Your story "Identity theft and prevention," (April 19) clearly illustrates this pervasive and pernicious crime. Last year, the Legislature continued to build on its record of consumer protection by passing a number of key measures giving valuable tools to consumers in the fight against identity theft. One of them gave Washingtonians the right to request a credit freeze after their financial information has been breached, or, worse, if they have become victims of I.D. theft. But it wasn't enough. It's why I worked with Attorney General Rob McKenna in introducing Senate Bill 6665 in the 2006 session. Although the bill did not pass, it would have let all consumers freeze their own credit reports. This is especially important if a consumer fears that his or her financial information has been breached and wants to begin to repair the damage.

The bill would give consumers additional protections while that freeze is in place by adding identity theft status to the factors that cannot be used to deny insurance coverage. It would make it easier for consumers to get a credit freeze by requiring consumer credit reporting agencies to provide easily available information on the Internet and a toll-free number. And to give us a picture of how big the problem is, it would require the Office of the Attorney General to collect data on how many Washingtonians use the credit freeze.

With ID theft crimes on the increase, we all need to be vigilant about keeping our financial information safe. Next session, I will re-introduce my bill giving consumers helpful and easy-to-use tools to protect their financial information and prevent ID theft.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles 36th Legislative District