Republican senators push for gyms, sports to resume

MOSES LAKE — A group of Republican state senators are asking Gov. Jay Inslee to loosen restrictions on gyms, health clubs and youth sports.

“I have grandchildren who love their sports,” said Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, one of the signatories of a letter to the governor demanding an easing of restrictions. “And they want an opportunity to get out and play.”

Warnick, along with 10 other GOP state senators, wrote in support of recent efforts by the Washington Fitness Alliance, an association of nearly 300 gyms and fitness centers across the state, to show that cleaning, distancing and tracking efforts by gyms show that few, if any, cases of COVID-19 can be traced to gyms.

“The data does not prove that fitness centers are a place where people contract COVID-19,” Warnick told the Columbia Basin Herald.

Warnick said she received “400 emails in one day” after the recent closure from people who wanted to “get back into their fitness centers.”

Inslee issued updated reopening guidance for businesses last month, including closing gyms through Dec. 14.

In the letter, the GOP legislators also express concerns about the closure of youth and adult sports, noting that athletics “play a vital role in the mental and physical health” of the state’s young people.

Warnick said she would like to see both school and non-school sports resumed in the state because athletic activity is one way for people to “stay safe and stay healthy.”

“I feel so badly for these young people,” she said.

Warnick said she is also concerned about the possibility of a major increase in homelessness with the looming end of the state’s moratorium on evictions, set to end Dec. 31.

A member of the state senate’s Housing Stability and Affordability Committee, Warnick said landlords don’t want to evict anyone and are willing to work with tenants who are behind on their rent or are unable to pay due to COVID-19-related restrictions, but they also need tenants to respect property as well — something that has come under strain in the last six months, as some renters realize they can’t be evicted.

“It’s a dilemma,” she said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.