BySenators Hunt, Mullet, Lovelett, Conway, Hawkins, Billig, Schoesler, Becker, Bailey, Zeiger, Takko, Liias, Kuderer, Wilson, C., Sheldon, Holy, McCoy, Wellman, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Wilson, L., and Brown

WHEREAS, Governor Jay Inslee issued a proclamation on February 8, 2019, declaring a state of emergency for all counties throughout the state of Washington as a result of a severe winter storm forecast; and

WHEREAS, Washington State was struck by a storm the ferocity and duration of which was unmatched by any previously encountered in 30 years; and

WHEREAS, Extensive snowfall and ice caused roads to become unnavigable, entire neighborhoods to lose power, and food and water to become dangerously scarce and hard to resupply in some jurisdictions of the state; and

WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives canceled committee hearings on February 11, 2019, due to the severity of the storm; and

WHEREAS, Employees of the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services were hard at work during and after the winter storm to keep conditions on the Capitol Campus safe and functional; and

WHEREAS, Despite the dangerous conditions, Department of Enterprise Services employees worked tirelessly to clear roads, sidewalks, and parking lots to ensure that state employees and visitors could safely navigate the Capitol Campus; and

WHEREAS, Department of Enterprise Services employees ensured campus security systems remained operational and buildings were accessible; and

WHEREAS, Many Department of Enterprise Services employees were called to work at 2:00 am to clear snow from campus streets and sidewalks; and

WHEREAS, Many Department of Enterprise Services employees worked daily snow shifts from February 9 through February 15, 2019; and

WHEREAS, Department of Enterprise Services employees worked a total of 1,523 hours on snow mitigation which included 331 hours of overtime; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature would not have been able to quickly recover from the storm in order to serve the citizens of the State of Washington without the essential help of the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services and its staff;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate sincerely thanks the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services and its Buildings and Grounds and Capitol Security and Visitor Services crews for their unwavering commitment to keeping so many functions of the state government, including the State Legislature and Capitol Campus, smoothly running through even the toughest conditions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Chris Liu, Director of the Department of Enterprise Services.