Gov. Inslee wants to ‘eliminate racial disparities’ with series of new initiatives

In the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd, Governor Jay Inslee has unveiled a new program to help “eliminate racial disparities” in Washington.

That will come in the form of a series of initiatives, including:

• The creation of the Office of Independent Investigations to “conduct investigations of police use of excessive force”
• Funding the state’s new Equity Office and developing a “five year equity” plan to “promote systemic and cultural changes”
• “Additional investments” into the Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund
• Establishing Juneteenth as a legal holiday
• Removing barriers to financial aid
• Working with partners in the education sector to “support financial literacy”

“These proposals begin the long process of tackling inequities that have plagued this state and country since our inception,” Inslee said Monday. “We have seen Black, Indigenous and people of color historically and disproportionately impacted because of longstanding racial gaps and socio-economic factors — all of which have racism as a root cause.”

Gov. Inslee had already created a task force on independent investigations into police killings, and Democratic state lawmakers have been working on several other police criminal justice reform proposals.

Democratic Rep. Jesse Johnson says there is much more to ending systemic racism than the criminal justice system.

“Progressive revenue, permanent support of housing, affordable housing, eviction moratorium, and make sure that that continues,” Johnson said, adding, “Mental health supports, one-on-one supports for students and families.”

The hope from Inslee is to address many of those shortcomings with his newly-announced initiatives.

MyNorthwest staff contributed to this report

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