From the Seattle Times Did you know that girls being exploited and trafficked for sex can still be arrested in Washington state and charged with prostitution? Currently, under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, any person under the age of 18 who engages in a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking regardless of force, fraud or coercion.
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From The Seattle Times When her 33-year-old son leaves jail or a treatment center after a mental-health and drug-addiction crisis, Theresa Yates says, there’s nothing to keep him from winding up back on the streets. After an episode, he’ll be taken to jail and then involuntarily detained at a hospital or treatment center, said Yates, 54, of Tacoma. “They’ll let him back ...
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From State of Reform Sen. Manka Dhingra represents Washington’s 45th Legislative District in King County. Dhingra is the Chair of the Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee, Vice Chair of the Law & Justice Committee, and is a member of both the Health & Long Term Care Committee and the Ways & Means Committee. She joins us in this edition of “What They’re ...
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From King5 SEATTLE — Sex education could soon be required in all Washington state public schools after a comprehensive sexual health bill overcame its first hurdle by passing in the state senate this week. Senate Bill 5395 would require all public school districts to provide comprehensive sexual health education that is evidence-informed, medically and scientifically accurate, age-appropriate ...
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From the Kitsap Sun OLYMPIA — Two bills introduced this legislative session would make it easier for women, including public school students, to get menstrual supplies. Senate Bill 6073 would require schools to provide sanitary pads and tampons to students at no cost in bathrooms designated for females or as gender-neutral in schools serving grades six through 12.
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From the Washington State Wire Senate Bill 5395 passed 28-21 in the Senate Wednesday after more than a year of efforts to require sex education in schools. The bill was first introduced during the 2019 session and was ultimately decided by the House Committee on Education that it be returned to the Senate Rules Committee for a third reading on April 28 last ...
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SEATTLE (AP) — A grieving mother, a frightened student, prosecutors and law enforcement officers told a Senate panel that setting certain limits on firearms will save lives, while a home-invasion victim, gun store owners and a tribal chairman argued that changing firearms laws will prevent vulnerable people from protecting themselves.
From the Redmond Reporter The East King Chambers Coalition held its annual legislative breakfast on Jan. 8 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in anticipation of the legislative “short session,” which began on Jan. 13. The event, emceed by Q13 anchor and correspondent Brandi Kruse, included a keynote address from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and continued with two panel discussions. The ...
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From The News Tribune
From the Yakima Herald-Republic The Washington Legislature convenes Monday in Olympia. Over the next 60 days, lawmakers — lawmakers we elected — will make decisions that affect nearly every aspect of Washington life. Yakima Herald-Republic reporters reached out to people who live and work in the Valley to ask what they’d like to see out of the Legislature this year in four ...
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