The Senate voted unanimously Monday to approve a minor change made by the House so Senate Bill 5149 will head to Gov. Jay Inslee
OLYMPIA — Another unanimous vote by the state Senate Monday (March 9) brought the final approval of the Tiffany Hill Act. Named for the 35-year-old mother of three who was murdered by her estranged husband Nov. 26 in Clark County, the law created by Senate Bill 5149 will promote the real-time electronic notification of victims of domestic violence and similar crimes when their abuser or attacker is nearby.
On March 4, the state House of Representatives joined the Senate in unanimously approving the Tiffany Hill Act. The bill’s prime sponsor is Sen. Lynda Wilson (R-Vancouver). Now that the minor change has been made by the House and confirmed by the Senate, Senate Bill 5149 will head to Gov. Jay Inslee.
“We’re almost there. I’ve said again and again how this bill needs to become law this year, and I’m completely confident that will happen. It’s simply a matter of putting on the finishing touches,” said Wilson on March 4.
Wilson’s proposal, first introduced in 2018, would promote the use of electronic-monitoring technology to enable real-time notification of victims of domestic violence and similar crimes when their abuser or attacker is nearby. She renamed the legislation this year in honor of Hill, a 35-year-old former Marine Corps sergeant, who was fatally shot by her estranged husband Nov. 26 while parked with her mother and her three children at their elementary school in Hazel Dell.
Had the bill become law already, the technology would have alerted Hill that her abuser was close by and allowed her to take countermeasures – something the protection order she obtained from a Clark County court could not do.
“The concept is simple: when the abuser or stalker gets closer than the court allows, you get an alert on your phone. Tiffany Hill’s story makes it even easier to understand how this could benefit any number of the thousands of people who obtain restraining orders each year,” Wilson said.
SB 5149 was unanimously endorsed by the House Appropriations Committee on Saturday, setting the stage for the March 4 vote.
For more information, visit www.LyndaWilson.src.wastateleg.org
