Evergreen Reporter

While the office of Gov. Jay Inslee is making an effort to implement its “Healthy Washington–Roadmap to Recovery” plan, House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox (R-Yelm) and Senate Minority Leader John Braun (R-Centralia) are calling out the governor to hold state agencies accountable for the slow rollout of the vaccine and other COVID-19 responses that have been hitting speed bumps.

“We need the governor to hold his state agencies accountable, help those who have been devastated by his actions, and safely reopen businesses and schools,” Wilcox and Braun said in a joint statement. “The legislative session begins Monday. Republicans have already introduced solutions and will be putting more ideas on the table soon. We will also bring the voices of forgotten Washingtonians to the legislative arena.”

Rep. Wilcox and Sen. Braun further said that Inslee has demanded “no accountability from important state agencies involved in the pandemic response.”

“After nearly a year of sacrifices, involving jobs, businesses, stress, homelessness, suicide … vaccination rollout in our state is slow, experienced providers wait for approval,” Wilcox, wrote on Twitter. “Think of the vulnerable infected this week, who should have been vaccinated already and the outcome.”

The governor’s office said the plans include having more people vaccinated over the next few months. 

“No one was untouched by the effects of the pandemic in 2020; many have and continue to suffer through no fault of their own,” Inslee said during a press conference, the governor's office reported. “We aren’t out of this yet, but we are close to turning the corner on COVID-19 and this third wave of infection.”