OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Penn State child sex abuse scandal is fueling support for a pair of proposals on reporting child abuse in Washington. The two bills got a hearing Friday in Olympia.
One of them specifically addresses employees at higher ed institutions. Right now, university employees in Washington are advised, but not required, to report suspected child abuse.
Democratic state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles is the primary sponsor of this bill.
"The issue is that there are a whole lot more children on campuses now during the days, during the weekends, during summer, during the times when courses are not going on," she says.
The proposal has bipartisan support, and Washington lawmakers say they're confident that it'll move forward this session.
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network
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