Democratic WA Rep. frustrated with own party for killing ‘Whistleblower Protection Bill,’ defending ‘Keeping Families Together Act’

Washington State Rep. David Hackney, a Democrat, voiced frustration that his sponsored bill, House Bill 2585, failed to receive a floor vote in the Democrat-majority chambers of the state legislature, causing it to die in committee.

House Bill 2585 would have extended whistleblower protections and financial incentives for reporting fraud against the state to all government spending.

On “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Hackney said he doesn’t understand why a fellow Democrat, the committee chair, declined to bring the bill to a vote.

“That bill was never voted out of committee, and so it died in committee. I don’t know. It wasn’t voted down. It never had a vote,” Hackney said. “Those schedules are done by the committee chairperson. Why she didn’t schedule it for a vote, I think you’d have to ask her.”

Washington’s existing Medicaid False Claims Act, passed in 2012, allows whistleblowers who help recover fraudulent claims to receive 15% to 30% of the money recovered; Hackney’s bill would expand that model statewide.

Hackney said 33 other states already apply a False Claims Act to all government spending, not just health care programs, and pushed back on the idea that expanding whistleblower protections would invite abuse.

“If you make a frivolous claim, you don’t get anything, because there’s not going to be any fraud, there’s no money,” Hackney said. “The idea is you have to be free to make the complaint without fear of retribution.”

Hackney said he has commitments from Washington House Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Gov. Bob Ferguson to support the bill in the next legislative session.

Hackney criticizes ‘Keeping Families Together Act’ after South Seattle infant’s death

Hackney, a former federal prosecutor, used his time on “The Gee and Ursula Show” to voice his opposition to Washington’s “Keeping Families Together Act” after a 1-year-old died from fentanyl poisoning days after the child’s father tested positive for drugs. He claimed the law kept the child in the home under a safety plan. The mother, Divina Tangalan, was charged with reckless endangerment and unlawful firearm possession.

The father was not home at the time of the child’s death.

Hackney said he opposed the law when it passed and pointed to a colleague who faced backlash for doing the same.

“Representative Alicia Rule in the 42nd is a licensed behavioral therapist with an active practice, and she was one that stood up against that bill, because she’s had clients that she has identified that were not safe to have custody of children,” Hackney said. “She was criticized. She was called a racist. She was threatened by other legislators that they would not support her. Yes, keeping families together is important, but the safety of the child is the most important. You don’t want to keep families together if they’re harming children.”

The “Keeping Families Together Act,” passed in 2021, raised the legal standard for removing children from their homes, and the presence of drugs alone does not meet that standard for imminent harm.

Hackney additionally introduced a separate bill to close a gap in state law that treats fentanyl exposure less seriously than methamphetamine exposure.

“Accidentally exposing your child to fentanyl is a misdemeanor, because the law only says if you expose your child to methamphetamine, it’s a felony,” Hackney said. “The law has never been revised to deal with the fentanyl challenge.”

When asked where he draws the line between compassion and accountability, Hackney said his compassion is directed at children and crime victims rather than at avoiding difficult policy choices.

“My compassion is to be accountable to the people that are most in need of my protection, and those would be children, those would be victims of violent crime,” Hackney said. “I am not one for mass incarceration, but incarceration and criminal laws do have a place in our society. I wish they didn’t, but they do, and ignoring that is exposing a very vulnerable population to a lot of unnecessary harm.”

Hackney said he hasn’t seen movement within the Democrat Party to revisit the law.

“I haven’t seen that,” Hackney said. “It’s our job to find data, to find stories, to find people to come forward. My effectiveness is how well I can convince my colleagues. There are some that are probably going to be too hard to convince. They’re so far to one side or the other, they’re not listening.”

Hackney also said he wants more direct, on-the-record debate between lawmakers who disagree.

“I would love to have some of my colleagues who disagree in the studio. I would love to hear their point of view,” Hackney said. “I would love for someone to explain to me how the ‘Keeping Families Together Act,’ keeping children with guardians who are addicted to narcotics and have firearms, makes sense. I think it would be a struggle for them.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.