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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

East Side Lawmakers Push Pet Proposals Tight Rein On State Funds Means Many Measures Likely To Fail

Jennifer Lange Staff writer

From electronic stalking to salmon recovery, Eastern Washington legislators are hoping their pet bills survive the grind of committees, floor votes and the governor’s veto pen.

Many of their bills probably won’t make the leap from legislation to law. Spokane’s Sen. Jim West, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, has said that money won’t be spent during the 60-day session that began last week except on fixing mistakes, emergencies or one-shot opportunities.

Two local legislators are focusing on traffic safety, especially for bicyclists.

The Cooper Jones Bill, SB 6222, is named after a 13-year-old boy who was killed by a car while biking near Cheney last summer. It would establish various bicycle and traffic safety programs through a new state commission.

Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the measure would reduce accidents.

A bicycle and pedestrian safety education account to pay for the programs would be filled with tax dollars from bicycle sales, and with an additional tax levied on some bicycles.

The additional levy would equal 1 percent of the selling price of some types of bicycles. While the safety account would get 75 percent of the tax, 25 percent would be funneled into the state transportation fund.

Brown is attempting to get the bill a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee chaired by Eugene Prince, R-Thornton.

Another aspect of the Cooper Jones Bill would require all drivers involved in serious or fatal car accidents to complete written and road tests within 90 days.

“We like to catch people before an accident, but at least after an accident there has to be consequences,” Brown said.

Rep. Duane Sommers, R-Spokane, is sponsoring similar traffic-safety legislation, including requiring all bicyclists to wear helmets (HB 2437).

He also is taking a hard look at older drivers. Senior citizens would start making frequent trips to the licensing department and would have to complete more than a form for license renewal if Sommers’ HB 2440 becomes law.

At 69, a person would have to take a written traffic law exam, and at 75 a road test “to demonstrate the person’s ability to drive with care and control,” the bill proposes. Then, beginning at 81, both written and driving exams would have to be passed every two years, and starting at 87, every year.

Convicted domestic assault felons no longer could be set free before sentencing if Rep. Mark Sterk, R-Spokane, has his way.

Under HB 2325, which Sterk calls his No. 1 priority this session, these felons would be kept behind bars until sentencing. They currently can be released until se tencing with an order not to contact the victim, but too many do re-stablish contact and abuse again, Sterk said.

Sterk’s bill is in the House Law and Justice Committee chaired by Rep. Larry Sheahan, who said the measure is part of a crime package that has a good chance of passing.

Sheahan and Sterk, vice chairman of the committee, are working together to sort through numerous bills aiming to curtail drunken driving.

For the third time, Sterk is attempting to move a bill through the Legislature that would limit a late-term abortion procedure. Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, is planning on introducing an identical bill, but Republican Majority Leader Dan McDonald said the Senate will address the issue only if the House bill makes it over.

Sterk’s measure comes with a referendum clause, which means it will bypass the governor’s desk and go to voters if it garners the necessary support in both houses.

With the explosion of new technology must come new laws, said Sheahan, who’s sponsoring HB 2441 to include electronic communication in current stalking and harassment laws.

“There’s really no specific law that covers that area, and with new technology, we’re seeing new types of crime,” Sheahan said.

A methamphetamine lab was shut down once a day on average last year in Washington state, according to Rep. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville. He’s the prime sponsor of a bill to increase the penalties for running a meth lab, especially if there are children around.

“We haven’t been able to get a handle on (meth labs) yet, and I’d like to give law enforcement some tools,” he said of his proposal to increase State Patrol funding.

Other measures by local lawmakers include a bill by Rep. Brad Benson, R-Spokane, to set up what Benson says is a court-proof teen curfew model that cities can follow if they choose.

Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient, is tackling salmon recovery.

One of Morton’s measures, SB 6117, would create a buyback program in which commercial salmon fishing licenses and charter boat licenses could be resold to the state and then canceled.

Recovery efforts for endangered salmon stocks will require major fishing restrictions, according to the bill, and the buyback would compensate fisherman “for the loss of their livelihood.”

, DataTimes