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IN THE NEWS: Senators hear from the public on ways to combat human-trafficking

Senators hear from the public on ways to combat human-trafficking

By Annaliese Davis
Staff writer
February 24, 2014

Human-trafficking is no longer an issue reserved for seedy back alleys in far-off countries. Recent estimates show that roughly 500 children are sold for sex every night in Seattle, and the Legislature is looking at ways to identify and rescue those in sexual slavery.

After hearing public testimony Monday on two human-trafficking-related pieces of legislation, the Senate Law and Justice Committee held a public forum to discuss the best ways to identify and rescue victims of human-trafficking in Washington.

Led by chairman Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, the committee heard testimony from victims of sex-trafficking as well as representatives from organizations rallying to stop sexual slavery.

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Human-trafficking discussion Monday to focus on identifying, rescuing victims

The Legislature’s ongoing fight against human trafficking will move back to a familiar venue Monday afternoon: the Senate Law and Justice Committee, where a work session will focus on the challenge of identifying those who have been pressed into sexual slavery, and how they may be rescued.

“Most people probably don’t connect the Super Bowl or high-end health spas with the modern-day slavery that goes with human trafficking. As our committee will hear Monday, there is a link,” said Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, who chairs the panel.

“It’s by understanding how the sex-trafficking industry operates, especially in places the average person wouldn’t suspect, that we can best figure out how to go after those who treat young women as a commodity – the pimps who do the selling and the johns who do the buying.” Continue reading →

Padden updates Latino community about battle against sex traffickers

Sen. Mike Padden today assured members of the state’s Latino Civic Alliance that he and other lawmakers remain committed to the fight against sex traffickers.

“After your visit in 2013 the Legislature made our state’s already-substantial laws even stronger, so law-enforcement officers would have even more tools to use against those who would victimize your children,” said Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “But the traffickers come up with new approaches, and state law must evolve too.” Continue reading →

LISTEN: Sen. Padden on the Parental Notification bill

Washington State’s 4th District Senator Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, talks about Senate Bill 5156 – which has been approved by the Senate Committee on Health Care – that would require parents of underage girls be notified if the girls request abortions.

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Padden’s committee approves parental-notification bill

Sen. Mike Padden was among a majority of Senate Law and Justice Committee members who today endorsed legislation to require that an underage girl’s parent or guardian is notified before she can have an abortion.

Padden, R-Spokane Valley, said the vote on Senate Bill 5156 completes the work he and 17 other Republican and Democrat senators began in 2013 to make sure at least one parent or guardian receives 48 hours’ notice from the person intending to provide the abortion.

“The benefit of this bill is the same today as when it came before our committee for a public hearing this past legislative session,” said Padden, who is chairman of the panel. “It would not prohibit an underage girl from having an abortion but would simply give her parent or guardian the chance to talk with her ahead of time, or get ready to care for her afterward. Isn’t that an opportunity any parent or guardian would prefer to have, given the choice?

“Think about what it takes for parents to arrange for their children to receive medication at school, then ask whether it seems reasonable to notify a parent when his or her underage daughter is considering something as medically serious as an abortion.”

A 2013 poll commissioned by Human Life of Washington and conducted by Portland-based Moore Information found 65 percent of those responding were in favor of parents being notified before a girl under age 18 could have an abortion. Padden said the poll results found 25 percent of respondents were opposed and 9 percent were undecided.

In 1995, as chairman of the law and justice committee in the House of Representatives, Padden co-sponsored and held a public hearing on a similar bill; it went on to receive House approval but did not receive a hearing in the Senate.

Three years later the Senate approved a parental-notification bill; it also received committee approval in the House but was not brought to a full House vote.

IN THE NEWS: Sen. Padden questions state Supreme Court’s education mandate

As published here Jan. 24, 2014 in the Tacoma News Tribune

Court dictates school funding? What’s next?

By MIKE PADDEN, MATT MANWELLER AND TERRY NEALEY

There is a clear principle outlined in the Washington Constitution, based on our federal model, called the separation of powers. This is the system of checks and balances in our government structure that maintains a balance of power and separates responsibilities between the three branches – legislative, judicial and executive.

Each branch has separate functions and may not commandeer the duties and authority of another branch.

Funding K-12 education is a constitutional mandate directed specifically to the Legislature, not the state Supreme Court. No matter how much we all support education, all three branches of government must exercise decisions in a manner that respects the law. However, the court ignored the separation of powers in its January 2012 ruling on McCleary v. Washington. Continue reading →

Gun-rights initiatives to receive public hearing Jan. 29

Sen. Mike Padden will devote the Senate Law and Justice Committee’s Jan. 29 meeting to public hearings on the two gun-rights initiatives before the Legislature. His panel will begin taking testimony about Initiative 591 and Initiative 594 at 1:30 p.m. that day in Senate Hearing Room 1.

Padden, R-Spokane Valley, realizes the Legislature is expected to exercise its constitutional right to place the two measures on the November general-election ballot, rather than vote on them at the Capitol. That makes the hearing one week from today all the more important, he said.

“More often than not initiatives go straight to the people, rather than the Legislature, meaning lawmakers don’t get to ask questions about the consequences – and we all know how laws sometimes have unintended consequences,” said Padden. “Bringing these two measures before our committee, and the public, will allow for questions that might not be answered otherwise. That helps us and it can only help to inform the voters,” he said. Continue reading →

LISTEN: Sen. Padden on the 2014 March for Life

Washington State’s 4th District Senator Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, talks about the 2014 March for Life held annually on the steps of the state capitol building, as well as the effort in recent sessions to pass a bill mandating that insurance companies that provide maternity coverage also provide abortion coverage.

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Padden continues work to clamp down on repeat DUI offenders

Of the 45 states that allow felony charges for those accused of driving under the influence, none is more lenient than Washington; Sen. Mike Padden’s effort to change that dangerous distinction received strong support during a Senate committee hearing today.

Padden, architect of the sweeping anti-DUI legislation Washington lawmakers adopted in 2013, is back with Senate Bill 6090. It would make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony, rather than the misdemeanor it is now, meaning state prison rather than county jail. Continue reading →