Legislators were back in committee this week hearing a number of bills from the opposite chamber. With only a few weeks before the next legislative cutoff date, bills need to be heard and voted out of committee in a relatively short time frame.
House committee hears Bar-request bill
Substitute Senate Bill 5012 was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, March 14. Prime-sponsored by Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-43, SSB 5012 creates a nonjudicial process for amending irrevocable trusts.
Michael Carrico, representing WSBA’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Section, testified in support of the bill and explained how this proposal will create a cost-effective way for Washingtonians to update outdated trust documents in the future.
SSB 5012 is joint request legislation by the Washington State Bar Association and Uniform Law Commission.
Creditor Debtor Rights, Business Law testify before House committee
Also heard in the House Judiciary Committee that day were two other bills supported by WSBA Sections.
SB 5040, sponsored by Sen. Pedersen, makes technical corrections to the Uniform Business Organizations Code to clarify recent statutory changes. Brian Hulse, representing WSBA’s Business Law Section, testified in support of the bill and explained the importance of consistency within the code.
SSB 5085, also sponsored by Sen. Pedersen, creates the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. Bruce Borrus, representing WSBA’s Creditor Debtor Rights Section, testified in support of the bill and explained the significance of removing the term “fraudulent” and replacing with “voidable” among other aspects of the proposal.
Both bills must be voted out of committee before the March 29 cutoff deadline.
Civics education bill gets public hearing
The House Education Committee heard 2SSB 5236 on Tuesday, March 14. Prime-sponsored by Sen. Hans Zeiger, R-25 creates the civic learning public-private partnership.
Supported by WSBA, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Council on Public Legal Education and many others, this bill creates an advisory council to ensure students in grades K-12 are given an adequate civics education to successfully engage in government.
This bill must be voted out of committee before the March 29 cutoff deadline.
Alison Phelan. Alison joined the WSBA as Legislative Affairs manager in 2015 after spending three years as legislative director for the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges. Her career also includes government relations work for state agencies and the Washington state Senate. She has a degree in political science and communication from the University of Washington. She can be reached at alisonp@wsba.org.
