As hard as it is to believe, we’ve reached the halfway point of this year’s legislative session. We’ve now moved to the House floor to consider, debate and vote on hundreds of different bills before the next cutoff deadline. I’m thrilled to report that two of my biggest priority bills passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week and are headed over to the Senate.
The first was my landmark Shield Law (HB 1469), which will help protect those who seek reproductive & gender-affirming care in Washington from hostile actions by other states. We knew as soon as the Supreme Court’s Dobbs draft leaked that Texas and other states would find ways to impose civil liability for abortion and criminalize care. If these states are going to be creative and aggressive in restricting abortion, we in Washington state will be creative and aggressive in fighting back. With this bill, we will use every tool at our disposal to make sure all our state’s residents are safe from the reach of anti-abortion laws from Texas and elsewhere.
We also passed my anti-doxing bill (HB 1335), which prohibits individuals from publicly disclosing personally identifiable information with the intent to harass, intimidate, or otherwise cause harm. In the last few years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the weaponization of personal information to harass, intimidate, and silence others. Last year, the FBI reported the highest number of hate crime incidents in Washington in at least 20 years. I introduced this bill as part of a broader anti-hate package that includes a $500,000 state budget request to provide nonprofit security grants to places of worship that have been targeted by coordinated threats and vandalism.
I also want to take a moment to invite you to one of our two 23rd district in-person town halls. I’ll be joined by Sen. Christine Rolfes and Rep. Tarra Simmons to provide a brief update on the work the Legislature is doing this year and then answer your questions. I look forward to seeing you there!
When: Saturday, March 11, from 10-11:30 a.m.
Where: Olympic College, Building 10, Bremer Student Center, 1600 Chester Ave. in Bremerton
When: Saturday, March 11, from 1:30-3 p.m.
Where: Bainbridge City Call, Council Chambers, 280 Madison Ave. N Bainbridge Island
State Representative Drew Hansen
23rd Legislative District