(The Center Square) – Washington Democratic leadership Wednesday told The Center Square there is disagreement between Republicans and Democrats about the best way to respond to the tragic number of children dying or suffering critical incidents in homes with drug-addicted parents.
Republicans have been trying for years to amend the Keeping Families Together Act and the “imminent harm” threshold for removing a child from a home where there is drug abuse, and/or neglect.
As reported by The Center Square, supporters of a fix say the definition of imminent harm needs to be changes, as it is currently leading to children being sent back to homes where lethal drugs are present and, in many cases, led to their death. There were more critical incidents in 2025 than ever before.
During Monday night floor debate in the House, Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, asked Democratic leadership to pull child welfare bills out of committee and force a floor vote.
“People are backing this bill and begging people please; can we save these kids?” Couture said. “Couple summers ago, in Everett, three babies overdosed in the same day, all related to different families due to fentanyl exposure. One died and two were revived. And, Mr. Speaker, the very next day, after being revived, we sent those babies back home to the dangerous environment. Isn’t it nuts that we send babies back to the same fentanyl, abusing home just a day after they were exposed to fentanyl. Is there an expert that says, that’s safe for the baby?”
Democrats rejected all three motions, with Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, pushing back on Couture’s suggestion that Democrats aren’t doing enough to protect kids.
“I do know that they’ve been looking at the issue of child welfare very seriously,” said Fitzgibbon during a media availability after The Center Square asked why Democrats are not taking up the bills. “There’s an honest difference of opinion among legislators about what is the best way to keep kids safe. What I took exception to on the floor was the assertion that some of us care more about that than others. I don’t think that’s true.”
Fitzgibbon said there is disagreement on the right way to go about addressing the harm being done to children.
“We are not unanimous about the right way to go about that, and the right way to also support keeping families together,” he said.
Majority Leader Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, then said changing the imminent harm standard may not be the solution.
“That question about the imminent harm, you’re presuming that that’s the solution,” she said. “When you look at the work that we did a couple of years ago, to make it more clear to the courts about what they could take into consideration with regard to removal….the critical incidents have shrunk dramatically in that time since we passed that bill.”
Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, also had a bill (SB 5979) to address the high number of children being harmed in homes with drug addicted families. The bill was on the consent calendar Tuesday, but never came to the floor.
“It had full support from committee, and it should’ve been an easy vote on the floor,” Torres told The Center Square on Wednesday. “It just never got pulled to the floor for a vote. It was never put on a run list, sadly.”
During a Tuesday media availability, Republican leaders questioned why Democrats aren’t advancing the legislation that could save lives.
“I had a little girl in Kennewick who passed away because she was hungry and her parents were locked in the bathroom doing drugs, and she ate Skittles [laced with] fentanyl and died,” said Rep. April Connors, R-Kennewick. “We are hearing story after story after story of kids dying from these overdoses and the D’s are not being held accountable and they’re not putting our bills through hearings that would actually solve the issue.”
Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, said the child protection agency isn’t doing its job.
“Clearly DCYF has significant issues,” he said. “Clearly, families are in trouble, children are in trouble. It’s very clear there’s families in crisis, children are dying, there’s a drug issue, mental health issues and DCYF is not being a responsible government agency and it’s a real problem.”
A related bill offered by Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, seeks to amend the “endangerment with a controlled substance statute to include fentanyl or synthetic opioids,” according to the bill summary of SB 5071. It passed the Senate with near unanimous support.
Rep. Fitzgibbon said it will be up to the committee if they want to take up the legislation.
5071 was referred to the House Community Safety Committee on Jan. 26 but has not been scheduled for a public hearing.
