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As Attorney General, I am committed to standing up for veterans and military service members. In this Ferguson File, I am pleased to share with you the results of my office’s statewide sweep of housing providers discriminating against veterans using veteran-specific housing vouchers. In addition, the Legislature recently passed my legislation improving consumer protections for service members called to active duty. The 2018 Legislative Session just concluded. Including my Military Consumer Protection legislation, the Legislature passed five Attorney General Request bills this session, including legislation that will help my office combat health care fraud, elder abuse and overprescribing of opioids. In this Ferguson File, I will highlight another important bill that is on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature – the Student Loan Bill of Rights. I remain deeply disappointed that the Legislature failed to pass legislation raising the purchase age to 21 and requiring waiting periods and enhanced background checks for military-style assault weapons. In Washington state, it is still easier to buy an AR-15 than a handgun. We must fix this. In this Ferguson File, I will provide a short overview of the legislative session, including the historic progress of death penalty repeal and Tobacco 21 legislation and a quick overview of legislation we supported that passed. In this issue:
Thank you for following the work of the Attorney General’s Office. |
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Sincerely,
Bob Ferguson |
 Calling on the Legislature to vote on gun safety laws In the face of senseless mass shootings in Washington state and around the country, I proposed common-sense gun safety legislation that will make our schools and communities safer. Realizing the Legislature would not even give a hearing to my bill banning the sale of assault weapons, I proposed a common-sense alternative – provide the same age restrictions and requirements for assault weapons as there are for handguns. It is easier to buy an AR-15 in Washington state than a handgun. To buy a handgun in Washington state, a potential buyer must be 21 years old, must wait a period of up to 10 days and must pass an additional state background check that includes mental health and domestic violence records. Under current law, an 18-year-old can walk into a store and minutes later, leave with a military style assault weapon. No enhanced background check, no waiting period. This just doesn’t make sense – yet the Washington state Legislature failed to close this loophole yet again. This session, my office’s common-sense proposal did not make it to a vote on the floor in the state Senate or the House of Representatives. I will continue to propose this bill, as well as a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, each year until the Legislature takes our safety seriously. As a father of two, I call on the Legislature to vote on this issue and let us know where each member stands.
The Seattle Times The Herald SeattlePI KEPR-TV |
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Providing better protections for student loan borrowers On a happier note, I am excited to report that the Student Loan Bill of Rights passed the state House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote of 87 to 11. The bill previously passed the Senate 35 to 13. Now that it has passed the Legislature, it will head to the Governor’s desk for signature. The Student Loan Bill of Rights will create a dedicated student loan advocate and adopt basic ‘rules of the road’ for student loan servicers. This doesn’t absolve Washington borrowers of their responsibility to repay their loans. Rather, it simply ensures servicers treat student borrowers fairly. This will provide the more than 800,000 Washington student loan borrowers with better protections and more information resources to navigate the often-complex process of repaying student loans.
KING-5 News The Spokesman-Review
Cracking down on housing discrimination against veterans Last month, my office announced a sweep in counties across the state to determine whether property management companies were illegally rejecting disabled veterans’ Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers. As a result of our sweep, eight companies in Walla Walla, Spokane, King, Thurston and Benton counties will no longer discriminate against veterans using VASH vouchers. Housing practices that discriminate based on disability or veteran status violate the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). No veteran should be denied a roof over their head based on how they plan to pay their rent.
NPR The Stranger Tri-City Herald The Seattle Times
Making progress in the 2018 legislative session In 2018, we saw historic progress on several important bills I proposed. Tobacco 21, a bill I proposed to raise the legal smoking age to 21, progressed further than ever before in the Legislature. The bill received strong bipartisan support, passing the House by a 63-35 vote the day before session concluded. Many legislators made powerful floor speeches in support of this bill, which are worth watching here. This bill will save thousands of lives, and I am committed to ensuring it passes next year. My bill to abolish the death penalty in Washington state also made historic progress in the 2018 session. Since Washington’s death penalty was reinstated in 1981, no bill to abolish the death penalty has ever passed a single committee – until this year. My legislation replacing the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole passed the full Senate with bipartisan support (26-22) and made it through the House Judiciary Committee before time ran out. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and I testified side-by-side before two legislative committees this year --- followed by victims and their families --- to make the case that Washington’s death penalty is broken. I will continue to work with the Legislature to pass this important legislation.
The News Tribune The Spokesman-Review
Thanking legislators for their leadership in 2018 I want to acknowledge the following legislators for their leadership in sponsoring the following excellent bills that passed this session with the support of the Attorney General’s Office:
I also want to thank all the Washington legislators who helped ensure these important bills passed this session. SUBSCRIBE to have The Ferguson File sent straight to your inbox each month. |
Dear Friends,
