Evergreen Reporter

Rep. Drew Stokesbary of Auburn addressed Washingtonians following Gov. Jay Inslee’s third inaugural address on Jan. 13.

Stokesbary suggested that the legislature should bolster grants to small businesses, noting that only a few could afford the massive unemployment tax increase to bear the expenses brought about by “bureaucratic incompetence.”

“After taking care of our families, we must help our employers survive as well,” Stokesbary said.

Many small businesses have been shut for months. As generations of work are being destroyed, the governor is insisting that businesses cover the loss of $600 million in fake claims his Employment Security Division paid out to Nigerian scammers.

“Few small businesses can afford a 500 percent unemployment tax increase to cover the costs of state-mandated closures and bureaucratic incompetence. The legislature must shore up the state’s unemployment fund and then dramatically expand grants to shuttered small businesses so there are jobs to return to after the pandemic.”

Stokesbary further said that “we must undo the damage caused by the prolonged shutdowns.”

Although the Auburn Republican representative said he and the governor have some plans for Washingtonians in common, Stokesbary said that “one person alone cannot reflect Washington’s ethnic, professional, geographic and political diversity or make dissenting voices feel represented.”