A bill in Washington state is creating a stir about some questionable things that might occur due to the way it’s written.

ESHB 2384 is a traffic bill, dealing mostly with things like putting speed cameras in construction zones. It originated in Washington’s House of Representatives. As our readers will remember from civics class, it had to be approved by the State Senate after passing in the State House. It’s there that the traffic safety bill took an interesting turn. Its first stop in the Senate was in the Senate Transportation Committee. The chairman of that committee, Senator Marko Liias, rewrote it.

Statutes are complex things. Single phrases or words can often change the meaning of a law. Charges have been dropped and cases have made their way to the Supreme Court over single words or provisions in statutes. The people who craft bills know this, and it’s not uncommon for bills to change drastically during their journey into law. Sometimes, a bill may even criminalize something that has little to do with the law’s main thrust.

“I dang well know the difference between something that enhances public safety and something that creates a revenue stream.”

Liias’ rewrite of the speed camera law seems to have done just that. Language he included in his rewrite said that speeding infractions could be issued to any type of law enforcement vehicle, fire engine or ambulance. The final rewrite that was ultimately approved by the Senate removed mention of fire engines and ambulances, but police vehicles were left in.

It’s pretty much a universal truth in the United States that law enforcement officers must comply with traffic laws; an officer can’t speed just because they’re late to meet their buddy at the Waffle House. But the Washington bill says that officers in these zones can be ticketed for speeding with their lights and siren activated. That means that a police officer en route to an emergency call with blaring sirens and flashing blue lights could be ticketed if they don’t slow to the posted speed limit in view of one of these cameras.

Senator Phil Fortunato was concerned with this particular provision of the bill, but said he’d been assured it wasn’t an issue: “Sen. Liias has assured me that since the police are the ones reviewing the cameras, they will be able to determine if they will give themselves a ticket or not.”

Under other language in the bill, though, this may not be true anymore. Washington law prior to this bill states that a sworn police officer has to issue tickets for any violations caught on speed cameras. The language of the new bill, however, expands that to include “any trained and authorized civilian employee” (although this is supposed to be at the discretion of the local police department).

Liias claims that the bill is intended to save lives by reducing speeds, and that the new civilian employee provision addresses the officer shortage in many of Washington’s large urban police agencies. Critics — including Senator Jeff Holy, a 22-year veteran of law enforcement — say the measure is all about generating dollars through increased ticketing.

“I dang well know the difference between something that enhances public safety and something that creates a revenue stream,” Holy said. “This doesn’t enhance public safety.”

After passing the Senate, the rewritten bill was returned to the House, passed on a party-line vote and sent to Governor Jay Inslee for approval.