Attorney General McKenna speaks at chamber meeting
March 26, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
State Attorney General Rob McKenna gave a crowd an inside look at the daily operations of his office last week at the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting.
McKenna, the meeting’s featured speaker, talked in specifics about some of the bills supported by his office and the goals he has for the future. He also fielded some questions from a few attending the meeting at TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge.
A native of Bellevue, McKenna graduated from Sammamish High School in 1980 and the University of Washington in 1985. He worked at a law firm before getting elected to the King County City Council in 1996, where he served through 2003. In 2004, McKenna became the state attorney general.
Identity theft has been one of the main targets of his office in recent months and he talked to chamber members about the progress that’s been made.
“The name of the game in identity theft today is not stealing accounts, but opening up new accounts under your name. It’s a way for them to steal a lot of money,” McKenna said. “We believe the penalties are too light for identity theft and we’ve introduced bills that could allow for greater penalties.
“Right now, the Internet is like the wild west. But, in Washington state, there’s a new sheriff in town.”
McKenna said his office has brought more lawsuits against spyware users and spammers than any other in the country.
Because he believes there’s a significant link between identity theft and methamphetamine addiction, his office has also made a strong push to rid the state of meth labs and dump sites. McKenna said he has visited 50 high schools to talk about the subject of meth, and that the estimated number of labs and dump sites in Washington has been cut from 2,000 in 2001 to only 200 last year.
McKenna also talked about the need for reform when it comes to joint and several liability lawsuits against the state.
“We pay out 10 times more per year in these lawsuits than Idaho. We’ve got to do something,” he said. “It hurts our business climate, it hurts our economy and it has cost the state about a half a billion dollars in the last 25 years.”
McKenna recently went before the Supreme Court to defend the state’s vote for a top-two primary system, which allows voters to vote for any candidate without declaring a party affiliation. The state won the decision, 7-2.
Editor Ryan Piersol can be reached at rpiersol@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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