Inslee addresses unemployment backlog, vulnerable workers and contact tracing data
Gov. Jay Inslee spoke Thursday about progress in clearing the state’s unemployment backlog, an extension of protections for vulnerable workers, and a new proclamation that exempts personal information collected by contact tracers from public disclosure.
Inslee said at a virtual press conference that by the end of Friday, July 31, the Employment Security Department expected to finish clearing the backlog of claims filed between March and June.
“These are folks whose claims have been in adjudication,” Inslee said. “That means there had to be something cleared up to allow them to be adjudicated as either valid or not valid.”
The governor also said he has extended a proclamation about rights and protections for high-risk employees.
“Basically our provision prohibits employers from failing to accommodate these workers who would be more highly vulnerable to the virus,” he said.
Inslee spoke about the importance of contact tracing, and said a new proclamation will exempt from public disclosure the names, birth dates, phone numbers and addresses collected by investigators.
“Our ability to fight this disease depends on people’s willingness to help the contact tracers stop this chain of transmission,” he said.
He noted the indefinite extension of the pause on counties advancing phases under the state’s Safe Start plan that he announced earlier this week.
“It’s just too early to allow significantly more activities to open up,” he said.
The governor said he expects to have more to say about schools soon.
“I know that there are some individual districts making decisions on a daily basis,” he said. “... Unfortunately many districts are recognizing that the rate of transmission is not where we would hope it to be to allow full-scale on-site instruction. We appreciate everybody continuing to work on this, and like I said, we’ll have more to say about that in a few days.”
Inslee also spoke of the “distinct honor of knowing John Lewis.”
He said the civil rights leader “demonstrated the power of peaceful protest to change the world,” and “that spirit has inspired so many people in this country and in the U.S. Congress.”
Inslee also addressed the history of vote-by-mail in Washington state.
Washingtonians, he said, will “tell you, regardless of party, voting by mail is safe, it is secure, and voting by mail improves democracy by improving access to the ballot box.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Inslee addresses unemployment backlog, vulnerable workers and contact tracing data."
