Washington says goodbye to its mask mandate, but not its state of emergency...yet

Washington state lawmakers are moving forward with legislation to curb the governor’s executive powers.

The move comes after strong use of the powers amid the pandemic, and as Governor Jay Inslee is rolling back some Covid-era orders.

“We are confident that we are succeeding and experiencing a significant decline of omicron cases in our state," Inslee said Thursday. "This will allow us, in the upcoming weeks, to take further steps forward in regaining a normal life in the state of Washington.”

Ending the current state of emergency — which he declared about two years ago at the start of the pandemic — will not be one of those steps. Not yet anyway, as not to risk federal funding.

The statewide indoor mask mandate will lift on March 21. That means facial coverings no longer be required by the state at a variety of venues, such as schools, restaurants, gyms and stores. Masks are still required at medical facilities, on transit, and in prisons.

RELATED: Mixed reactions as Washington plans to ease mask restrictions

At the peak of the pandemic earlier this year, Washington was experiencing a rolling seven-day average of 19,000 cases, according to the state’s dashboard. As of February 3, the most recent date for which the state has complete data, that had dropped to about 7,000 cases, a 63% reduction.

“I know that there are some people who feel that it should’ve been ended earlier," Inslee said of his decision to end the mask mandate. "I also know that there’s a lot of people that think it maybe is ending too soon. And everyone is entitled to their opinion about this.”

THE EMERGENCY POWERS EMERGENCY

The state Senate has approved a bill that would give legislative leaders, both majority Democrats and minority Republicans, the power to end a state of emergency after 90 days while the Legislature is not in session; they have other options to do so while in session.

Inslee's announcement that the statewide indoor mask mandate is coming to an end may be welcome by his critics, but it doesn't go far enough to alleviate their concerns about the executive branch's emergency powers more broadly.

RELATED: King County's vaccine verification rule will end March 1

The conservative Maine Policy Institute has ranked Washington as one of the states with the “weakest check on executive powers” during an emergency.

KUOW's Austin Jenkins says the effort to scale those powers back was never just about Inslee nor his pandemic-era emergency declaration.

Lawmakers, including the governor's fellow Democrats, want to secure this power for the future, too.

The question is not whether lawmakers believe a check on the governor's power is needed but rather on whether Senate Bill 5909, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Emily Randall, goes far enough.

Republican state Sen. Lynda Wilson, for example, says the bill is inadequate. She's introduced her own emergency powers reform bills. Among them: a bill that would empower the Legislature, when in session, to end a state of emergency at any time through a concurrent resolution.

Wilson’s bills haven’t received a public hearing. SB 5909 now goes to the state House. And Inslee himself would have to sign the bill into law. His office would not say whether the governor would ultimately sign or veto SB 5909, but they do question whether it's really necessary.

ALSO HAPPENING IN OLYMPIA

Gov. Inslee was pushing for a bill to outlaw election lies. He went so far as to testify before lawmakers in favor of Senate Bill 5843.

The bill died this week. It would have made it a misdemeanor for elected officials and political candidates to “knowingly” or “maliciously” spread false information about election results if those lies incite violence.

Inslee argued the legislation was needed to prevent attacks on democracy, like the January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection in 2021 — partially the result of disinformation.

Critics say the proposal would have violated First Amendment rights to free speech — a point even experts who helped craft the bill could not refute with absolute certainty. That legal question will go unanswered for now.

SOLIDARITY! COMING SOON

While some Democrats have claimed solidarity with union drives, including among Amazon and Starbucks employees, they denied legislative staffers the ability to form a union of their own.

Like SB 5843 to criminalize some election lies, House Bill 1806 went down this week without a vote. Then, things got interesting.

RELATED: Washington legislative staffers stage sick-out after unionization bill dies

Staffers could not legally lobby for HB 1806 — they cannot lobby for or against any legislation — but they could protest the outcome. So, in the middle of deadline week, scores of Democratic staffers staged a sick-out.

KUOW's Austin Jenkins reports an estimated 80 to 100 or more staffers, including legislative assistants who work directly for state lawmakers, participated in the work stoppage. Many set their emails to "out of office" with the message: “Due to recent events, I am unavailable today. In Solidarity.”

The silent protest effectively put their typically pro-union bosses in the awkward position of having to explain why they weren’t allowing their own employees to form a union.

House Speaker Laurie Jenkins said any collective bargaining bill is complex, but assured staffers the bill could pass next year — with a few revisions, that is.

A Senate Democratic staffer, who requested anonymity so as to not draw attention to the lawmaker she works for, told Jenkins the bill's demise is an act of “betrayal” on the part of Democratic leadership and suggested election year politics might have come into play.