-Measures become law July 26
With a stroke of her pen, Gov. Christine Gregoire gave approval today to two measures authored by Rep. Brad Klippert.
House Bill 2035 directs the state's Sex Offender Policy Board to review and recommend to the Legislature whether sex and kidnapping offenders should submit their Internet and e-mail addresses to law enforcement.
"Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are very popular for young people. Unfortunately, they are also a place where predators have an opportunity to groom their next victims. I want to make sure citizens are safe. Additional monitoring is another tool to help law enforcement keep our public safe," said Klippert, R-Kennewick. "Although this bill was turned into a study, it keeps the issue alive and will provide time for it to be perfected for a better bill next year."
The measure directs the board to include recommendations to the Legislature in its November 2009 report. It also asks the board to recommend sanctions for failure to comply.
House Bill 2299 allows public facilities districts (PFDs) in the same geographical area to form a super PFD for the financing of regional projects.
"This is a great measure that allows public facilities districts to come together and pool their resources to pay for projects that individually they could not afford to do alone. It's been suggested this could help the Tri-Cities to seek, with voter approval, several projects such as a regional aquatic center and a performing arts center," said Klippert. "There would be absolutely no fiscal impact to the state. Voters would get the final say on all projects."
The bill specifies that the super PFD may not impose a sales or use tax that exceeds 0.2 percent minus the rate of the highest tax already authorized by any other PFDs within its boundaries.
Both measures become effective July 26.
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PHOTO: Rep. Brad Klippert watches as Gov. Christine Gregoire signs his bills.
Contact: John Sattgast, Senior Information Officer, (360) 786-7257