposed orders for the governor’s signature. Since the first completed petitions arrived at the Office of the Governor, Inslee has already issued over 100 unconditional commutations, with additional orders being issued daily.
Read the full story on the governor’s Medium page.
Background:
Inslee updates wildfire state of emergency proclamation
Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday updated the wildfire state of emergency proclamation.
The changes were made to clarify language around the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) hosting small wildfires on DOC property for religious purposes (like sweat lodges) and authorizes organic orchardists to perform “flaming” or “flame weeding,” a technique by which farmers use a small torch to kill weeds at the base of fruit trees, rather than inorganic herbicides.
The update also extends the waiver of truck driver service hours rules for fuel carriers through mid-September. All other service hour exemptions remain the same, including expiration dates.
Read the full proclamation here.
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