Republican Gubernatorial candidate Joshua Freed has released a five point economic recovery plan aimed at getting Washington residents who have been laid off or furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic back to work.
Finding a balance between the medical and economic issues tugging at us right now is paramount to the future of this state, which is why I have outlined a five-point plan that I will be fighting for on the campaign trail. I believe this is a great first step to getting Washintonians back to work,” said Feed.
The first point, titled, “Ensure Main Street survives,” calls for the removal of the “non-essential” category in the state’s policy designating which types of businesses should be permitted to operate during the pandemic. The goal is to accelerate the resumption of business activities in rural areas or regions less affected by the outbreak.
Second, Freed endorses a targeted approach to determine who in the state’s population can resume working and who is too vulnerable to do so. Freed says this “avoids a one-size fits all approach and significantly reduces exposure to coronavirus for those that are most likely to be killed or suffer long-term implications by being exposed.”
Next, while Freed supports the resumption of business activities in some areas, the third point of his plan endorses the CDC guidelines for continuing to practice social distancing and engaging in recommended behaviors such as washing one’s hands often and wearing cloth face masks.
Moving on, Freed says the state should prioritize civic infrastructure and construction projects, airports in particular, to rebuild the economy.
The sooner large-scale civic infrastructure can be safely reopened, the faster our economies will be able to rebound in the aftermath of a pandemic,” wrote Freed.
To do so, Freed said airports need to have safe operating and health screening procedures in place. Additionally, Freed emphasized that single family construction is essential to accelerating the production of housing stock in Washington State.
Finally, Freed calls for the adoption of his “Washingtonians First” plan aimed at providing relief to workers and small businesses by deferring, or in some cases rescinding, certain taxes and providing bridge grants to small businesses.
Your support matters.
Public service journalism is important today as ever. If you get something from our coverage, please consider making a donation to support our work. Thanks for reading our stuff.
