Washington State Legislature Will Still Open In Person Monday

SEATTLE (AP) – Washington state lawmakers are defending their plan to open the legislative session in person next Monday.

Their comments follow the siege of the nation’s Capitol building in Washington, D.C., as well as the storming of the governor’s property in Olympia by President Donald Trump’s loyalists.

Leaders from both parties spoke during an online preview of the legislative session hosted by The Associated Press on Thursday, saying that the state Constitution requires lawmakers to meet in person, that meeting in the Capitol would be safer than meeting elsewhere, and that it is crucial to demonstrate that lawmakers will not be intimidated from doing the people’s business.