The final weeks of the Washington state legislative session are marked by long nights on the chamber floors as legislators vote on bills from the opposite house before the April 17 cutoff and push to pass legislation by April 28, the last day of the scheduled regular session.
WSBA’s request legislation—Senate Bill (SB) 5003—was a beneficiary of that process, passing the House of Representatives on April 15 and moving on to the governor for signature. During most sessions, WSBA supports legislative proposals initiated by WSBA Sections and approved by the Board of Governors.
The bill, which was proposed by the WSBA Business Law Section’s Corporate Act Revision Committee, seeks to address preemptive rights, cumulative voting, and approval of asset sales under the Washington Business Corporation Act to better align with the Model Business Corporation Act and other leading corporate law jurisdictions, such as Delaware.
A member of the Corporate Act Revision Committee testified in favor of the bill at public hearings in the Senate and the House. This now marks at least the seventh consecutive year in which a Business Law Section legislative proposal has cleared both houses. To learn more about how the section’s committee has impacted business law legislation, read “How a WSBA Section Committee Can Change the Rules of the Game.” Congratulations to the Corporate Act Revision Committee and the section for yet another successful legislative effort!
Other bills of interest to WSBA entities include:
- ESSB 5079: Now signed into law by the governor, this bill enacts the Native American Voting Rights Act of Washington, and was supported by the WSBA Civil Rights Law Section.
- SB 5083: Would allow certain records, documents, proceedings, and published laws of federally recognized Indian tribes to be admitted as evidence in Washington state courts. The WSBA Litigation Section came out in support of the proposed legislation and the bill has been delivered to the governor.
- ESHB 1138: A bill concerning armed forces exceptions for giving notice of termination of a tenancy that has been delivered to the governor. This bill is supported by the WSBA Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP) Section.
We will provide further updates on NWSidebar and other WSBA communication platforms as the session winds down. If you have comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Editor’s note: ESHB 1788, the bill to repeal the majority of the State Bar Act, passed the Senate on April 10. As of this writing it had not yet gone back to the House to decide whether it will concur with the Senate amendments.
Sanjay Walvekar.
Sanjay is the Outreach and Legislative Affairs Manager. He joined the WSBA staff in 2017, after several years working in local and statewide politics. He earned his BA and JD from the University of Washington. He can be reached at sanjayw@wsba.org.
