McKenna sets ambitious legislative list

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna outlined a broad wish list for the upcoming Legislature on Thursday, emphasizing themes of consumer protection, public safety and open government.

McKenna, a Republican running for his second term this fall, has had success moving priorities through the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Nevertheless, his 2008 agenda could be a long list for lawmakers to tackle during the short, election-year session that convenes Jan. 14.

Topping McKenna’s priorities are proposals aimed at helping the vulnerable and cracking down on crooks, including a ban on viewing child pornography.

State law presently makes the possession of child porn a crime, but McKenna said the prevalence of Internet porn makes prosecuting possession cases difficult.

“The Internet has resulted in an explosion of child pornography and exploitation of children,” McKenna said.

“The volume of child pornography being reported worldwide is staggering.”

He also gave top billing to letting state workers borrow unused leave from their colleagues if they are domestic violence victims, and cracking down on foreclosure scams that target troubled homebuyers.

House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, said she is an enthusiastic supporter of the foreclosure scam bill.

McKenna said he’s lined up bipartisan sponsors on several other bills, although “it does seem, in a short session, he’s being awfully ambitious,” Lantz said.

For consumers, McKenna wants a bill that stops private companies from listing cell phone numbers without permission.

That would expand a state ban on cell phone directories that presently applies to phone companies.

McKenna also takes up government transparency, joining Democratic state Auditor Brian Sonntag to push for a bill requiring government boards to make audio recordings of their private executive sessions.

Those recordings would be set aside for possible review if a judge is asked to determine whether “sunshine” laws were broken during secret deliberations.

Prisoners who file reams of public-records requests also are targets of the attorney general, with a proposal to send any open-records court judgments that inmates win to a state fund for crime victims.

Some inmates have turned public-information requests into “a cottage industry,” seeking thousands of records and betting they’ll catch an agency breaking the rules, McKenna said.

McKenna also has proposals to tighten government land seizures, beef up identity theft laws, and more.

Despite the long list, McKenna was fairly upbeat about his prospects.

“None of these issues is partisan,” he said.

“We find good bipartisan support for our proposals.”