Legislative leaders say bills will align Parents' Rights initiative with existing law

Jamie Peterson, identified in the press availability as the Senate majority leader, said Senate Bill 51 81 is the primary vehicle the Senate will use to amend last year's Parents' Rights initiative and to resolve conflicts with current state law.

"It will add, I think, 10, depending on how you count, 11 new rights for parents," Jamie Peterson said, while also saying the bill "will also eliminate some of the conflicts" that created confusion for school districts about what they may or may not do.

Representative Stonier was named by leaders as centrally involved in the House'side work. Unidentified Speaker 4, who spoke with a hoarse voice during the event, defended the existing 48-hour notification provision for reporting certain incidents to parents, saying the timeline "has been on the books for 20 years" and argued it gives school officials and law enforcement time to "get the facts clear so that accurate information is provided to the right adults who are responsible for that child."

Reporters asked whether the House and Senate bills would roll back initiative provisions. A reporter framed the criticism as, "House Bill 1296 and Senate Bill 51 81 are rolling back provisions that were outlined in the Parents' Rights initiative; you all are saying it aligns the provisions of the bill with the law. Can you give us maybe just some specific bullet points on what specifically needs to be aligned between those?" Jamie Peterson responded that some initiative language set timelines and notification requirements that were not consistent with existing statutes recognizing young people's ability to make certain health-care decisions, and that those discrepancies had caused confusion.

Peterson said the Senate'side bill is "considerably narrower," changing a single section of code related to the initiative, and that the Senate planned to send that bill to the House promptly. He also said the chambers would work together if the House version came over: "We're absolutely open to looking at that and working with the House to make sure that we can get a broad set of protections done, as broad as both chambers can agree on and send to the governor."

The leaders repeatedly framed the bills as clarifying statutes rather than removing protections. When pressed about whether parents would be notified immediately, Unidentified Speaker 4 called claims that Democrats intended to withhold notification "untrue and irresponsible," and said any change would be considered with an eye to safety and clarity.

The press availability produced no formal legislative action; leaders described expected committee hearings and an ongoing process as the budget and committee calendars proceed.

What happens next: leaders said they expect SB 51 81 to be heard in education committee and that chambers would consider amendments in session before sending any final package to the governor.