SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stopped by Spokane to have lunch with Ukrainian refugees a day after speaking to President Zelenskyy over Zoom.
"The first thing he said is 'we are going to rebuild Ukraine,'" Inslee said.
Inslee toured Thrive International. The center serves nearly 200 men, women and children who fled the war.
"Spokane has been one of the centers of helping people from Ukraine in the whole United States,"Inslee said. "I'm proud of our state. We have the highest number of Ukraine refugees of any state per capita in the United States. It's something to be proud of. And when you meet these folks and see their courage and uplifted attitude, this is good for Washington state."
After lunch, Inslee went inside Spokane's newest indoor sports complex, the Podium.
"It seems to be a really raging success," Inslee said.
The governor spoke on the need for more affordable housing in the state. He says the private sector isn't building enough.
"I'm asking the legislature to step up to the plate and do a billion dollars," Inslee said. "I'd like to have a longer term financing but we need to go big so people can go home and the fundamental problem is we don't have enough housing."
Inslee says completing the north south freeway is a statewide priority. However, KREM 2 reported in January the governor's proposed budget would delay the project by six years.
"At the moment, I'm concerned that we haven't had the prioritization we need that allows us to actually get that project done," Inslee said. "It is a priority, but we delayed a lot of other projects as well."
"I hope we can get this project done," Inslee continued.
Back in February, the nation watched as people in Ohio and Pennsylvania were evacuated after a train derailed, spilling toxic chemicals. There's been other derailments since then.
Inslee says his office is doing "everything humanely possible" to ensure that a similar incident doesn't happen in Spokane, Seattle or Washington state.
"We're trying to use all of our legal ways to increase safety on our railroads," Inslee said. "Unfortunately, the federal government has preempted our ability to do many of the things frankly I would like to do, and I would like congress to change the laws so that we have more restrictions on oil transports."
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