The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Leonard Christian’s subscribers on Jan. 31, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Christian’s e-newsletters, click here.
VIDEO UPDATE: Click here for a quick update on the effort to undo the people’s initiative on parental rights, Initiative 2081.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Stay tuned this week for the Senate’s first big battle of the year. It’s about the people’s initiative that passed the Legislature in 2024 with strong support from both sides of the aisle — the parental rights initiative, I-2081. If there was any doubt at the time, it is now apparent that our friends in the majority were less-than-sincere when they voted to support this measure last year.
I-2081 gave parents a greater say in what happens to their children in our public schools. Among other things, this initiative declares that parents have a right to:
- Review textbooks and lesson plans,
- Be informed of criminal actions involving their children,
- Receive prior notice when their children are given non-emergency medical care, and
- Pull their kids out of sex-education classes if they desire.
This was one of six initiatives the people submitted to the Legislature last year. In a surprise move during last year’s legislative session, our majority colleagues grudgingly permitted a vote on this measure and two others in the House and Senate. By passing these initiatives in the Legislature, our colleagues prevented them from going to the voters. This divide-and-conquer strategy allowed the other three measures to proceed to the ballot in hopes they could be defeated there. (An additional measure, protecting access to natural gas, appeared on last November’s ballot but did not go through the Legislature.)
The sad thing is that the strategy worked. A campaign financed by special interest organizations and billionaires defeated efforts to repeal a costly climate-change tax on gas and diesel, undo our state’s new personal income tax on capital gains, and allow Washington workers to opt out of a new payroll tax. What’s even sadder is that our colleagues are now coming back to finish the job on the parental rights initiative.
Normally initiatives force the Legislature to stand back and let the people speak. This is because, in most cases, a two-thirds vote of both chambers is required in order to amend an initiative during the first two years after passage. But the constitution offers no protection when the Legislature passes an initiative and stops it from going to the ballot. Now it is looking more and more like that was the plan from the start.
Two bills gutting the measure are advancing in the Legislature. Senate Bill 5181 and House Bill 1296 repeal key provisions of the initiative, including the medical treatment notifications. One implication is that parents would remain in the dark when their child receives school-sanctioned sex-change therapy. Whatever our feelings on that issue, I think everyone can agree this is something parents deserve to know about. These two bills have been rushed through their respective committees, and the Senate version could come to the floor as soon as Wednesday.
So much for direct democracy. So much for the massive effort it took to collect the signatures to place the initiative before the Legislature. So much for the views of 454,000 Washington residents who signed them. All this work was for naught, because our majority colleagues do not respect the people’s right to disagree with them. If you would like to let the Legislature know what you think of this, you can leave a message for any legislator in the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Let me suggest that it is the members from Western Washington and the Seattle area who would benefit most from hearing your opinion.
Disrespect for opposing views prompts rule change in the House
For the last 132 years, the rules of the state House have required a two-thirds vote for lawmakers to close debate. And on the rare occasions such a vote has taken place, it has been because the debate became tiresome and repetitive — not because the majority was sick and tired of hearing from the other team. But last week the House majority passed a new rule allowing them to end floor debate with a simple majority vote. They have all the votes they need.
The move prompted partisan warfare on the floor and fury among Republicans. We might say this has the same root cause as the attack on the initiative process – a fundamental disrespect for opposing views. I may be a senator these days, but I am as concerned about the suppression of dissenting voices as my former colleagues in the House. Our majority colleagues have the votes to pass anything they want — yet they feel threatened by the expression of opposing views. This muzzling of the minority should outrage all of us.
Taking aim against a bill-killing tactic
Corrections department claims simple proposal would cost $2.5 million
VIDEO: Click here to see me challenge a ploy by the Department of Corrections (DOC) to kill a bill I introduced. Senate Bill 5342 would require DOC and other Washington state agencies to allow lawmakers to visit incarceration facilities with 48 hours’ notice. Currently DOC requires two weeks’ notice, and sometimes won’t let lawmakers inside. I say we ought to be able to inspect the facilities we fund. The Department of Corrections is trying to kill the bill by asserting the proposal would cost $2.5 million. Watch the video to hear what I think about that.
What are they thinking?
Some bills go to extremes
This year I want to recognize the Legislature’s greatest achievements in the field of unnecessary legislation. I’m afraid this is another session of agenda-driven measures that go to extremes. These bills may not pass – let’s hope not – but they do an excellent job of illustrating what happens when a political faction gains power and loses touch with the people. Here are a few of the bills that have us wondering, “What are they thinking?”
- Senate Bill 5269/House Bill 1125 – This bill, introduced concurrently in both chambers, continues the majority’s effort to get soft on crime. This bill allows convicted felons to petition the courts for reduced sentences after 10 years. Currently this can only be done by prosecutors. This would put felons on the street sooner and gut the tough mandatory sentencing laws passed by Washington voters in the ‘90s with the Three Strikes You’re Out and Hard Time for Armed Crime initiatives. Naturally this would create trauma for crime victims, so the bill establishes a fund to pay for their psychotherapy and help them with moving expenses if they feel the need to run and hide.
- House Bill 1152 – This bill would turn gun owners into lawbreakers if their weapons are stolen, and heaven help them if they are used in a crime. Merely having a gun stolen would be grounds for a $1,000 fine, and if the thief uses the weapon to commit violence, the gun owner/victim could be further victimized by being charged with a felony. The anti-gun lobby says this would teach gun owners to lock up their weapons, but it strikes most of us as an excellent way to turn law-abiding crime victims into criminals. We also can be sure this would reduce the number of reported gun thefts, so we certainly would see progress there.
- Senate Bill 5222/ House Bill 1217 – This is one of the year’s marquee bills, a proposal from the majority to impose rent control statewide. The bill would ensure annual rent increases by limiting rent increases to seven percent a year, and would impose other requirements on landlords that would further shrink the supply of rentals. This legislation might stave off some rent increases in the short term, but it would actually make problems worse. Our real problem is a shortage of housing. Raising property taxes and fees and punishing landlords will make it less likely that new units will be built. In Portland and other cities where rent control has been enacted, the long-term result has been to reduce the supply of rental housing and drive up the cost.
- Honorable mention goes to a majority proposal we might call a two-fer. House Bill 1386 imposes a new 11 percent tax on ammunition, firearms and gun parts, on top of the taxes the state already charges. What a deal! We get a tax increase and an attack on gun ownership at the same time. The point seems to be that when you want less of something, you tax it. The good thing is that the people of our district are smart enough to drive 10 minutes east to buy their ammunition (and fill up their tanks) in a more reasonable state.
These bills are just the start, I’m afraid. I’ll tell you more in the weeks to come.
Contact us!
If you have a concern about state government, or a problem with a state agency, please do not hesitate to contact my office. My most important duty is to serve you.
Mailing address: Post Office Box 40404, Olympia, WA 98504
Email: Leonard.Christian@leg.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 786-7606
Leave a message on the Legislative Hotline: 1 (800) 562-6000
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Thanks for reading,
Sen. Leonard Christian
4th Legislative District