A lot has changed in our word since the 2020 legislative session wrapped up at the beginning of March. How we conduct our lives and interact with each other has changed drastically. We will work together as a community to help each other recover.
Though we are still working our way through how the fallout from this virus will impact our economy and our state, we will need to maintain our commitment to helping those most vulnerable and protecting our environment so we have a safe world to live in. These are the values we brought to this legislative session, and we accomplished a lot of good things. There are two particular bills that I am proud to have sponsored and am glad were signed into law earlier this year.
Ending Youth Solitary Confinement
Solitary confinement is damaging to youth. It traumatizes them and hinders their ability to learn, grow, and reintegrate into society. Subjecting kids to solitary confinement is torture. Its end was way past due. Fortunately, this practice will soon be severely limited in Washington.
In March, the governor signed legislation I sponsored which puts strict limits on this cruel practice. House Bill 2277 restricts the use of isolation to only emergency conditions, with strict guidelines for time and placement, requires institutions to document any use of isolation or room confinement, and establishes a process for the creation of model policies to follow when the use of isolation, room confinement, or less restrictive alternatives is deemed appropriate.
Protecting Spawning Habitat from Recreational Suction Mining
Salmon numbers have been declining and Washington needs to continue to take strong action to improve their habitat and boost recovery. Protecting their spawning habitat is vital to this effort. Recreational suction mining significantly damages these areas by interfering with salmon conservation efforts. It increases silt in the water which causes higher temperatures that chokes off young salmon. It also stirs up mercury which causes illness in fish. House Bill 1261 protects salmon habitat by banning this practice.
Thank you for keeping up with what is going on with our state’s COVID-19 response, and developments in Olympia. Please reach out to me if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Rep. Strom Peterson,
