A package of legislation that spun out of the murders of a pair of San Diego teens awaits the approval of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One bill is named for slain Poway High School senior Chelsea King. A series of bills has been promoted by the father of murdered Escondido teenager Amber Dubois. Both teens were murdered by a registered sex offender who had ties to Lake Elsinore.

Assembly Bill 1844, also known as Chelsea’s Law, was recently sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pledged to sign it.

The bill, which was approved on a 33-0 vote by the state Senate, would tighten sex offender parole guidelines and require lifelong tracking of certain sex offenders. It would also restrict sex offenders’ access to parks and increase parole terms for offenders who target children under age 14.

"AB 1844, Chelsea’s Law, is inspired by the spirit of Chelsea King, but is for all the children of California," said Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, who authored the legislation.

Before the vote, Fletcher told his colleagues the "status quo cannot continue," and he urged support for the legislation that he said would bring about "bold reforms" in how the state deals with violent sex offenders.

No one spoke in opposition to AB 1844, and several praised its passage.

"This is a tremendous step forward to combat violent predators, and a much needed change to California law," Senator Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said in a press release after its passage. "The only sadness today is the remembrance that two young women, 17- year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois, lost their lives before the Legislature was prompted to pass this critically-needed public safety protection."

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[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] were raped and killed by registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III. Gardner targeted King on Feb. 25 while she was jogging at a Rancho Bernardo park. Searchers found her body days later near Lake Hodges.

Gardner, 31, was sentenced in May to two life terms without parole for murdering and sexually assaulting King and for abducting, raping and fatally stabbing Dubois a year earlier.

Gardner was on parole for other sex crimes when he murdered the teens. Authorities have been accused of missing opportunities to return Gardner, who at times stayed in Lake Elsinore, to prison for parole violations that occurred before the murders.

The Assembly also approved a package of bills that were backed by Amber’s father and are intended to improve law enforcement handling of missing person cases.

The bills, authored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, and Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa, must be signed by Schwarzenegger before becoming law.

Assembly Bill 33 would establish guidelines, including a checklist, for handling missing persons investigations.

AB 34 would require missing person reports to be passed on to the Violent Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center databases within two hours.

And AB 1022 would create a missing person coordinator position within the California Department of Justice to help local law enforcement agencies find abducted children.

The legislation was championed by Moe Dubois, the teen’s father.

"We believe that the time is now to implement thoughtful legislation that will make a real difference in the way we recover missing children," Moe Dubois said in a statement. "We want to use our loss to bring about real change so that no family has to go through what we did."