Our view: Sign onto I-1114

It’s been 278 days since Gov. Jay Inslee first issued executive orders shutting down businesses, ending government transparency and calling some people “non-essential.”

His mantra at the time, “flatten that curve” on the growing coronavirus outbreak.

The governor and his hand-picked advisers told us the shutdowns were temporary, that the so-called emergency was temporary.

More than six month later, temporary seems to have a different definition. Businesses are closing daily, residents across the state are protesting and civility is dissipating. Residents are told they can’t have Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with friends and family. And police in places like Pullman are writing tickets for at gatherings, and threatening to cite those who don’t wear a mask in public.

The governor has since ditched the “flatten that curve” mantra and adopted new ones like “mask up” and “stay home, stay healthy.”

The emergency power and ramifications of his and others’ “recommendations” have been excessive and continuous. It’s time we start talking about what constitutes a virus and for how low any single government official can order closures. Initiative 1114, dubbed the Emergency Powers Act, is the beginning of that discussion.

The proposed ballot measure would limit the governor’s emergency power declarations to just 14 days. After that time, the only the Legislature could extend an emergency declaration through concurrent resolution.

The measure would also require any declaration to be narrowed to the area where the emergency actually exists and mandate that local data be used to substantiate an emergency order. Furthermore, any emergency declaration would be challengeable in the county of jurisdiction only.

Signatures are being collected statewide now.

Restore Washington, led by Wenatchee-area businessman and former state Rep. Cary Condotta, needs to collect a minimum of 259,622 valid voter signatures by Dec. 17 to force the Legislature to take up the discussion.

With enough signatures, the Legislature, which convenes Jan. 11, to take up the issue. As an initiative, the Legislature will have the option of approving the measure and forwarding it to the governor to become law, directing the Secretary of State to put in on the next statewide ballot or putting it and a competing measure on the next statewide ballot.

Signing a petition to force the Legislature’s hand doesn’t necessarily mean you support limiting the governor’s powers. But it does mean the issue is too important for the state to allow a single man or women to decide who, what and when will be shut down and for how long. It also means that local data will have to support such a designation.

You can find a copy of the signature form online at http://www.restorewashington.org. In the alternative, you can also find a map with businesses statewide where you can find and sign the petition.

With growing protests, the continued loss of businesses and no ending of quarantine orders in sight, it’s time for a serious discussion on emergency powers. We encourage you to find and sign the petition.

– Our View is the opinion of the Free Press Publishing editorial board. Board members are Davenport Times Editor Jamie Henneman, Odessa Record Editor Terrie Schmidt-Crosby, Ritzville Adams County Journal Editor Katie Teachout and Publisher Roger Harnack.