Vaccine requirement for House lawmakers removed; public now allowed in galleries

Mar. 1—OLYMPIA — Members of the state House of Representatives are no longer required to show proof of vaccination to be allowed onto the chamber floor.

As COVID-19 cases decline, the House Executive Rules Committee unanimously voted on Saturday to rescind the vaccine requirement, expand the number of members on the floor and allow the public into the gallery during floor debates.

Beginning Tuesday, one gallery in the House will re-open to the public. It will seat 17 people, but the first row is reserved for members of the news media. The Senate last week similarly voted to allow members of the public into the gallery. Up to 12 members of the public, including news media, are now allowed in the Senate galleries.

Unlike the Senate, entering the House galleries does not require a negative COVID-19 test. Instead, the public must self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms. In both galleries, social distancing and mask wearing is required.

To enter both the House and the Senate, members of the public will need to enter through a metal detector. In the House, concealed carry is now prohibited. Open carry has been prohibited in both chambers for several years.

The decision to prohibit concealed carry as well was split along party lines within the Democratic-controlled House Executive Rules Committee.

House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, told reporters Monday prohibiting concealed carry in the galleries is "a mistake, and I don't agree with it."

The House will also now allow 45 members on the floor, up from the previous 27. That will include 26 Democrats and 19 Republicans, based on their proportional representation.

Laurel Demkovich's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.