Rep. Lekanoff’s legislative wrap-up spotlights a busy week

Bill Updates

Along with House Bill 1372, another of my bills was scheduled to be signed by Governor Inslee this week. In fact, he is scheduled sign it into law today!

• House Bill 1072 eliminates a provision in current law that restricts undocumented immigrants from accessing state-funded civil legal aid, denying them equity under the law and access to justice.

Two more of my bills were considered on the floor of the People’s House for concurrence. For both bills, the House concurred on the Senate amendments and they are now headed to the governor’s desk for his signature!

• House Bill 1326, which addresses qualifications, training and accreditation for coroners and medical examiners.
• House Bill 1356, which no longer allows the derogatory use of Native Americans as mascots in public schools.

Uprooting institutional racism in our schools

Over the weekend, I voted to pass Senate Bill 5044 to ensure school staff have access to anti-racism and DEI training. We must acknowledge the lived experiences of our students of color, because all our children deserve to be safe, seen, and valued in their classrooms.

Floor debate included an amendment that denied and minimized the experiences many students of color encounter every day. This amendment would have upheld the harms of institutional racism in schools by invalidating its long history in our nation and making us complicit in systems that once banned students of color from sitting next to their white classmates.

As a parent and as an education advocate, I’m glad we voted down the amendment and passed SB 5044. By training our school staff to swiftly and sensitively respond to acts of hate, we’re giving them the tools to help each student thrive—because you can only respond to racism if you’re taught what to look for and how to stop it. It’s long past time we did better for all our students.

If you have a few extra minutes, I encourage you to listen to some of the debate on this amendment. Many of my colleagues explained why it’s important that educators have anti-racism training, and they shared deeply personal stories expressing how this amendment stands in the way of meeting every student’s needs.

Responding to the State v. Blake Decision

On February 25, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in State v. Blake that Washington’s law criminalizing simple possession of drugs was unconstitutional because it has a “strict-liability” standard which means that you can be prosecuted for possession even if you aren’t aware you possess drugs. The Court found this was a violation of due process. As a result, Washington no longer has a statute criminalizing simple possession of controlled substances.

In response, House Public Safety Chair Roger Goodman has been leading a group of lawmakers to craft a thoughtful and deliberate new law related to drug possession that takes into account the history of racially discriminatory practices that have targeted communities of color, provides relief and support for people struggling with substance use disorder, strengthens public health, and enhances public safety. The group went into discussions knowing that what we are doing now just does not work. Too many loved ones and neighbors are struggling with substance use disorder and we have people living on the streets or in their cars, rising property crime, needles in parks and in gutters, and not enough treatment and care options to address the problem.

While, several proposals have been introduced by members of both parties, I am supporting a bill sponsored by Rep. Goodman, House Bill 1578, which seeks to build a new system that treats substance use disorder as the public health problem that it is, provides protections for youth, and reflects a desire to move toward therapeutic care and away from criminal sanctions.

Decades of putting people in jail is not working and we are failing our loved ones, neighbors, and communities that are struggling with the impacts of substance use disorder. Black people and people of color are the most impacted by this broken system. Even if someone is able to get treatment through the criminal legal system (which only 3% of people arrested for simple possession do), felony convictions create lifelong barriers to getting a job, securing housing, getting financial aid for college, and more.

It is time to try something different. The House bill ends the practice of putting people behind bars and not treating them, abolishes the felony for possession model, limits the criminal impact to someone’s life, and incentivizes them to pursue a substance use disorder evaluation to avoid fines. The House bill focuses on creating the necessary behavioral health infrastructure to address substance use disorder effectively and compassionately. You should not have to hurt people to help them.