State Democrats in the legislature have implemented some very troubling new policies in the 2025 legislative session:
Earlier this year, Democrats voted to eliminate a 132-year-old rule to ensure open debate. Yesterday, it went into effect, as the Democrat Speaker used her new "Red Card" rule to end floor debate in the State House of Representatives. Of no surprise, the controversial rule to silence Republicans and stop debate on bills started with ESSB 5181, one of the two bills designed to gut Initiative 2081 - The WA Parents' Bill of Rights!
On Jan. 24, WA State House Dems approved HR 4607, repealing the longstanding rule established in 1893 that ensured free and open debate on the House Floor. With a 54-33 vote, Democrats reduced the two-thirds supermajority threshold required to end debate and proceed to a vote, replacing it with a simple majority. The purpose is to curtail debate and suppress minority voices.
The strategy backfired as yesterday Republicans used parliamentary procedures to their advantage and the process actually ended up taking more time (video).
Eventually, ESSB 5181 passed in a party line vote 57-38.
Last year, the Parents' Bill of Rights passed 82 to 15 in the House and 49 - 0 in the Senate with bipartisan support - but now, many of the same Democrats who voted last year to support the initiative are seeking to gut it under ESSB 5181
“We knew this day might come, but to see it unfold during the Parental Rights initiative, backed by nearly half a million voters, is a disgrace,” Republican Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Chris Corry (R-Yakima) said via the news release.
Corry added that the move signaled a troubling shift in how debates are handled on the House floor. “They shut down debate twice in under two hours,” he said. “Frankly, it’s sickening. We have nearly two weeks left in session. What other debates will they end?”
ESSB 1296 also passed in the Senate 30 -19 on a party line vote to gut the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
If Democrats have their way they will remove prior requirements for parental notification of medical services to their children. The bill changes also will modify notification timelines for criminal actions involving students, giving parental notice within 48 hours instead of immediately.
Also implemented for the 2025 legislative session is the Democrats troubling new policy to oftentimes NOT post bill report summaries until the day of a public hearing. This makes it very difficult to do proper preparation to testify on bills.
Other Democrat Censorship methods being implemented this year is for many Dem Committee leaders to limit public testimony to 90 seconds or 1 minute (instead of the normal 3 minutes) and to NOT read the PRO - CON bill report record of how the public responded on each bill.
OF NOTE: WA AG's Domestic Violence Extremism Task Force limits public comment opportunities by restricting the public to written comments only...
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