Happy Monday and Welcome to Week 4 of the Legislative Session!
As promised, every Monday of the session we’re sending you our “Top 5” bills that have hearings or some kind of action happening in the legislature this week. There are certainly a lot more than 5, but we’ll try to pick the ones we feel are most important so you can direct your efforts to those. You can go to our Legislative Action Center at any time to see our full list of bills and calls to action if you want to dig in even deeper.
Each of the bills we send you will have CLW representation testifying either in person or remotely. Click the links below the image to sign in and have your position noted for the legislative record (this is quick, easy and IMPORTANT!) For more calls to action, visit our Legislative Action Center
SB 5024 – Establishes a Parent’s Bill of Rights in education. This bill sponsored by Senator Perry Dozier would establish that parents are the primary stakeholders in their child’s education and give them rights to know what is being taught and by whom. We SUPPORT this bill.
SB 5441 Promoting the adoption of school district curricula that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. This bill would require CRT to be taught in public schools. We OPPOSE this bill.
SB 5232 Enhancing requirements for the purchase or transfer of firearms. Requires 10 day waiting period, firearm training and prohibiting firearms transfers prior to completion of a background check, and updating and creating consistency in firearms transfer and background check procedures. We OPPOSE this bill.
SB 5179 increases access to the “Death with Dignity Act” by decreasing the waiting period from 15 days to 7 days and allowing for a wide range of providers to prescribe lethal drugs that can be sent via mail. We OPPOSE this bill.
SB 5505 addresses Covid-19 pandemic related learning loss by expanding the school year. This bill will not fix the learning loss by expanding the school year by 5 days. The bill is too general and unfocused. We OPPOSE this bill. It is not a solution to the problem.
A quick recap of week 3:
We had 7 abortion bills heard on Tuesday. Our team testified on 6 of them, including, SJR 8202 which is the constitutional amendment to include abortion as a fundamental human right.
Julie Barrett also testified in opposition to SB 5242 which would prohibit cost-sharing for abortion – coverage from the Lynnwood Times:
Speaking against the bill was Julie Barrett, founder of Conservative Ladies of Washington. She said if cost-sharing is eliminated for abortion services, someone is going to have to pay for it, whether it is taxpayers, people receiving medical funding or people using insurance coverage. “We do not have endless funds to draw from the citizens of Washington State,” she said. “It is wrong for taxpayers and those using private insurance to have to shoulder the cost of abortion.”
Jeannie Magdua and Leslie Williams both testified on HB 1244 which would increase the maximum per pupil limit for enrichment levy authority. You can watch their testimonies back to back here: House Appropriations – TVW
The 5 “gun control” bills were discussed in Executive Hearing in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee (HBs 1178, 1143, 1144, 1195 and 1240). The only bills advancing so far are HB 1240 (aka the “assault weapons” ban) and HB 1143. The senate companion bill to HB 1144 will be heard this week (see below).
HB 1333 had a public hearing last week and is scheduled for Executive Session on Tuesday, January 31. We recommend writing to all members of the committee. Please send an email to the committee members by clicking the button below.
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