Governor Announces Numerous Steps in COVID-19 Plan

Wednesday afternoon Gov. Inslee announced a slew of steps being taken to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 situation, his press conference did not contain any new restrictions.  Before leaving the podium to the Mayors of Seattle and Tacoma and fielding questions, Inslee laid out a number of steps.

They included:

• Immediate ban on landlord evictions for 30 days, and ban on 20 day eviction notices, unless the landlord can prove there is vital health or safety reasons to do so.
• Waiving the 1 week state waiting period to obtain unemployment if displaced from work by COVID or a closure. Can now obtain immediately once filed for.
• Suspending overdue state tax collections or penalties for businesses in WA state for 30 days. For those who may be behind.
• Expanding DSHS benefit programs to families without children, where applicable.
• Asking utility companies across the state to waive or postpone collections of late fees, and to offer help programs for those who've been displaced financially by COVID closures.  Inslee said most utilities have already started such programs.

To watch the Governor's press conference for yourself, click on the button below for a link to his Facebook page. A number of other steps were unveiled as well.