WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE
Legislative Digest No. 28

SIXTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE
Thursday, February 17, 201139th Day - 2011 Regular Session

SENATE
SB 5809SB 5810SB 5811SB 5812SB 5813SB 5814SB 5815
SB 5816SB 5817SB 5818SB 5819SJM 8007
HOUSE
HB 1972HB 1973HB 1974HB 1975HB 1976HB 1977HB 1978
HB 1979HB 1980HB 1981HB 1982HJR 4220

This publication includes digest and history for bills, joint memorials, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, initiatives, and substitutes. Engrossed measures may be republished if the amendment makes a substantive change.

Electronic versions of Legislative Digests are available at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/digests.aspx?year=2011.


House Bills

HB 1972

by Representatives Armstrong and Condotta


Concerning services provided by television reception improvement districts.


Includes public safety emergency radio communications systems in the services provided by television reception improvement districts.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Technology, Energy & Communications.

HB 1973

by Representative Sullivan; by request of Governor Gregoire


Creating a student-focused state-level education governance system.


Creates the department of education as an executive branch agency.

Creates the P-20 education council to advise the secretary of the department of education on broad policy issues affecting the state's education system.

Houses the superintendent of public instruction within the department of education, or transfers the powers and duties of the superintendent of public instruction to the department of education, depending on the outcome of the constitutional amendment eliminating the superintendent of public instruction as a statewide elected official.

Transfers the powers, duties, and functions of the state school for the blind, the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss, the office of the education ombudsman, and the professional educator standards board to the department of education.

Abolishes the department of early learning, the state board of education, the state board for community and technical colleges, and the higher education coordinating board and transfers their powers, duties, and functions to the department of education.

Requires the governor to appoint a transition team to plan the technical and practical steps required to bring the current state-level education agencies and structures into a new department.

Requires the public employment relations commission to review the existing collective bargaining units within the department of early learning to determine if these units would be appropriate units within the department of education.

Requires the code reviser to prepare legislation for the 2012 session to correct obsolete references resulting from the enactment of the act.

Provides contingent effective dates.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Education.

HB 1974

by Representative Sullivan


Streamlining state governance of education.


Modifies duties of the quality education council with regard to recommendations and an implementation timeline for further streamlining of education governance, including restructuring state agencies, boards, and offices.

Abolishes the professional educator standards board and transfers its powers, duties, and functions to the superintendent of public instruction.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Education.

HB 1975

by Representatives Finn, Bailey, Kelley, and McCune


Authorizing a statewide raffle to benefit veterans and their families.


Authorizes the state lottery to offer a statewide raffle to benefit veterans and their families.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Affairs.

HB 1976

by Representatives Shea, Taylor, McCune, Orcutt, Condotta, Angel, Buys, Klippert, Schmick, Anderson, Kristiansen, Warnick, Overstreet, and Bailey


Limiting enrollment in certain health care and human service programs to United States citizens and qualified aliens.


Limits enrollment in taxpayer-funded health care and human service programs to individuals who are citizens of the United States or meet the definition of a qualified alien.

Prohibits state resources from being used: (1) For investigating the eligibility of an applicant who has not submitted satisfactory documentation; or

(2) To purchase satisfactory documentation for an applicant.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Affairs.

HB 1977

by Representatives Rivers, Taylor, Zeiger, Dahlquist, McCune, and Kelley


Restricting sex offenders' access to schools.


Creates the crime of criminal trespass on school property by a sex offender.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

HB 1978

by Representatives Liias, Zeiger, Billig, Armstrong, Asay, Wilcox, Moscoso, Rivers, Ryu, Jinkins, Dunshee, Fitzgibbon, Stanford, Ladenburg, Rolfes, Moeller, Roberts, and Reykdal


Concerning railroad safety.


Requires the utilities and transportation commission to develop rules to improve railroad safety and operations.

Creates an advisory committee on railroad safety within the utilities and transportation commission to advise the commission as it develops the rules.

Provides a June 30, 2013, expiration for the committee.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Transportation.

HB 1979

by Representatives Billig, Armstrong, Clibborn, Liias, and Fitzgibbon


Extending the expiration of the agency council on coordinated transportation.


Extends the termination of the agency council on coordinated transportation.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Transportation.

HB 1980

by Representatives Seaquist, Kagi, Haigh, Reykdal, Frockt, Kenney, and Hunt


Establishing a process to make strategic investments in education.


Establishes a deliberative process for identifying incremental, strategic investments to enhance and improve public education, as well as providing the funding necessary to support the investments through the modification and elimination of current tax preferences.

Creates the strategic investments in education account.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Ways & Means.

HB 1981

by Representatives Bailey and Carlyle


Addressing public employee postretirement employment and higher education employees' annuities and retirement income plans.


Revises the retirement and annuity programs of the higher education institutions for future participants to reflect changes that have already occurred in state pension plans.

Gives certain newly hired employees more options for retirement plans.

Reduces the expanded postretirement employment provisions for members of certain retirement systems.

Eliminates postretirement employment exceptions that existed for annuity or retirement income plan-covered positions that have been the subject of abuse.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Ways & Means.

HB 1982

by Representative Kretz


Regarding providing quality nursing home care.


Encourages maximization of financial resources eligible and available for nursing home residents by establishing a quality incentive payment system through a temporary nursing home licensing fee surcharge that: (1) Will ensure better quality nursing facility care for all residents; and

(2) May be used to secure additional federal matching funds under federally prescribed programs available through the state medicaid plan.

Establishes the nursing facility quality assurance trust fund.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness.


House Joint Resolutions

HJR 4220

by Representative Sullivan; by request of Governor Gregoire


Eliminating the office of the superintendent of public instruction.


Proposes an amendment to the state Constitution eliminating the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Education.


Senate Bills

SB 5809

by Senator Rockefeller


Prohibiting the use of tradable evidence of nonpower attributes as a declared resource for electric utility fuel mix disclosures.


Prohibits a renewable energy credit or other tradable evidence of nonpower attributes from being used as a declared resource.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Environment, Water & Energy.
Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment and Water & Energy at 1:30 PM.

SB 5810

by Senators Kline, Keiser, Conway, and Kohl-Welles


Concerning residential mortgage loan servicers.


Revises the definition of "individual servicing a mortgage loan," for purposes of the consumer loan act, to include a person acting on behalf of a federally chartered or licensed financial institution or its affiliate.

Expands the duties of a residential mortgage loan servicer.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.

SB 5811

by Senator Morton


Regarding the allowance of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment in public water systems in certain circumstances.


Authorizes a public water system to allow the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment in lieu of centralized treatment where it can be demonstrated that centralized treatment is not immediately economically feasible.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Environment, Water & Energy.

SB 5812

by Senators Chase and Prentice


Studying Washington's fiscal resources, structure, and needs.


Requires the institute for public policy to facilitate and staff a group of Washington citizens to become the committee on Washington's finances to determine the best ways to identify and fund the necessary services for Washington's citizens.

Expires November 30, 2012.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Ways & Means.

SB 5813

by Senators Kohl-Welles, Hargrove, Regala, and Shin


Increasing fee assessments for prostitution crimes.


Increases fee assessments for prostitution crimes.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Human Services & Corrections.
Feb 17Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections at 10:00 AM. (Subject to change)

SB 5814

by Senators Fraser, Honeyford, Shin, Swecker, Haugen, and King


Extending current use valuation to the residential property of small farms that is integral to the use of classified land for agricultural purposes.


Provides that farms under twenty acres meeting certain income requirements are eligible for current use valuation of the land underlying the residential structures.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Agriculture & Rural Economic Development.
Feb 17Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Rural Economic Development at 10:00 AM. (Subject to change)

SB 5815

by Senators Fraser and Swecker


Concerning rates and charges established by local boards of health to finance on-site sewage programs.


Authorizes local boards of health to, by ordinance or resolution, establish reasonable rates and charges to finance a program implementing certain on-site program management plans or local on-site sewage system management plans.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Environment, Water & Energy.

SB 5816

by Senators Chase, Kohl-Welles, Rockefeller, Nelson, Keiser, Kline, Conway, Prentice, and Fraser


Terminating certain tax preferences to provide funding for maintaining basic health program enrollment.


Provides funding for maintaining basic health program enrollment by terminating certain tax preferences.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Ways & Means.

SB 5817

by Senator Prentice


Extending the expiration of the agency council on coordinated transportation.


Delays the termination of the agency council on coordinated transportation.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Transportation.

SB 5818

by Senator Litzow


Requiring certain long-term care facilities to report incidents of death caused by health care-associated infections to the department of social and health services.


Requires boarding homes, nursing homes, and adult family homes, within fifteen days of a certificate of death being filed, to file a notification with the department of social and health services when the death is partially or fully caused by a health care-associated infection acquired by the resident during his or her stay at the boarding home, nursing home, or adult family home.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Health & Long-Term Care.

SB 5819

by Senator Litzow


Concerning guardian and limited guardian duties.


Expands reporting requirements of guardians and limited guardians with regard to the status of incapacitated persons.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Judiciary.


Senate Joint Memorials

SJM 8007

by Senators Kline, Conway, and Kohl-Welles


Requesting Congress to amend the United States Constitution that provides corporations are not persons under the laws of the United States or any of its jurisdictional subdivisions.


Urges Congress to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution for the states' consideration which provides that corporations are not persons under the laws of the United States or any of its jurisdictional subdivisions.
-- 2011 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 16First reading, referred to Judiciary.