On February 29, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency for the State of Washington. Now, over two and a half years later, that state of emergency and all remaining emergency proclamations are scheduled to be lifted on October 31, 2022 (see the governor’s press release).
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a long and exhausting experience for citizens and governmental agencies in the State of Washington and, while COVID-19 remains a reality, the state governmental restrictions associated with the pandemic will mostly be a thing of the past by the end of this month. Governor Inslee’s February 29, 2020, state of emergency declaration gave him broad authority to prohibit activities that he reasonably believed was necessary “to help preserve and maintain life, health, property or the public peace” and to waive or suspend certain statutes and rules (RCW 43.06.220).
Based on this state of emergency, Governor Inslee issued numerous proclamations, including a shelter-in-place requirement, a mask mandate, vaccination requirements for certain workers, a proof of vaccination or negative test requirement to attend large events, an eviction moratorium, a prohibition on utility shutoffs and late fees, a waiver of the requirement to have in-person open public meetings, and more. It was — a lot.