Another round of bills safely out of the House

House Democrats continued their work to improve public safety and the criminal justice system on Saturday night by passing another package of reforms to protect lives and rights—including:

• A measure by Rep. Jeannie Darneille that aims to ban the shackling of women inmates as they give birth.

• House Bill 3124 by Rep. Mary Helen Roberts to prevent children from injury and death by requiring law enforcement officers to notify child protective services when a child is in the car of a driver who is arrested for a drug- or alcohol-related driving offense. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 68 percent of all child deaths from vehicle collisions between 1997 to 2002 involved drunken driving when children were in the car.

• House Bill 2739 by Rep. Geoff Simpson increases safety in school safety zones by doubling penalties for several traffic violations related to school crosswalks and speed zones. Half the funds collected would go to the School Zone Safety Account.

• House Bill 1317 by Rep. Lynn Kessler protects police officers and other criminal justice employees by exempting their photographs and birth dates from public disclosure requests.

• House Bill 2492, also by Rep. Simpson, would allow members of the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System (LEOFF) Plan II to include shared leave when calculating retirement benefits. This reform would give nearly 16,000 local law enforcement officers and firefighters a shared leave right that is similar to what state employees currently enjoy.