Councilman Nehring's June Newsletter

Snohomish County, Washington sent this bulletin at 05/29/2020 01:09 PM PDT

Dear North County Neighbors,

I hope you are staying healthy as we continue to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our communities and lives. I also hope that you were able to honor Memorial Day although it looked a little different than in previous years. While we were not able to attend large gatherings to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms, many took the time to plant flags at cemeteries, attend virtual events, and pray for the families who have lost loved ones.

In this month’s newsletter, I will highlight our continuing efforts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Snohomish County’s request to reopen our economy, and the work of the Economic and Workforce Recovery Task Force.

CARES Act

Throughout the month of May, I worked closely with my colleagues on the County Council and the County Executive to deliberate and ultimately appropriate over $140 million for COVID-19 response and relief. These funds were made available by the federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act signed into law by President Trump on March 27th. You can read the press release announcing the action here.

The CARES Act, among other things, provided funds to local governments to respond to the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. Snohomish County allocated funds to a variety of programs including:

Economic Stabilization - $37,000,000

These funds will be used for small business and airport grants to provide relief to those employers affected by the COVID-19 shutdown. There are also other economic recovery and resiliency programs included in this package.

Public Health and Emergency Response - $44,093,057

These funds will be used to support the efforts of Snohomish County Emergency Management to respond directly to the impacts of COVID-19 including PPE for medical personnel, coordination of response efforts, testing, and other direct costs.

Snohomish Health District - $10,906,943

The Snohomish Health District (SHD) has been on the front lines of supporting testing efforts and responding to outbreaks. These funds help cover those costs incurred by SHD.

Human Services and Housing - $25,000,000

The economic and social impacts of COVID-19 have left many of our residents in desperate need for assistance. This pot of money will be used to help keep residents in need in their homes and provide relief for our most vulnerable neighbors.

Essential Government Services - $6,000,000

This funding covers the County’s expenses to make adjustments to facilities to ensure safe work spaces when staff return to in-person work.

Reserves - $20,447,144

We set aside this amount for reserves in case there are unanticipated expenditures or additional needs throughout the rest of the year related to COVID-19.

PHASE 2 Request

Earlier today, the Snohomish County Board of Health and County Council approved a variance request to move Snohomish County from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of the Governor’s reopening plan. Moving to Phase 2 would allow many businesses to reopen with safety measures in place including restaurants, barbers and salons, retail stores, professional services, pet grooming, and manufacturing and construction work.

The request now goes to the State Department of Health for their consideration. If approved, Snohomish County would be able to move into Phase 2 with the guidance provided by the state. I was proud to join County Executive Dave Somers and Snohomish Board of Health Chair Stephanie Wright in calling for this action and to vote in favor both at the Health Board and County Council.

It is essential that we get our businesses open and our residents back to work. The economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will take a long time to recover from but safely opening our businesses is a good first step. I look forward to hearing back from the State on our request and moving our County forward in reopening our economy. We announced the action in a press release you can read here.

Economic and Workforce Recovery Task Force

On April 21st, County Executive Dave Somers and I announced the launch of the Snohomish County Economic and Workforce Recovery Task Force. This group is made up of business, community, and elected leaders and is tasked with developing strategies to support economic recovery and resilience in Snohomish County.

One of the key aspects of the Task Force is the regional Economic Recovery Advisory Boards. Each County Councilmember chaired an Advisory Board in their district. I brought together the North County Economic Recovery Advisory Board to identify challenges that businesses and community organizations are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This 29 member board includes business leaders, local elected officials, and representatives from chambers of commerce and non-profits. Over the course of our meetings, we have identified findings and recommendations for the Task Force to use in developing their strategies. You can view the report from the North County Economic Recovery Advisory Board here.

I thank the members of the Advisory Board and Task Force for taking the time to help us charter the path to economic recovery and resiliency moving forward.

I will be sending out newsletters on a monthly basis to keep you informed about what I am working on and how I am representing the residents of North Snohomish County on the County Council. Please feel free to reach out to me at 425-388-3494 or Nate.Nehring@snoco.org

Sincerely,

Nate Nehring
Councilman, District 1

Snohomish County Council
3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609
Everett, Washington 98201

8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building
Phone: 425-388-3494
E-Mail: Nate.Nehring@snoco.org

Russell Wiita, Legislative Aide