OLYMPIA – Three bills introduced by first-year lawmaker Rep. Beth Doglio (D-Olympia) dealing with education, sexual assault survivors, and small family farms had public hearings this week.
High school dropout prevention
HB 1542 creates a Dropout Prevention Through Farm Engagement pilot program partnering community-based organizations, like food banks and small farms, with school districts to target at-risk youth. The highly successful GRuB program in Thurston County is the inspiration behind HB 1542.
“We have a fantastic locally-grown program in our community called GRuB and we just want to share the wealth,” said Doglio during committee testimony. “We want to see it happen in other communities.”
“I was lost, I was confused as a person,” said Capital High School student Corriena Lewis in testimony before the House Education Committee on Thursday. “I didn’t have a great influence that time in my life. I needed someone or something to guide me in the right direction. Then I joined GRuB.”
“I like helping others. Making a difference in my community is what fuels me. It’s what I strive for,” said Lewis.
You can watch Rep. Doglio’s testimony before the House Education committee here and the testimony of students, teachers and principals here.
Protecting sexual assault survivors
HB 1543 would close a current gap in state law that forces some mothers to co-parent a child that was conceived from a rape.
Rep. Doglio’s bill would create a court process that provides rape survivors with a legal pathway to prevent or restrict the rapist’s parental rights by presenting clear and convincing evidence that the pregnancy was a result of the rape.
“Going through a sexual assault is already traumatic enough,” said Doglio. “The Legislature needs to protect rape survivors by giving them a legal pathway to terminate the parental rights of their attacker. No mother should be forced to co-parent with a rapist father.”
Rachel Gropper from Franklin County told her story to the House Judiciary committee. Rachel was drugged and raped when she was 18.
“I had a sexual assault protection order before a parenting plan,” said Gropper. “I am now forced to co-parent with the man who raped me and it’s very unfair.”
Nearly four out of ten women who become pregnant from a rape decide to carry the pregnancy to term. For the women that decide to keep the child, they do so knowing there is a real risk of possibly co-parenting the child with the rapist due to insufficient legal protections for rape survivors.
Having these legal protections in place will help ease the pain of what is already a difficult, emotional, and trying time for rape survivors.
You can listen to Rep. Doglio’s testimony before the House Judiciary here.
Additional testimony on the bill can be viewed here.
Support for small family farms
HB 1544 – Higher tax burdens on small farms place additional burdens on families and small businesses. Small farms are often a stepping stone to a larger agricultural operation. However, operating a small farm is becoming more challenging, especially in areas where there is growth and development.
“This is all about evening the playing field for small family farms,” said Doglio.
Under this bill, houses on farms of less than 20 acres will be given similar treatment to larger farms. This bill will help the smaller farms continue to provide local food in our developing communities.
You can watch Rep. Doglio’s testimony before the House Finance Committee here.
Today is Day 26 of the 105-day legislative session. The policy committees must approve all policy bills through executive action by February 17 in order to continue through the deliberation process. Bills not approved by policy committees by that date are considered “dead” for the current legislative session.
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