John Braun commentary: For the sake of Washington’s children, don’t fumble fentanyl bill a fourth time
Friday, January 23, 2026
Here in Washington, and no doubt other states, victims of the fentanyl epidemic include babies and toddlers injured by exposure to this poison by adults, usually fentanyl-addicted parents.
On day 10 of this year’s 60-day legislative session, the state Senate again passed a bill that would allow for a charge of “endangerment with a controlled substance” when children are hurt by exposure to fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. As in 2023, 2024 and 2025, it received strong bipartisan support.
The question now is whether Democrats who control the House of Representatives will finally support this child-friendly proposal.
The first hurdle is the House Community Safety Committee. In 2023, the chairman held a public hearing on the child-safety bill, which I cosponsored, but wouldn’t allow a committee vote.
The bill was ignored again in 2024. After its original Republican sponsor retired from the Senate, I became the prime sponsor for 2025. The Democrat who chairs the Senate Law and Justice Committee signed on as Senate Bill 5071’s lead cosponsor.
Several weeks into the 2025 session, after a 42-7 Senate vote sent our bill to his committee, the House community safety chairman claimed in a television interview that SB 5071 would separate parents from children “forever, and we don’t want to see that.”
When asked whether justice is being denied to children harmed by fentanyl exposure, he said many adults with severe substance-use disorder have “no idea what’s going on” and therefore aren’t capable of knowing when they commit a crime.
Many of his legislative colleagues, the chairman added, also question whether someone with a substance-use disorder should be held criminally liable.
If we make the “substance” alcohol instead of fentanyl, I don’t believe anyone would oppose filing a vehicular-assault charge against an alcoholic who harms someone as a result of driving while impaired.
But that interview revealed the challenges we were up against, and why having stronger bipartisan sponsorship still didn’t prevent the bill from stalling in the House community-safety committee a third time.
The version of SB 5071 passed by the Senate this session is a little different. It would allow the court to impose treatment as part of the sentence for a first conviction, rather than prison.
The change works for me, as a believer in second chances. It also should appeal to those who blame the drug, not the drug user, when children are harmed by fentanyl exposure.
The opposition by some House Democrats to date is a far cry from how their predecessors supported the creation of Washington’s controlled substance-endangerment law.
It happened in 2002, when methamphetamine “labs” were popping up all over. One of the more liberal Democrats in the House responded with legislation to protect kids and vulnerable adults from the cooking of meth.
She didn’t let ideology get in the way, nor did any other Democrats. Every one of them voted to pass her bill, as did every Republican.
Fast forward to 2021-23 and the Democrats’ disastrous decriminalization experiment. It proved that contact with the criminal-justice system may be the only thing that can motivate drug addicts to seek the life-saving treatment they need.
When that addict is also the parent of an infant or young child, the consequences set forth in my bill can save the child’s life as well.
The scope of the controlled substance-endangerment crisis is found in the state’s own statistics.
In 2024, the Office of the Family and Children Ombuds reported fentanyl was responsible for 30 of the 38 accidental ingestions in our state that were either fatal or near-fatal to children younger than 11 years of age.
The state Department of Children, Youth and Families reported in November 2025 that there had been 21 near-fatalities of Washington children related to opioids during the first three quarters of the year. Nearly all involved kids age 3 and younger.
There is no reason to believe DCYF is capable by itself of ending the failures of our child-welfare system. Remember, this is the same agency that has managed Green Hill School in Chehalis so poorly and failed to keep proper track of money paid out as child-care subsidies.
Law enforcement needs more authority to intervene, which is the point of SB 5071.
There’s an affordability angle here too, if the child-safety argument isn’t enough. Fewer cases of endangerment through controlled substances also should reduce the number of costly lawsuits against the state that pull tax dollars away from programs and services.
For Republicans and others who worry about public safety, the 2026 legislative session isn’t off to a good start. Some Democrats in Olympia are again promoting policies that take the side of lawbreakers over law-abiding citizens, law-enforcement officers and most of all, victims of crime.
Fortunately, the bill to modernize this important child-safety law is through the Senate already. As the prime sponsor I am grateful Senate Democrats have supported it for a fourth time – and by more than a 2-1 margin. House Democrats cannot fumble their fourth chance to do the same. The lives of our children are at stake. It’s how we make our state better.
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Sen. John Braun of Centralia serves the 20th Legislative District, which spans part of four counties from Yelm to Vancouver. He became Senate Republican leader in 2020.