Rep. Spencer Hutchins argues for amendment to better protect kids from fentanyl-addicted parents

the good member from the 26 legislative district representative hudgin thank you Mr Speaker I rise in very strong support of this amendment and with respect to my friend from the 41st who just uh made comments on this amendment we are not talking Mr Speaker about loving families we are not talking Mr Speaker about stability in the home we are talking about situations where hard drugs synthetic opioids are present in the home in that situation Mr Speaker we must balance the needs of protecting the live the the lives and the well-being of children Mr Speaker a rebuttable presumption is a legal term it's a legal phrase that means absent evidence to the contrary a court May infer something and in this case what this amendment says is that where fentanyl is present in a home absent evidence actual evidence to the contrary a court May infer that a child is in grave imminent harm uh in danger of grave imminent harm Mr Speaker the underlying bill says that the underlying bill says the presence of fentanyl in a home is a grave imminent harm to a child the underlying bill says that this amendment takes that fact in the bill and says given that fact the presence of that fentanyl is a re rebuttable presumption that that child is in harm is in danger Mr Speaker this this makes Common Sense this is good sense and it is about protecting children we're not talking about loving families we're talking about families who inside the home are very unstable Mr Speaker dangerous putting kids at risk now it's hard for me not to take this issue personally I go home every night Mr Speaker to a four-year-old a 2-year-old and a one-year-old they're my whole world they're my whole world I can't imagine any situation where I would willingly put them In Harm's Way I can't think of a situation where I would have any level of comfort with having them be EXP exposed to a dangerous substance like a synthetic opioid this is about the children of Washington being protected from adults who are not protecting them this rebuttable presumption puts teeth in this bill that will protect Washington kids please vote Yes