The 2020 legislative session is now past the halfway mark. As we move closer to the expected March 12 session end date, here’s an update on the WSBA’s legislative priorities:
- As predicted, after HB 1788 was pulled for a potential floor vote in the House, the bill failed to receive a vote by the Feb. 19 cutoff and will not advance this session.
- The WSBA’s request legislation this year, SB 6037, passed the Senate and is now in the House. The bill originates from the Corporate Act Revision Committee within the WSBA Business Law Section and aims to modernize the Business Corporations Act. If passed, this legislation would, among other things, require that the boards of directors of public companies be comprised of at least 25 percent self-identified women.
- WSBA sections continue to provide input to legislators on a variety of bills this session, including SB 6053 (establishing wage liens), SB 6287 (concerning guardianships and conservatorships), and HB 2793 (vacating criminal records).
- On the national level, the WSBA supported two American Bar Association (ABA) resolutions at the ABA 2020 Midyear meeting in February, both of which were adopted:
- Resolution 10A to ensure accurate data collection and inter-jurisdictional protocols pertaining to missing indigenous women.
- Resolution 103B urging Congress to enact legislation to clarify and ensure that it shall not constitute a federal crime for qualified lawyers to provide legal advice and services to clients regarding marijuana-related activities that are in compliance with state, territorial, and tribal law.
We will provide further updates from this legislative session on NWSidebar and other WSBA communication channels. If you have comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Sanjay Walvekar. Sanjay is the WSBA 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.
