Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Leonard Christian’s subscribers Feb. 14, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Christian’s e-newsletters, click here.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Members of the Legislature’s majority party are backpedaling this week after comments from their leader in the Washington Senate stirred outrage among parents across the state. The Seattle lawmaker is trying to claim he was quoted out of context. But let’s give credit where it is due. The Majority Leader did an excellent job of explaining why his party decided to shred an initiative on parental rights that was passed into law last year. This looks like a classic case of an elected official speaking frankly and providing citizens an honest look at his thinking.
This story illustrates the mindset behind the effort we saw on the Senate floor last week. By passing Senate Bill 5181 Feb. 5 on a party-line vote, the majority party eliminated important safety provisions requiring schools to notify parents when their children receive mental health care, gender therapy and other non-emergency medical services. In an interview with Fox News, the Majority Leader demonstrated just how extreme his party’s position really is when it comes to your children.
He declared, “Kids over 13 have the complete right to make their own decisions about their mental health care. Parents don’t have a right to have notice. They don’t have a right to have consent about that.”
He added, “Young women have – if they are old enough to get pregnant, they are old enough to make decisions about what happens with their bodies. And parents do not have the right to change that, or make a different decision, or be notified in advance.”
The comments set off a firestorm. It was the biggest news story out of the Legislature this week. Parents have no rights?
The Senate Majority Leader is now claiming Fox News edited his comment to put him in the worst possible light. He says he merely was describing current state law, and if those baddies at Fox News had included a precursor sentence, the whole thing would have been totally clear. Sympathetic reporters for various news outlets are reporting his claim uncritically, as if Fox spun something from nothing.
The Majority Leader protests too much. State law is the problem, and that’s what 454,000 people were trying to change when they signed petitions to place Initiative 2081 before last year’s Legislature. The Majority Leader was describing a law he supports, and which he and his party chose to maintain when they voted to gut the people’s initiative.
Nothing here was taken out of context, and let us thank the Majority Leader for speaking so forthrightly. He says the torrent of angry phone calls and emails his office has been receiving have created great pain for his husband and family. As if it causes no pain for families across the state when schools keep parents in the dark. I hope the people of Washington keep up the pressure and derail this terrible bill before it reaches the governor’s desk.
What can you do?
If you feel strongly about this issue, you can leave messages for any lawmaker on the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. My Democratic counterparts in the state House especially need to hear from you. Letters and email also work. You can find legislative emails and office addresses by following links here.
A near-tragedy in Spokane Valley makes case for fentanyl bill
SB 5071 permits endangerment charges when fentanyl or synthetic opioids are involved
Two weeks ago, the near-death of a toddler due to fentanyl exposure landed his mother in jail and a deputy in the hospital, and made a case for a bill we are considering in this year’s legislative session. Sheriff’s deputies were called to a Spokane Valley motel where the toddler apparently licked the deadly drug from a spoon his mother had been using.
According to the police report, the mother was able to revive him with two doses of Narcan before they arrived on the scene. Fortunately the toddler survived. His mother has been booked into the Spokane County Jail on charges of making false statements to police and reckless endangerment with a controlled substance. One deputy who responded was overcome by fumes and briefly hospitalized.
This near-tragedy is especially interesting from a legislative perspective. We’ll be watching this case very carefully to see what the prosecutor’s charging rationale will be, and whether there are other contributing factors to the endangerment charge. The problem is that our state statute prohibiting endangerment with a controlled substance does not apply to fentanyl. Endangerment can be charged in cases involving methamphetamine and its component chemicals, but nowhere does the law mention fentanyl.
We are keenly aware of this omission in the Legislature. For the last several years, Republicans have sponsored bills that would add fentanyl exposure to our endangerment statute. This year’s vehicle is Senate Bill 5071, sponsored by Senate Republican Leader John Braun. Ironically, four days after this incident, this bill surfaced on the Senate floor, where it was passed by an overwhelming 42-7 vote. It now is under consideration in the state House.
What are they thinking?
Cutoff scramble edition
So many bad bills, so little time. The Legislature is in a scramble right now to meet the first of several bill-passage deadlines. Next Friday is the deadline for passage of bills by policy committees, and those that fail to get votes are technically considered “dead” for the session. Here are some of the gems that have passed in recent days, or are slated for votes. I’m giving each a “mindblow” score, and offering my usual warning: These are enough to make your head explode.
• Senate Bill 5174 – Woodstove overregulation – This is the bill I warned about in an email alert yesterday, giving the Department of Ecology authority to regulate the woodstoves available for sale in Washington. This measure passed the Environment, Energy and Technology Committee Friday. It serves no purpose, as the federal government already imposes standards on woodstoves, and it should be seen as a first step toward an eventual ban on wood-burning stoves statewide.
Mindblow score: 
• Senate Bill 5382 – The ‘Initiative Killer’ bill – This bill would impose strict new regulations on initiative campaigns for no particular reason anyone can discern, except perhaps to make it harder to qualify initiatives. Among other things, it allows entire petitions filled with valid signatures to be thrown out if signature gatherers fail to sign them, it requires these canvassers to attest to things they cannot know, and it threatens them with jail time if they swear a false declaration. That’s what the people get for circulating initiatives that challenge the ‘progressive’ agenda. Set for a committee vote Tuesday.
Mindblow score:
• Senate Bill 5375 – Mandating that clergy report allegations of child abuse – this bill tramples on religious freedom by imposing requirements on clergy and breaking the sanctity of the confessional. This measure has passed committee and is queued up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Mindblow score:
• House Bill 1938 – Redesigning the state flag – This bill sets up a process to adopt a new state flag – on the grounds that the one we have been using since statehood exhibits “poor design and lack of relevance to the state’s identity.” The flag puts too much emphasis on George Washington, the bill complains, and ought to reflect “the diversity and values of all Washingtonians.” A committee would choose a design and put it on the ballot for voters to approve. We can only imagine the trainwreck this will become. Set for a committee vote Feb. 21.
Mindblow score: 
Town hall meeting set for March 15
I hope you will be able to make it to my town hall meeting March 15 at Sun City Church, 10920 East Sprague Ave. in Spokane Valley. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the town hall runs from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. I’ll provide an update about the 2025 legislative session, and I look forward to your questions. I’m looking forward to seeing you!
Thanks to William Swan for serving as a Senate Page!
This week it was my honor to sponsor William Swan as a Senate page. Swan, 16, is a sophomore at University High School who hopes someday to pursue a career in railroading. I enjoyed getting to know William this week. William is the great grandson of the late Irv Newhouse, longtime senator from the Yakima Valley and namesake of the office building we occupy in Olympia. If you are between the ages of 14 and 16 and would like a first-hand look at the Legislature, or you know someone who might be interested, more information about the Senate Page Program can be found here. The last day to apply for the Senate page program is March 17.
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