During my 20 years in the State Senate I have concentrated a large portion of my efforts to public safety including the working conditions and pensions of law enforcement.

As Chair of the Law and Justice Committee (Judiciary Committee) I led the effort to reform DUI laws and was responsible for shepherding laws such as administrative license revocation, ignition interlock devises for those with convictions, and .08 before the federal government passed it. For these efforts I was given a citation of appreciation by the Traffic Safety Council.

I was the Senate prime sponsor of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act which was the product of the Governor’s (Gardner and Locke) Juvenile Justice Reform Committee where I served with Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Bobbi Bridge, and criminal justice leaders from across the state. I sponsored “Hard Time for Armed Crime” in the legislature before it was taken up as an initiative. “Three Strikes You’re Out” was also an initiative I began in the legislature (working with John Carlson).

I am currently on the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and was a member of the Governor’s Substance Abuse Council before it was cancelled due to budget constraints. I successfully worked to keep released predatory sex offenders out of neighborhoods and into industrial areas where they are not close to families. It was my budget proposal that funded the on-line locator for sex offenders by address of the inquirer. I was awarded WACOPS “Legislator of the Year” for five years running.

At the end of the 2010 session I appointed to the Bail Practices Work Group that was formed to close loopholes in bail law. I have spent the last 20 years working to make Washington a safer place to live and to enhance the safety and working conditions for Police and Fire Fighters.

I am proud to have been endorsed in this election cycle by the King County Police Officers Guild, the Valley Professional Fire Fighters (Auburn, Algona, and Pacific) and several individual members of the public safety community.