FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 30, 1996

Lowry signs 2 strikes law, vetoes threats to personal privacy

OLYMPIA - On his last day to take action on bills passed during the 1996 legislative session, Gov. Mike Lowry today signed a bill giving life imprisonment to violent sex offenders after a second conviction and vetoed several bills that would have endangered the privacy of state residents.

Lowry completed action on 346 bills sent to him by state legislators. Of 324 bills the governor signed, he partially vetoed 27 of them. He vetoed 22 bills in their entirety.

The governor signed House Bill 2320, which mandates life in prison without parole for the second conviction of rape, indecent liberties by forcible compulsion, and murder, kidnapping, assault and burglary crimes involving sexual motivation.

"I think this really showed a public recognition that violent sex offenders are probably the most dangerous people in society," Lowry said as he signed the law to applause.

Lowry also signed bills that:

• create pilot projects to allow credit card purchases at state liquor stores;
• update state public employee laws to recognize veterans of conflicts since 1975, such as the Gulf War and Bosnia; and
• expand the state's distressed areas programs to counties where the median household income is less than 75 percent of the state average.

Lowry exercised his section veto power on a bill aimed at tightening controls on the issuance of driver's licenses and state ID cards in order to prevent fraud. While House Bill 2150 directs a study on how to use technology to reduce fraud, it also would have allowed the Department of Licensing (DOL) to confiscate documents from applicants to check their validity and would have required DOL to turn over its files to law enforcement agencies upon request.

Lowry also partially signed House Bill 2420, which strengthens the state's gun ownership laws. The governor vetoed a section that would have allowed employees of police departments to personally own machine guns and other outlawed automatic weapons.

Among the bills Lowry vetoed in their entirety were several that sought to increase government disclosure of personal information.

• House Bill 2406 would have amended Washington's Privacy Act by authorizing law enforcement to use "pen register" and "trap and trace" devices to intercept and record telephone communications. Although the bill required a court order before interception, police would need only a "reason to believe" a crime might be involved, which is lower than the "probable cause" standard generally required for an arrest or search warrant. While the interception devices operate like a caller ID service, neither the person calling nor the person called would have consented to the recording.
• House Bill 2790 would have expanded the use of public records for commercial purposes. In certain circumstances, the departments of Licensing and Revenue, as well as other agencies, would be required to release information on residents to private companies that provide on-line computer services to government agencies.
• House Bill 2604 would have provided the operators of commercial parking companies electronic access to DOL records for use in identifying the owners of automobiles who used their parking lots without providing sufficient payment.

"These bills raise a much larger issue than appears on the surface," Lowry said. "Here we are dealing with personal privacy as well as the value and purpose of government records. The government collects an immense amount of information from its citizens and from businesses for specific purposes related to the administration of programs, the development of policies, and the collection of revenues. In order to protect the privacy of our citizens, we need to engage in a broad debate and develop a clear policy about how and why some public records should be released since new technology makes it so easy to misuse such information."

Through his veto message of 2604, the governor announced he will appoint a task force to study the specific issues of privacy and commercial use of government information. The task force will be asked to report to agencies and the legislature by the 1997 session.

For more information, contact the Governor's Communications Office at 360-753-6790.