Assailing what they called lenient state laws against sex offenders, state legislators threw their support behind a proposal to strengthen punishments against offenders at a press conference before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary meeting yesterday.

Massachusetts is one of eight states that has not passed a version of Jessica’s Law – approved in Florida in 2005 and adopted by many other states after a 9-year-old girl was raped and killed by a convicted sex offender – which imposes strict punishments on sex offenders. Former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, speaking in favor of the bill at the State House yesterday, said Massachusetts would attract sex offenders if the bill is not passed.

“This is like hanging out a welcome sign that says, ‘Come to Massachusetts,'” Healey said.

If passed, the bill will set stricter minimum sentences for sex offenders and establish zones around schools, daycare centers and other childcare facilities where they cannot live. The bill will also require sex offenders to be registered as such for their entire lives.

“When you think of our legal system, it is clearly a reflection of our values as a citizenry,” said Rep. Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury), who authored the bill. “Massachusetts is in the bottom 10 states when it comes to protecting our children against sexual violence.”

Polito said she filed a similar bill last year to create provisions that included mandatory tracking devices for offenders, but it received little support. She said she hopes to establish a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for the first offense of raping a child and 20 years to life if the child is under 12 years old.

The mandatory minimum sentences for child pornography crimes would also be raised, she said.

Sex offenders who rape children in Massachusetts face an average sentence of three to five years in prison, Polito said, and said opposition to the bill has stemmed from debate regarding the constitutionality of prohibiting sex offenders from living in specific zones.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said the bill is “a great step forward” in protecting children across the state.

“We have a duty to identify [sex offenders], to apprehend them, to prosecute them and to incarcerate them,” Cruz said.