HB1110 prohibiting school districts from using information from the declaration-of-intent form to market public school at-home programs to homeschoolers, has passed out of the Education Committee!

 

DiAnna Brannan of CHN and Diane Altman of WHO, along with several local homeschool moms gave compelling testimony at the hearing in the House Education Committee. Thank you to the busy moms who came to the hearing and showed their support and also for those who testified.

 

HB1288 Exempting the declaration of-intent to homeschool form from public disclosure. DiAnna Brannan of CHN along with several homeschool moms again gave compelling testimony in support of this bill in the State Government and Tribal Affairs committee.  Thank you to the busy moms who came to the hearing and showed their support and also for those who testified. We even got to hear a young homeschooler testify! Good job mom and dad!

 

This bill was a great opportunity for homeschoolers to interface with a committee other than the Education Committee and in such a positive way.

 

CHN handed out a packet of information to all members of the committee, which included an informal opinion from the Attorney General’s Office (which we had requested in preparation for this bill) that validated our concerns.

 

Scott and DiAnna Brannan of CHN have spent many hours preparing for this bill and many days in Olympia meeting with most of the members of this committee. While many support this bill, a few wanted to see what happened at the hearing. They wanted to see who would support and who would oppose the bill. Having members of the homeschool community in attendance reinforced support for this bill and hopefully will sway their vote. Also, prior to the hearing CHN was able to talk to three of the most influential organizations who’s opposition would have stopped this bill.  All three agreed to not oppose it!

 

CHN will be in Olympia the rest of the week meeting with legislators and staff to keep these and other bills moving.  

 

For more information about other bills we are working on go to http://www.chnow.org/page59.aspx

 

Each session there are 3000-4000 bills introduced during the legislative session. Only one-third of these bills will have hearings. Most bills will die due to time constraints or majority leadership will chose not to work on them. Of all the bills introduced in a legislative session only 200-300 will pass into law.

 

CHN lobbyist Scott and DiAnna Brannan have been in Olympia three days a week since the session started, meeting with key legislators and staff to make sure our bills move through the process, lobbying for the bills, testifying at the hearings, networking with others, and tracking other bills that may not be favorable to home educators. Thank you to those who support us. Together we can make sure Washington State stays a great place to homeschool and preserve our freedoms for future generations.

Is your support group or co-op planning a trip to the Capitol? We would love to have you join us in our lobbying activities, or meet with your group. E-mail us at chnow@msn.com

Christian Homeschool Network

 

 

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