Braun: Bipartisan emergency powers reform must happen in 2023

Oct 31, 2022

OLYMPIA…Senate Republican Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, shared the following comments in response to the end of the state of emergency declared by Gov. Jay Inslee 975 days ago in response to the outbreak of COVID-19.

“Ending the state of emergency is long overdue. Washington was under one-man rule for 975 days. With this finally behind us, I hope the majority party will be willing to discuss legitimate bipartisan reform of the governor’s emergency powers. It doesn’t matter what party the governor belongs to – shutting the people out of the decision-making process is wrong. The reforms we have proposed wouldn’t prevent future governors from declaring a state of emergency or issuing executive orders to respond to an emergency. They would, however, preserve legislative oversight and approval if the declaration continues beyond 30 days. That’s reasonable reform and it needs to happen in 2023.”