In a letter Monday afternoon to Gov. Inslee, Republican leaders Sen. John Braun and Rep. J.T. Wilcox expressed support for plans to reintroduce in- person learning in Washington schools. The leaders also asked that Inslee advance all of Washington to re-open at 50% capacity under their “Open Safe, Open Now” approach.

Between the vaccination rollout, the declining epidemiological curve, and the fact that our entire state has spent more than two weeks in Phase 2, we believe those still under activity restrictions may ‘open safe’ to 50% capacity. At the same time, we believe it is critical to ‘open now.’ Many of our job creators have been closed permanently by the pandemic. Many others are barely holding on and may not survive into April, the time when you projected that your Phase 3 might finally be defined,” reads the letter.

A full copy of the letter is available here.

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