Recent News

The Economic Alliance Snohomish County (“EASC”) recently announced a second round of its Coronavirus grant program to help relieve those small businesses specifically based in the Snohomish-County-area. The EASC is administering $580,000 of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding for the grant program.  With a maximum grant of $10,000, small businesses… Read More

This week the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued an Agency Order under the authority of Section 361 of the Public Health Services Act, 42 C.F.R. § 70.2 (“Measures in the event of inadequate local control”) imposing a federal residential eviction moratorium effective through December 31, 2020.  The CDC Order is more nuanced… Read More

The City of Mukilteo recently announced a Coronavirus grant program designed to help relieve those small businesses specifically based in Mukilteo-based.  Detailed information about the application process, eligibility requirements, and allowed uses of grant funds can be found at https://mukilteowa.gov/mukilteo-cares-for-businesses-program/. The Mukilteo City Council has authorized the use of $150,000 of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief… Read More

On June 24, 2020, Washington Secretary of Health John Wiesman (the “Secretary”) issued an Order requiring “Face Coverings – Statewide” effective June 26, 2020. This blog entry discusses how we got to this point, the Secretary’s authority for the new Order, and an overview of the new facial covering requirements. How Did We Get Here?… Read More

We are now a little more than a week into June and Washington’s transition from “Stay Home” to “Safe Start” is well under way.  As of today, only 6 of Washington’s counties remain in Phase 1 while 25 counties have moved to Phase 2 and 8 counties have advanced to Phase 3.  While my blog… Read More

On June 3, 2020, the Washington Department of Health announced the launch of an updated COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard.  The dashboard includes detailed data relating to six topics:  Phases & Risk Assessment, COVID-19 Disease Activity, Testing Capacity, Healthcare System Readiness, Case Investigations and Contact Tracing, and Populations at Higher Risk.  In addition to identifying the… Read More

On May 31, 2020, Governor Jay Inslee issued his latest amendment to the “Stay Home – Stay Healthy” order.  The Governor originally issued his “Stay Home” order  on March 23, 2020.  Prior to May 31, the Governor amended the order three times, on April 2, 2020, April 27, 2020 and May 4, 5020.  Each of… Read More

Over the past week, Washington has continued to progress quickly through the “Safe Start Washington” phased re-opening plan.  Entering this week, the state had granted early entry variances to ten low density counties to enter Phase 2.  Those counties included Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Stevens, Wahkiakum and Whitman counties.  That left… Read More

Yesterday, I wrote about the quick progress Washington has seen since the implementation of the “Safe Start Washington” plan.  I focused on (1) the industries re-opened across Washington in Phase 1 and the requirements for businesses operating in those industries, (2) the 8 low density counties that have already advanced to Phase 2, and (3)… Read More