Each month, Nonstop Local’s Liz Burch will be interviewing a “Mover and Shaker” in the Pacific Northwest.
We begin with the United States’ longest serving governor. Washington Governor Jay Inslee was elected in 2012 and will not seek re-election in 2024. Liz sat down one-on-one with Governor Inslee about his time in office and what’s next.
“I don’t know if I’m a ‘mover or a shaker,’ but those can be positive in their own way,” Governor Inslee joked.
However you want to refer to him, with a decade in office, Governor Inslee will leave a lasting legacy. Nonstop Local asked him what he’s most proud of from the last ten years.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve moved the state forward on, we have the best paid family leave program in the United States, that makes such a difference to people,” Governor Inslee said. “I think our additional educational funding has made a difference in our schools.”
But Governor Inslee time in charge of the Evergreen State hasn’t come without controversy. In his own words, he faced a “unique challenge” being a governor during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In 2020, Governor Inslee announced an executive order “prohibiting all people in Washington State from leaving their homes or participating in social, spiritual and recreational gatherings of any kind regardless of the number of participants, and all non-essential businesses in Washington State from conducting business.”
In response, Governor Inslee faced backlash from business owners and community members across the state. In a letter sent in November 2020, Benton and Franklin County Commissioners told the governor they were concerned over new restrictions, saying many local businesses were on the “brink of closing permanently due to damage caused” by the shutdowns.
We asked Governor Inslee about his response to the pandemic and what he would say to those critical of his decisions.
“What I would say is, their concerns are real. If you’re a small restaurant, and you had to shut down your business for months, you could understand why that would cause concern. When we had to make these decisions, they were very difficult for me, knowing that would be great hardship for people as there was. that’s why we were inspired to provide as much help as we could,” Governor Inslee said.
He says Washington’s economy has bounced back, and the steps he took as governor saved lives.
“It’s not surprisingly there was controversy with these decisions. I guess I would say I sleep well at night because I understand how important these decisions were,” Inslee said. “People would have died had we not made these decisions.”
Now, the state faces new issues. He says the biggest problems he sees now are mental health, homelessness, and the fentanyl crisis. He says building housing and providing drug treatment are proved to work, and he’s partnering with local communities to take action.
And Governor Inslee says working with small communities is where we can continue to find him. Nonstop Local asked the governor what’s next for him and if he plans to run for president again.
“I would not bet on that. you could make a lot of money betting against me running for president. I don’t have a specific plan, but I intend to keep working in a meaningful way. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s helping communities build their clean energy economy.”
He says he’ll throw his support behind President Joe Biden in 2024.
“I think he’s done a solid job, in things that are very important Washington,” Governor Inslee said. “He’s with it, I’ve worked with him, he’s totally sharp, and I can report that to you, so I’m supporting to him.”
