Politics & Government

Gregoire Signs Bills to Protect Children; Chickens

One new law will require more background checks on children's caregivers, the other will make a chicken's life more comfortable.

Child Saftey

Many people don’t know that, under current law, fingerprint-based background checks for child-care providers are only done on applicants who have not lived in Washington for at least three years. Everybody else gets a standard background check.  Advocates have been pushing for more safety measures for more than 16 years, and they finally saw their work come to fruition as

Governor Gregoire signed House Bill 1903 into law last week. The new law will now require all first-time child-care applicants to get both fingerprinted and go through a criminal history background check.

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The background checks currently done only disclose Washington state criminal history – applicants fill out paperwork and a check is run using their name and date of birth.  Fingerprint checks go through FBI databases and are much more accurate; they will reveal not only criminal convictions but also child safety related violations. Additionally, fingerprint checks pick up a person’s history outside of Washington state, as well as catch issues related to aliases or changed names.

Chickens

The governor also signed a brighter and better future into law for egg-laying hens and farmers across the state. The bill, hailed as historic by those in the know, will significantly improve the welfare of egg-laying hens in commercial operations by establishing standards and a timeline to meet United Egg Producers (UEP) and American Humane Association (AHA) guidelines.

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 This measure will phase out the use of “battery cage” housing for egg-laying hens and mandate use of an approved AHA housing system that requires more space, and the use of the enriched colony model. This housing model allows hens to spread their wings and turn around in their cages, and also includes elements such as nests, perches and scratching areas, which, according to the AHA, are necessary to ensuring a humane environment.

 SB 5487 requires conversion to the AHA enriched colony housing system by 2026. This type of housing is identical to the standard to which the European Community is transitioning right now.  Following are the provisions contained in the bill and how they will be implemented:

After January 1, 2012:

  • All new cages must meet or be convertible to American Humane Association enriched colony housing standards. 
  • All eggs and egg products sold in the state will be certified to meet the United Egg Producers hen care standards.

January 1, 2017:

  • All housing systems built after August 1, 2012 must be operated in a manner that meets American Humane Association certification standards.  This increases minimum space requirements for hens from 67 sq. in. per hen to 116.3 sq. in. per hen. 

January 1, 2026:

  • All housing systems used to produce egg and egg products sold in Washington must at a minimum be in compliance with American Humane Association certification standards.  This is a TOTAL conversion of all hen housing systems. 

Tim Amlaw, president of the American Humane Certified Animal Welfare Program, celebrated Washington lawmakers for their proactive work, and stressed that “Extensive research shows that the welfare program they have approved for commercial egg laying chicken operations will most certainly significantly improve animal welfare.”

But the measure will also ensure that the seven major producers and 6.5 million egg-laying hens remain in Washington, along with their 1,500 jobs and the $285 million the industry generates.

This bipartisan legislation is backed by the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association, the Washington Farm Bureau, the Washington State Dairy Federation, the Washington State Grange, the American Humane Association, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, the Northwest Grocery Association, and the Northwest Food Processors Association.


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