Gov. Inslee announces end to COVID vaccine requirement for state employees

As COVID-19 restrictions and regulations wind down across the globe, Gov. Jay Inslee will be ending the vaccination requirement for state employees.

The mandate was first put into place in August of 2021, before Inslee issued a directive making it a permanent condition for employment with the state a year later. That directive will no longer be in effect starting Thursday, May 11.

“For more than three years, we have all faced incredible challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted every aspect of our lives,” Inslee said in a news release. “Throughout this public health crisis, our state employee family demonstrated inspiring resilience and dedication, and I thank our employees for their exemplary service under unprecedented circumstances.”

“We have risen to the occasion during a defining moment in our history, and the measures we took helped us to achieve one of the lowest death rates in the nation,” he added.

This comes after the World Health Organization ended the global health emergency for COVID-19 last Friday, while Washington’s own state emergency ended last October. It also coincides with the Biden Administration ending the country’s national health emergency on May 11, in addition to the sunsetting of Washington’s COVID exposure app, WA Notify, on that same day.

In the days ahead, Inslee plans to provide a $1,000 payment for eligible state employees who can provide proof that they are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

House Republican leader Drew Stokebary and Senate Republican leader John Braun released a statement about the governor’s decision.

“Just as Governor Inslee was slow to end his COVID state of emergency, he’s been equally behind the times in ending this discriminatory vaccination mandate. Republican legislative leaders called on the governor to take this step more than 14 months ago. It’s as though he finally made the connection between his vaccine requirement and the great difficulty our state agencies are having with filling vacancies.

This mandate went too far from the start. It cost many state employees their careers and livelihoods. Republicans warned there could be problems and recommended a more pragmatic approach. The governor went ahead anyway with one of the most extreme policies in the nation. Everyone has seen the staffing shortages and disruptions in state services caused by his unilateral decision – especially at Washington State Ferries and the Washington State Patrol.

Around 1,900 state employees were either terminated or left their jobs due to the governor’s shortsighted approach. There are more than 1,550 state positions vacant today. If any of these experienced former public servants are still willing to return to state government, after Governor Inslee showed them the door, they should receive priority when applying and should receive pension service credit for the months when they were barred from their prior employment. House Bill 1814 was introduced this year with these goals in mind.

This also calls into question the governor’s choice to agree to $1,000 vaccine-booster incentive payments for state employees. Those could cost taxpayers $50 million – money that would be better put toward something like helping K-12 students recover from the pandemic-related learning loss so many have suffered. It’s fiscally irresponsible and shows how misguided his priorities are.”