OLYMPIA — With perhaps an apology to Frank Sinatra, Jim Hargrove could be singing, “It Was a Very Good Week.”
The state senator from Hoquiam saw two of his favorite proposals pass the state Senate on Thursday, one that addresses domestic violence, the other aiming to decrease property crime by increasing supervision of property offenders.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim saw the state House of Representatives pass one of his favored measures, a ban on flame-retardant chemicals in furniture and children’s fabric products.
Hargrove’s Senate Bills 5631 and 5755 now go to the House, while Van De Wege’s House Bill 1174 advances to the Senate.
Hargrove, Van De Wege and state Rep. Steve Tharinger of Sequim are Democrats who represent the 24th District, which includes all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and most of Grays Harbor County.
The property crime bill — known as the Justice Reinvestment Initiative — has drawn a caution from Clallam County Prosecutor Mark Nichols, who says it may be driven by an effort to save money earmarked for criminal corrections while not diverting that revenue stream to probation programs.
Nonetheless, it passed the Republican-controlled Senate 40-9.
Hargrove noted that property offenders presently have no supervision after their release from county jails or state prisons despite the state’s having the nation’s highest rate of property crimes and the country’s most severe sentences for them.
Adds supervision
“This bill slightly shortens some of the prison sentences for property crimes to bring them more in line with other states and adds a year of supervision and treatment to those same offenders, which the data shows will actually reduce our property crimes in this state quite dramatically,” Hargrove said.
The bill also includes a grant program to provide additional resources for community policing.
Hargrove, who long has advocated what he calls data-driven approaches to funding criminal justice, served as co-chair of the state Justice Reinvestment Task Force.
The bipartisan group of state officials conducted an evidence-based review of Washington’s criminal justice system and identified reforms to reduce crime and recidivism.
Gov. Jay Inslee appointed the task force as part of a wider U.S. Department of Justice initiative.
Research behind it was provided by the nonpartisan Council of State Governments.
“This bill will make citizens safer, reduce property crime in the state and save the state money,” said Hargrove, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Nichols, though, has noted that the law would send to county jails some offenders who currently are sentenced to state prison, transferring the cost of their care to local coffers.
Domestic violence
In other action, the Senate unanimously passed Hargrove’s bill that updates services for victims of domestic violence and funds prevention efforts.
“We do a pretty good job of helping victims of domestic violence, providing shelters and doing outreach,” Hargrove said.
“But we really haven’t gotten ahead of the game by beefing up the prevention programs to start to change our culture where hopefully we can get rid of this altogether.”
The bill also funds a statewide information and referral service for victims of domestic violence and directs the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to review community-based domestic violence victims’ services nationwide to determine which programs are the most effective.
Flame-retardant chemicals
Also Thursday, Van De Wege’s HB 1174, labeled the Toxic-Free Kids and Families Act, passed the Democratic-controlled house 95-3.
It bans flame-retardant chemicals — once championed as live-saving substances –—that have been identified as producing toxic substances that Van De Wege said “mingle with household dust and are ingested by those in the house.
“They are a particular concern for infants and small children, who play at floor level where the dust builds up and who naturally mouth the things they find,” he added.
The chemicals also worry Van De Wege in his job as a firefighter/paramedic with Clallam County Fire District No. 3.
“When these toxic flame retardants burn, they create highly toxic compounds, and the protective equipment used by firefighters does not completely protect them from toxic exposures,” he said.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
