House Bill 1307 makes it out of Rules Committee, heads to House floor for second reading

Supporters of student journalism in Washington received a huge piece of news today when the House Rules Committee sent HB 1307, the Student Free Press Bill, to a second reading before the general House. This means it likely will be voted on from the House floor sometime before March 14, the deadline for passing the bill out of the House.

While nothing is a sure thing, this is yet another huge step in the right direction for the passage of this bill. A similar bill proposed in the early 1990s never made it out of the Rules Committee.

According to the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-Des Moines), it is now more important than ever that supporters of the bill contact their legislators to express their support for HB 1307. You can find your legislator by clicking here and entering your address. You do not have to be of voting age to contact your legislator. You also can express your support for the bill by calling the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000.

For all the information on the bill itself, check out the static links on the right hand side of the page.