Legislature fine-tunes police laws

Lawmakers finished much of their work Tuesday on what has been a major thrust of this year’s session in Olympia: dealing with the fallout from November’s tragic deaths in a Parkland coffee shop.

Several ideas sparked by the shooting deaths of four Lakewood police officers are headed toward becoming law, though not all are as far-reaching as originally conceived.

“I’d say maybe a home run, not a grand slam,” said Rep. Troy Kelley, D-Lakewood, who pushed several bills. “I think we got a lot.”

Most prominent was a state constitutional amendment that will take its place on the November ballot. Voters will be asked whether judges should be allowed to deny bail for certain violent offenders facing a potential life sentence. Maurice Clemmons was released on bail on a charge of child rape before killing the officers.

A day after final approval of the ballot question, lawmakers reached deals on several of the remaining issues Tuesday. Two days remain in the scheduled session.

WIDOWS’ BENEFITS

Police groups will have to wait at least another year to get the benefits they want for officers’ widows who remarry.

Final legislative approval came Tuesday for an expansion of benefits for families of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty. The bill guarantees unlimited free college tuition to officers’ survivors and allows them to collect lifetime pensions regardless of how long their loved ones worked.

The bill does not contain a change the House and Gov. Chris Gregoire wanted that would have allowed widowed spouses to keep collecting workers’ compensation benefits even if they remarry.

Gregoire told reporters Tuesday that she urged the House to accept the Senate’s scaled-back version to avoid dooming the bill.

Gregoire said she would renew the push to help remarried spouses next year.

Police groups said the state owes it to spouses to help them for life, but the cost of the added benefits has been projected at $1 million for next year.

OUT-OF-STATE OFFENDERS

House members also plan to back down in another area. The House had voted to set a date to pull out of the interstate agreement governing how parolees are supervised when they move from state to state.

Clemmons moved to Washington while on parole from Arkansas. Lawmakers have urged the interstate compact’s board to change the compact to allow states to keep better track of offenders and send them back home if necessary.

Kelley pushed for the pullout threat, saying it would bolster Gregoire’s position as she seeks changes to the compact. But he said the governor doesn’t think she needs it.

The Senate refused Tuesday to go along with the pullout date of July 2011, which Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, said would be “like holding a gun to our own head.”

Kelley said he has agreed to simply have state officials study what it would take to pull out of the compact. “At a minimum we want to send a loud message,” he said.

AIDING CRIMINALS

Legislators say they have a deal on another police-backed proposal that saw new momentum this session: increasing punishment for giving help to criminals.

A bill passed by the House on Tuesday would raise the penalty for the crime of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree and would end an exception for family members of criminals.

Family members and friends helped Clemmons evade the massive manhunt for him, which ended when a Seattle police officer shot and killed him.

The measure would make it a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, to help a relative commit a crime – except for teenagers, who would continue to be treated more lightly when they help adult relatives.

The Senate has agreed to the final language, House members said.

Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826

jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com

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