By james art 
If you are a student in Washington and love a good protest, listen – your financial assistance funded by taxpayers can be online, but not so much before.
Olympia legislators discussed the bill for the house on Wednesday (HB) 1343, which aims to fix the rules of when students can lose their financial assistance for the campus demonstrations.
Currently, if you are organizing or involved in a protest that violates the educational process, you can kiss goodbye to your financial assistance. No IFS, Ands or Buts. However, this new bill, supported by a group of democratic legislators, including representatives Gary Flight, Marie Levitt and Darya Farivar, wants to dial this rule back.
Instead of banning a blanket, students will only lose help if they pass certain lines – such as harassment of others, participate in discriminatory behavior or promotion of violence during protest. In addition, if a student is sentenced to the demonstration crime (consider attacking, threats or destruction of property), their assistance can still be canceled.
The big absorption? Just the protest – no matter how strong or uncomfortable – will not be enough to pull your help.
Why now?
With student activism on the rise, MPs are trying to balance the protection of freedom of expression and to make sure that things are not stopped in chaos in colleges in colleges.
Universities can still apply their codes for behavior, but this bill becomes clear: not every protester is a criminal and not every protest should come with financial consequences.
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How is this compared to other countries?
Washington is not alone in the fight against this number.
In Florida, for example, students may lose certain scholarships if they collect a sentence for a crime-which in some cases may include charges of protest-related activities.
Meanwhile, at the federal level, the latest changes in financial aid rules are actually facilitating students with past sentences for drugs to qualify for help, showing a broader tendency to give people a second chance instead of permanent penalties.
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What next to Washington Bill?
The HB 1343 must first pass the Chamber of Education and Work Committee first before it can enter the legislative meat mill and possibly voting on the floor later at the session.
If it passes HB 1343, Washington can set a new standard on how countries deal with financial assistance and student activism – one who acknowledges the right to protest without punishing students simply for speaking.
Matt Markovic often covers the state legislative body and public policy for Kiro Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow it on XOr send him an email here.