This newsletter was distributed to Sen. Mike Padden’s subscribers on Jan. 14, 2016. To subscribe to Sen. Padden’s newsletters, click here.

Dear friends and neighbors,

We had plenty of drama this week as we opened the 2016 legislative session. And it just goes to show things get faster when there is no time to spare.

Our session in Olympia this year is supposed to last 60 days. In odd-numbered years, when we write a budget, we go considerably longer. But in even-numbered years like this one, we have to pack all the action of a legislative session into eight short weeks. We began Monday and already it seems we are moving at 160 mph.

Opening week has been dominated by a story in which I am personally involved. For the last 13 years, the Department of Corrections has been releasing prisoners early. As a result, at least two people are dead – killed by prisoners, police say, who should have been behind bars. One victim is from Spokane, 17-year-old Cesar Medina, shot to death last May. Numerous other crimes also have been committed by those who were released early. This should have been expected. Typically 10.5 percent of prisoners commit new crimes within 12 months of their release.

As chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, I am mortified our state could have committed such an error – the most egregious management failure I have seen in my time at the statehouse. As the Legislature opened this week, we began taking steps to get to the bottom of it.

I’ll tell you a little about that in this Report from Olympia – but I also want to let you know I’m back at the Capitol, and I am eager to serve you. If you have a question or concern about state government, give my office a call in Olympia at 360-786-7606, or set up a time to visit.

Best regards,

 

Seeking subpoena power

The failure at the Department of Corrections ought to disturb us all. Apparently the DOC reprogrammed its computers 13 years ago, but failed to check its math. Because of this human error, some 3,200 prisoners who had received extra penalties for committing violent crimes were returned to the streets an average 55 days early. Some, nearly two years.

We have been told the department’s information technology staff knew about the problem three years ago, but considered it a low priority and did nothing. A new IT director rediscovered the problem in November, yet took a month to notify upper managers. We don’t know why the governor waited until Dec. 22 to reveal the matter to the public.

Although the governor launched an investigation, as he should, we in the Legislature have an independent duty to determine what happened and why. Who is responsible for the culture at DOC that found this behavior acceptable? This inquiry should go all the way to the top. We invited Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke to testify before our committee on the opening day of the session, but even though he was given questions in advance, he was unable to answer most of them. When we requested public records from the governor’s office and DOC, we got no response.

With no assurance that the governor’s investigation will be broad and transparent, we were left no choice. On Wednesday night, I and Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-Pierce County, the vice chair of the committee, notified the governor’s office that we will seek subpoena power. This rarely used authority permits legislative committees to demand records and require testimony, under oath. Hearings later this session will allow us to ask the questions that ought to be asked, and find out who is responsible.

Transgender access to bathrooms and showers

We have heard concern from a large number of constituents regarding a new policy from the state Human Rights Commission regarding transgender access to restrooms, locker rooms, showers, shelters and other sex-segregated facilities. This new policy says transgendered people must be allowed to use the facilities of their choice.

This is a dramatic change, to be sure, and the Legislature had no part of it. The commission adopted this rule with virtually no notice, after holding a series of poorly publicized hearings in 2012. Until now, there have been no state rules about bathroom, shower and shelter usage, other than custom, tradition and common sense.

In effect, a state agency has decided that women and children must give up their right to privacy and security in school, at the store, at the recreation center, even in the dressing room at the clothing store. A health club can be sued if it does not allow men who claim to be transgendered to use the women’s locker room, regardless of whether they are still male in an anatomical sense. A mother who would rather bring her young son into the restroom with her for safety reasons but does not, because she understands it would make others uncomfortable, now must share that same restroom with a male stranger.

The five members of the Human Rights Commission are appointed by the governor. Four of the five now serving were appointed by Gov. Inslee. It is reasonable to believe he was aware of the board decision to change the restroom access rule. If so, the governor is ignoring the privacy and safety concerns of women and children, and must believe the commission followed proper procedure in adopting this rule.

Members and staff of our Senate majority are working to find out more about this issue, because we understand the implications for families and employers. I will work to repeal this rule this session.

Chair of Rules Review Committee

I am pleased to announce that I have been appointed chair of the Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee. This committee reviews rules that have been proposed or adopted by state agencies. When this committee was established in the late 1970s, there was much criticism that agencies were overstepping their authority and writing rules not authorized by the Legislature. Over time, as the committee reviewed rules and set boundaries, the number of complaints about questionable rules declined. Eight members of the Legislature serve on the committee. The panel does valuable work and I am proud to be part of it.