WA Rep: ‘People are going to Walmart, but they’re not able to go to Main St’

More and more leaders are saying it’s time to reopen and get the economy up and running in a reasonable and safe way. Here in Washington state, it would appear the governor is moving pretty slowly, with most businesses seeing no end in sight. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican from Spokane, told the Jason Rantz Show she believes it’s time to put a concrete plan in place.

“We are grateful that we have not seen the number of cases as other regions and counties in Washington state, and we’re grateful for all the work that has been done by our emergency management team in eastern Washington, our health care providers that have been ramping up,” she said. “But we are ready to get back to our lives and to see more industries and more of our economy opened up.”

“I was really pleased that last week the governor took action to open up some parts of our economy around residential construction, fishing, golfing. We had been ready for a couple of weeks actually.”

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As Jason noted, it might be ideal if decisions to reopen were handled on a regional basis and less so as a statewide issue, since western and eastern Washington have not been hit equally by the virus. On a recent call with Inslee, Rodgers cited the example of Colville, Washington.

“Colville is a town of 5,000 people. … Main Street Colville is shut down. You drive through Colville and you see one or two cars parked on Main Street. But the Walmart at the end of town is doing well. Their parking lot is packed because that’s the only business that is open,” she said.

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“I just asked the governor to look at how can we issue some guidelines for these other businesses, if it is limiting the number of people in the store, or by appointment only in some cases. … But issue some guidelines so that we can maintain the safety of our public but still be able to function. Right now, people are going to Walmart and Costco, but they’re not able to go to Main Street.”

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