In the lengthiest debate of the 2025 session spilling into the early morning hours, House Republicans in Olympia vigorously fought against a Democrat bill to gut the Parents’ Bill of Rights. The bill passed anyway.
The same House Democrats who voted last year to support the people’s Initiative 2081 protecting parental involvement in education, turned around early Thursday morning and voted to weaken the law. Allyn Republican Representative Travis Couture (CO TOUR) called House Bill 1296 an attack on the rights of parents.
“The state doesn’t own our kids. We do not co-parent with the state. And there should be no circumstance ever where the state of Washington steps in between loving parents.”
Representative Jeremie Dufault (DOO FOH) of Selah says the Democrat bill would lock families out of key decisions about their children’s education and well-being.
“It places the government between parents and their kids in matters of their education, in matters of their medical care, and matters of imagery of them.”
The bill passed 56 to 37, with all House Republicans voting no. It now goes to the Senate for further debate.
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