State lawmaker holding a reopen Washington rally in Olympia Saturday

State Rep. Vicki Kraft is heading a reopen Washington rally Saturday in an effort to draw attention to those struggling with businesses closing down and schools only doing remote learning. She joined the Dori Monson Show to discuss why.

“This has been a very, very challenging season, I’ll call it, for many people. The overall health and well-being of Washingtonians is being very negatively impacted. So as we look at all the ways people are being impacted emotionally, mentally, spiritually, financially, as well as some physically, we have to take these things into account. As legislators, we’ve been calling, many of us, for a special session to come back since the spring to try to address some of these issues,” she said.

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“And one of the most important is how can we help businesses be able to provide jobs, be able to thrive, and meet the needs of customers and constituents, from a social, emotional, mental, standpoint as well,” she added. “So, you know, looking at how we can help them do that by safely reopening is really what we need to focus on. We haven’t had enough of that conversation.”

Kraft says there are ways to safely reopen businesses, and that the data doesn’t support the notion that some places have more of a chance of spreading COVID than others.

“Right now, there are safe ways to reopen business. We’ve all been shopping at grocery stores, many have gone into Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement store since the very beginning of all of this. And so we’ve proven right that business can be open,” she said. “And, you know, there are those that argue certain places have more social interaction and contact than others. I would say the data doesn’t necessarily prove that out.”

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“The bottom line is we can do this safely, and it’s time, because if we don’t, our way of living and our way of economic structure will change for the worst,” Kraft added. “So it’s time to go ahead and start reopening safely and get that going, especially in counties that have really not had much impact. So that’s what this this event is designed to do is to focus on helping to make that happen.”

The rally is Saturday, Dec. 5, at 11 a.m. in Olympia at the state Capitol building on the north steps.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.