WA bill meant to protect victims needs fixing. It could protect child predators too | Opinion
A bill crafted to protect public employees from stalkers needs tightened up before final passage or the unintended consequences could be devastating to some of the most vulnerable in Washington state.
Substitute House Bill 1533 made it off the House floor with an 80-15 vote on Monday and now heads to the Senate. We encouraged our regional representatives to vote against the measure because, as written, it could end up shielding abusers.
That’s not at all what it’s supposed to do, but without changes this bill has the potential to do more harm than good.
Among those who voted against SHB 1533 were Republican Tri-City area Reps. Stephanie Barnard, April Connors, Mary Dye, Mark Klicker, Joe Schmick and Yakima Republican Rep. Chris Corry and Zillah Republican Rep. Bryan Sandlin.
Rep. Skyler Rude, R-Walla Walla, told The Herald he voted in favor of the bill because he wanted to keep it alive, even though it wasn’t perfect. He’s now contemplating amendments to it.
The intent behind SHB 1533 is noble. State employees and those working in K-12 education would be able to file an affidavit stating they are victims of stalking, harassment or domestic violence and their employer would be required to keep their work information secret.
Basic data like work email addresses and work phone numbers would be kept private, and so would salary and disciplinary records.
The concern we have is that relying only on an employee’s word without requiring any other documentation makes it too easy for predators to lie about being stalked or harassed.
Their public records would become nonexistent. They could be fired or reprimanded for serious actions and crimes and the public would be kept in the dark.
Just last year, the Herald reported on a former teacher at Chiawana High School who was sentenced to five years in prison for forcing a 16-year-old student to pose nude for photos.
Unfortunately, there have been many other instances over the years where teachers and coaches have had inappropriate contact with students from our region. In some cases, they managed to move from one school district to another with a trail of allegations behind them.
And public records requests played a role in bringing these stories to light.
Rude told the Herald that he agrees teachers’ disciplinary records should follow them, and that his reading of the bill would not prevent the state Superintendent of Public Instruction from sharing those records with schools, or schools sharing with each other.
Perhaps not. But in addition to OSPI, the public also should have easy access to such information.
Before SHB 1533 is approved, there must be clarity on this point.
Rude said he is considering an amendment to the bill that would grant an immediate exemption to state employees and educators who request it, but then require documentation (police report, court filing, etc) within 30 days to continue the exemption.
That’s a good conversation starter that needs to happen soon.
This bill is well-intentioned, but there must be a way to ensure that public employees who truly need protection get it without making it easy for abusers to take advantage of it.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 12:15 PM.