FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 1091

C 64 L 19

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Making technical corrections and removing obsolete language from the Revised Code of Washington pursuant to RCW 1.08.025.

Sponsors: House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representative Goodman; by request of Statute Law Committee).

House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

Background:

Inaccuracies in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) may occur in a variety of ways. Sections may be repealed, recodified, or amended in a way that changes their internal numbering, and references to these sections or subsections in other provisions of the code then become incorrect. A bill may change a particular term and references to these terms in other provisions of the code become inaccurate, or drafting and typographical errors may be made in the drafting process.

In addition, two or more bills may amend the same section of the RCW without reference to each other. These are called "double" or "multiple" amendments. Usually there are no substantive conflicts between the multiple amendments, and the amendments may be merged, but sometimes merging multiple amendments may require restructuring of a section.

The Office of the Code Reviser, under the direction of the Statute Law Committee, is authorized to correct certain "manifest errors" in the statutes. These errors may include such things as mistakes in spelling, or obvious clerical or typographical errors. The Code Reviser is also authorized to recommend to the Legislature changes regarding deficiencies, conflicts, or obsolete provisions in the RCW.

Summary:

Technical corrections are made to various provisions of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). These changes include:

• updating a reference regarding registration of the Washington state tartan to reflect 2008 Scottish legislation creating a new Register of Tartans;

• reenacting several RCW sections to merge double amendments created when sections were amended without reference to other amendments made in the same year or without cognizance of other amendments made in previous years;

• updating subsection citations that became inaccurate due to prior amendments that revised the numbering of the referenced subsection;

• correcting apparently incorrect section or subsection references and apparently incorrect terms;

• removing unnecessary subsection references for defined terms;

• adding definitions for "department" and "secretary" to chapter 74.14B RCW to clarify that these references mean the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Secretary of the DCYF; and

• amending multiple sections in chapter 29A.92 to reference "this chapter" rather than the session law citation.

Votes on Final Passage: