It’s week five in the Legislative Session which means we’re halfway done. It also means a lot of bills that were introduced failed to pass the cutoff deadline to get out of committee, including some of my own. Thankfully, I have some great legislation moving forward and I want to provide you an update.
Before we get to the bills, I want to invite you to join our 28th District House of Representatives town hall. Rep. Christine Kilduff and I will betaking questions from our neighbors at the Civic Building Gallery (3609 Market Place West, University Place) on Saturday, February 22 from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm. I hope you can join us!
Keeping our communities safe
As of today, two of my priority public safety bills have passed the House and another is on deck for a vote.
One of the bills that passed this week is HB 2320 which is about ending human trafficking. Human trafficking is an insidious problem in our state and I have how embedded it is in our State through my work on the Washington State Task Force Against the Trafficking of Persons. Often, victims of this crime are interacting with hospitality workers at hotels and motels across the state. Hospitality workers need training to spot the signs of trafficking and know how to report it. My legislation brings that training to the hospitality industry so they can help us go after criminals. I’m happy this bill passed out of the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Another bill that passed this week has to do with the Amtrak derailment in DuPont. That tragedy was a call to action for our state when it comes to improving rail safety and I knew we needed a thoughtful and measured approach to ensuring we prevent future avoidable accidents. Because rail is so complex, involving federal, state, and local agencies, I knew that coordination was essential. My bill, HB 2287, passed 92-4 and requires recommendations for rail safety governance best practices to be submitted to the Legislature by January of next year. We all need to take rail safety seriously and I hope this bill becomes law so that we can make critical changes to avoid another tragedy like we saw in DuPont.
The bill that is “on deck” and awaiting a vote is one I told you about last time. HB 2375 goes after criminals who create counterfeit or illicit drugs using illegal pill presses. I introduced this legislation to help communities address the growing problem of illicit and counterfeit drugs in their communities. Folks have used these presses to add fentanyl and Oxycontin to pills and the mass distribution of these pills have had a devastating impact in our community. Pill presses will be illegal, unless allowed under certain state or federal licenses or permits, and can be used against criminals during their trials. Hopefully by the time you are reading this, we’ll have this voted off the floor and on its way to the Senate.
Protecting the online privacy for children
In this week’s “Tuesday for the 28th” video, I talk about my legislation (HB 2442) to protect the online privacy of children by requiring best practices in advertisements and data deletion. Watch by clicking below!
Thank you for reading this halfway-through-session update. I love hearing from you, so please let me know what you think by emailing, calling, or stopping by to visit my office. It’s an honor and privilege to serve in the beautiful 28th as your representative in Olympia.
