Author Archives: brianzylstra
Sen. Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick and Rep. Mary Dye are inviting citizens to join them Thursday, March 20 for a 9th District virtual town hall meeting.
The eastern Washington lawmakers will provide an update of the 2025 legislative session and then take questions from participants. Citizens may also submit written questions during the process of registering to participate in the meeting.
During the town hall meeting, the 9th District legislative team will discuss several issues, including:
- The upcoming two-year state operating, capital and transportation budgets.
- The likelihood that majority Democrats will impose new and/or higher taxes on Washingtonians.
- Efforts by Democrats to pass anti-gun legislation.
- Bills impacting K-12 education and higher education.
- Bills affecting agriculture in Washington.
The event will be held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and conducted using the Zoom platform. Preregistration is required by going to https://tinyurl.com/9thTownHall2025. Those registering will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting.
State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and other Senate Republicans voted against a bill introduced by Senate Democrats that would eliminate important rights from the parental-rights law approved by the Legislature last year.
Senate Bill 5181 was passed today along party lines, 30-19.
“This bill is a slap in the face of the 454,000 Washingtonians who signed the petition sheets allowing the parental rights initiative to be sent to the Legislature last year,” said Schoesler, who serves the 9th Legislative District.
“Initiative 2081 was passed unanimously by the Senate a year ago, but now my Democratic counterparts want to take a legislative chisel to it and remove parts of it that parents supported most. At a time when parents’ trust in Washington’s public-school system is lower than ever, we should not pass a bill that weakens the parental-rights initiative. But that’s what the Senate majority did today.”
SB 5181 would end or hinder parents’ access to important school-related medical information, including:
- Prior notification when medical services are offered (except in emergencies).
- Notification when medical services or medication could impact health insurance.
- Notification when school-arranged medical treatment results in follow-up care.
It also contains an “emergency clause” that would eliminate the constitutional right of voters to challenge the bill through a referendum. Democrats rejected a Republican amendment to remove the language from the bill.
“There’s no emergency here, so including an emergency clause has no purpose other than to prevent citizens from pushing back through the referendum process. If Democrats are afraid to find out what the voters think of the changes this bill makes, they should have left the law alone.”
SB 5181 now goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
