Women of the House say Senate GOP budget chooses loopholes over families

They are mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters. They're nurses, educators, and community activists. The women of the House Democratic caucus come from different backgrounds and different towns, but today they all shared one message: The Senate Republican budget proposal prioritizes special interest tax loopholes over our children and most vulnerable people.

Representatives Eileen Cody, Tami Green, Ruth Kagi, Laurie Jinkins, and Dawn Morrell led a group of women legislators calling out the problems for families in the Senate's plan. 

They pointed out that, instead of closing a single tax loophole -- many of which have been on the books for decades without any review -- the Senate actually includes 25 more loopholes.

Cuts in the budget plan include:

·  Childcare support for more than 4,500 families through Working Connections Childcare;

·  TANF Services – A temporary lifeline to struggling families used for the most basic of needs like rent assistance, school supplies and basic hygiene items;

·  Funding for career services and educational certification programs for the poor;

·  Required health care cost-sharing for low-income individuals, limiting access; 

·  Transitional housing services for seniors and reduced access to shelters for homeless families;

·  Corrections services, leading to early release of offenders;

·  Funding to home care services which keep seniors and the disabled from going into nursing homes;

·  Support for grandparents caring for their grandchildren, keeping them out of foster care; and

·  Legal services for low-income persons who need help to keep their homes.

 

Here is the full press release from today's event, and here are more comments about the budget plan.

Read this story in Spanish.

Preschoolers lobby legislators with story time "flash mob"

Earlier this week, preschoolers descended on the state capitol to help raise awareness about the importance of high-quality early learning and child care.

These young learners participated in a story time "flash mob" in the capitol Rotunda, organized by the group MomsRising. They were read a story by local children's book author Bonny Becker.

Both Governor and Trudi Inslee joined in the story time, as did several legislators including Rep. Ruth Kagi, who chairs the House Early Learning and Human Services committee.  Rep. Kagi is sponsoring a bill this session to create an integrated, high-quality birth-to-five early learning continuum in our state called "Early Start."  The bill passed the House last week and is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate tomorrow.

The Shoreline Area News covered the event.  From the article:

Rep. Kagi said, "It was a delight meeting with my youngest constituents at the 'flash mob' in the Rotunda. We seldom see the faces of the children who benefit from the high-quality early learning opportunities we are hoping to expand this session. It was a fun day talking with these young 'lobbyists'."

(From left: Trudi Inslee, Bonny Becker, Rep. Kagi and Rep. Maureen Walsh. Photo courtesy MomsRising)

Read this story in Spanish.

What should we do with children who commit horrible crimes?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory life terms are unconstitutional when applied to children; children sentenced to prison must be given a real opportunity for release at some point in the future; and courts must individually evaluate each child when imposing a criminal sentence.

Does our state comply with these rulings? If not, what steps should we take?

The answers may be in an opinion piece "Give juvenile offenders a chance at redemption," in this weekend's Everett Herald. It was authored by Rev. Paul Benz, Co-Director of Faith Action Network, Sr. Sharon Park, Executive Director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, and State Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, a Lynnwood Democrat who is sponsoring a measure about juveniles sentenced to long terms of incarceration.

Read this story in Spanish.

Improving the system for adopted children

Do you remember the horrific story of Hana Williams, an adopted Ethiopian girl living in Sedro-Woolley? A couple of years ago her adoptive parents starved her, abused her, beat her repeatedly and left her outside on a cold night, which ultimately killed her.

What is wrong with the system and how do we fix it to ensure the safety and well-being of adopted children in our state?

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts believes we can do better, so she's sponsoring a bill to do things right before adoptions go through to ensure children are going to safe and caring homes.

Watch the powerful testimony at the bill's hearing in the Judiciary Committee yesterday:

 

Read the press release here.

Read this story in Spanish.

It’s all about the kids

Providing the best education possible is a necessary step in preparing our children for the future. But a top-notch education isn’t the only thing children require to become successful adults. The final budget passed by the Legislature addresses these concerns.

Apple Health for Kids provides healthcare coverage for over 500,000 Washington children. There are still many more children in our state who are eligible for the program – but they just don’t know it! This year, the Legislature provided $1 million to aid Apple Health for Kids in getting the word out, connecting thousands of more children across the state with the care they need to grow-up healthy.

State Food Assistance helps parents put food on the table for approximately 12,500 Washington children. This year, the Legislature continued funding the program, with no additional cuts – none! How can we possibly expect our children to thrive academically when they are running on empty?

Finding affordable, quality childcare is an issue troubling many Washington families, inhibiting parents’ ability to stay at work and provide for their children. The Working Connections Child Care program was not only spared from any further cuts, but the Legislature actually reversed the cuts made last year! This means more parents can stay at work, knowing their children are safe and supervised.

Children are the future of Washington and we need to make sure they have the skills and support they require to thrive in the years ahead.

New state law halts further child-pornography victimization

Consider, if you will, today's conundrum:

How could it be that our judicial process would actually sanction and contribute to the further production and distribution of child-pornography? 

We'll tell you how: A Washington State Supreme Court ruling five years ago (the oft-discussed Washington v. Boyd decision) required that the defense in a child-pornography case must be allowed access to the pertinent photographs depicting children in sexually explicit conduct.

Rep. Connie Ladenburg

So in this year's legislative session, state Rep. Connie Ladenburg advanced and won support for a measure stopping this further victimization of youngsters whose lives have already been so terribly brutalized.

The successful legislation, House Bill 2177, has indeed been signed into Washington law. Ladenburg's bill bars the copying or creation of additional child pornography during the discovery process in such a trial. Sometimes during this discovery process, as directed in the state high court's ruling, the court is ordered to copy child pornography and even make more copies of it. And that, Mr. or Ms. Concerned Blogster, certainly isn't something done with any other illegal contraband.

"Our state shouldn't sanction any further reproduction of this despicable material in court cases. It's that simple," said Ladenburg. "This new law is about protecting kids."

Specifically, the bipartisan legislation spells out that in child-pornography cases:

• The material can be examined by the defense, but it must remain in the actual custody of law- enforcement people or court people.
• A mirrored hard drive can be made available for expert-examination by the defense if the court determines that such examination is justified.
• When it is no longer needed for the trial, the child pornography in question will be destroyed.

"As a parent of five children and grandparent of 10, my heart goes out to children who have been victims of child pornography. It is one of the worst crimes that can be committed against children, and it has lasting, devastating effects," Ladenburg stated. "Having any of these terrible pictures copied yet again, and viewed by anyone yet again, is unacceptable. We cannot let children be harmed any more than they already have been. This bill protects children from further victimization in child-pornography cases."

"Child pornography is contraband, just like illegal drugs, and we should treat it like contraband,” said Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist. “We don't duplicate and distribute illegal drugs for trial, and prosecutors shouldn't be required to duplicate and distribute child pornography for trial. This bill will stop this offensive practice." 

Washington among nationwide leaders in childcare safety

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (NACCRRA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring quality and affordable childcare for families across the country. NACCRRA provides statistics, referrals, and other resources to parents in need of a safe place to take their children during the workday. Among those resources, is the “Leaving Children to Chance” report that ranks each of the fifty states, plus the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense, based on their childcare oversight and standards.

According to NACCRRA’s latest report, Washington ranks second in the nation for childcare standards and oversight. Using sixteen different benchmarks, Washington earned 119 points out of a possible 150. Our state is one of seven states that ranked in the top ten for both oversight and program standards, and is one of only nine states that conduct a comprehensive background check for childcare providers. These background checks include fingerprint and sex offender registry checks. Washington saw an improvement in their ranking from NACCRRA’s last report back in 2010.

Other states didn’t fare as well. Only four states, Washington included, earned above a seventy percent or higher on basic requirements for childcare safety. Eight states scored a zero because they allow for six children in a childcare home before requiring a license or don’t require a license for small operations at all. Eight additional states scored a zero because they don’t inspect childcare homes before licensing.
For more information on NACCRRA and the most recent “Leaving Children to Chance” report click here.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Lawmakers take aim at more toxic toys

Doctors, moms, lawmakers and the Washington Toxics Coalition joined forces at a press conference this morning to announce good news and bad news on infant and children’s products.

The bad news is that a new study of Hidden Hazards in the Nursery found high levels of toxic flame retardants in a jaw-dropping 85 percent of 20 popular children’s products that were tested recently—including nursing pillows, car seats, and changing pads.

The worst culprit was “chlorinated tris,” a carcinogen that has also been linked to DNA mutation, hormone disruption and other health problems. Even though this toxic threat was removed from children’s pajamas in the 1970’s, it was found in high concentrations in 80 percent of the products tested in the new study!

As a mom of a 4-year-old in Olympia put it, “It’s frustrating to find out the products my kids use contain harmful chemicals and that the government allows it.

But there is also good news:  Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson and Sen. Sharon Nelson announced at the press conference that they are proposing the Toxic-Free Kids Act (HB 2266 and SB 6120) to ban toxic tris flame retardants from children’s products sold in Washington. After all, safe alternatives are readily available. Their bills would also prevent manufacturers from substituting untested and potentially dangerous alternatives to tris in their products.

As Dickerson said at the press conference, “Parents shouldn’t have to be chemists to know their children are safe from dangerous chemicals in children’s products.” That’s the philosophy that made Washington a national leader in protecting kids from toxic toys, and it is the reason why Washington’s leadership is needed to protect children again.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.