Let’s Go Washington files another initiative to protect parents’ rights

Let’s Go Washington, a political action committee (PAC), filed a second initiative this week in what it says is its mission to protect parents’ rights. They’re seeking to repeal House Bill 1296 (HB 1296).

HB 1296 rewrote the original legislation passed as a result of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, Initiative 2081. But critics say the bill effectively guts the original legislation that was passed with bipartisan support. One significant pivot was around notification to parents if their child is the victim of a crime.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights, and current law, requires immediate notification. An earlier draft of HB 1296 changed that to 48 hours (a companion bill on the Senate side, SB 5181, went to 72 hours). But after recent changes, and a contentious debate, the rule was reverted back to parents being notified immediately, but with more stipulations, including that these rules only apply if the crime occurred on campus during school hours.

Another initiative to undo legislative moves

HB 1296, which passed in the House on a party-line 56-37 vote, is currently in committee in the Senate. But now it faces another potential hurdle.

“I filed the repeal for 5181 and suddenly they pulled 1296 back out,” Let’s Go Washington founder, Brian Haywood, told The Center Square. “So, I said, alright, if you’re going to go that route and play games, it’s no skin off my back; we’ll just file another initiative.”

Republicans have argued that Democratic lawmakers should maintain the original elements of the Parent Bill of Rights, while Democrats claim the initiative contained errors and HB 1296 is intended to correct them. Despite the Parents’ Bill of Rights being signed by more than 448,000 people — the fifth-most signed initiative in Washington history — Democrat lawmakers remained concerned about the broad language in the bill, specifically for LGBTQ+ students.

“If legislators think they can stop our efforts by putting all their bad ideas into another bill, they’ve got another thing coming,” Let’s Go Washington stated on social media. “We aren’t going to sit silently while they strip the rights of parents and tell government employees that it’s OK to keep secrets from a child’s primary advocate. The rhetoric from legislators is enough to tell voters that they don’t care about the interests of parents.”

One thing about us is we’ll always fight for parent’s rights. Read about what dropped today at https://t.co/tjZZEvTVuK pic.twitter.com/Rqod7AKgQo

— Let’s Go Washington (@letsgowa) March 17, 2025

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