READ FIRST TIME 03/07/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to fare cards for transportation facilities and services; and amending RCW 63.29.010 and 63.29.190.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 63.29.010 and 2004 c 168 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
     (1) "Department" means the department of revenue established under RCW 82.01.050.
     (2) "Apparent owner" means the person whose name appears on the records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder.
     (3) "Attorney general" means the chief legal officer of this state referred to in chapter 43.10 RCW.
     (4) "Banking organization" means a bank, trust company, savings bank, land bank, safe deposit company, private banker, or any organization defined by other law as a bank or banking organization.
     (5) "Business association" means a nonpublic corporation, joint stock company, investment company, business trust, partnership, or association for business purposes of two or more individuals, whether or not for profit, including a banking organization, financial organization, insurance company, or utility.
     (6) "Domicile" means the state of incorporation of a corporation and the state of the principal place of business of an unincorporated person.
     (7) "Fare card" means any pass or instrument, and value contained therein, purchased to utilize public transportation facilities or services. "Fare card" does not include "gift card" or "gift certificate" as those terms are defined in RCW 19.240.010.
     (8) "Financial organization" means a savings and loan association, cooperative bank, building and loan association, or credit union.
     (((8))) (9) "Gift certificate" has the same meaning as in RCW 19.240.010.
     (((9))) (10) "Holder" means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:
     (a) In possession of property belonging to another,
     (b) A trustee, or
     (c) Indebted to another on an obligation.
     (((10))) (11) "Insurance company" means an association, corporation, fraternal or mutual benefit organization, whether or not for profit, which is engaged in providing insurance coverage, including accident, burial, casualty, credit life, contract performance, dental, fidelity, fire, health, hospitalization, illness, life (including endowments and annuities), malpractice, marine, mortgage, surety, and wage protection insurance.
     (((11))) (12) "Intangible property" does not include contract claims which are unliquidated but does include:
     (a) Moneys, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, and income;
     (b) Credit balances, customer overpayments, gift certificates, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, and unidentified remittances, but does not include discounts which represent credit balances for which no consideration was given;
     (c) Stocks, and other intangible ownership interests in business associations;
     (d) Moneys deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons, and other securities, or to make distributions;
     (e) Liquidated amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies; and
     (f) Amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefits.
     (((12))) (13) "Last known address" means a description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient for the purpose of the delivery of mail.
     (((13))) (14) "Owner" means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter or his legal representative.
     (((14))) (15) "Person" means an individual, business association, state or other government, governmental subdivision or agency, public corporation, public authority, estate, trust, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity.
     (((15))) (16) "State" means any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, or any other area subject to the legislative authority of the United States.
     (((16))) (17) "Third party bank check" means any instrument drawn against a customer's account with a banking organization or financial organization on which the banking organization or financial organization is only secondarily liable.
     (((17))) (18) "Utility" means a person who owns or operates for public use any plant, equipment, property, franchise, or license for the transmission of communications or the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or furnishing of electricity, water, steam, or gas.

Sec. 2   RCW 63.29.190 and 1993 c 498 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a person who is required to file a report under RCW 63.29.170 shall pay or deliver to the department all abandoned property required to be reported at the time of filing the report.
     (2)(a) Counties, cities, towns, and other municipal and quasi-municipal corporations that hold funds representing warrants canceled pursuant to RCW 36.22.100 and 39.56.040, uncashed checks, excess proceeds from property tax and irrigation district foreclosures, and property tax overpayments or refunds may retain the funds until the owner notifies them and establishes ownership as provided in RCW 63.29.135. Counties, cities, towns, or other municipal or quasi-municipal corporations shall provide to the department a report of property it is holding pursuant to this section. The report shall identify the property and owner in the manner provided in RCW 63.29.170 and the department shall publish the information as provided in RCW 63.29.180.
     (b)(i) A public transportation authority that holds funds representing value on abandoned fare cards may retain the funds until the owner notifies the authority and establishes ownership as provided in RCW 63.29.135.
     (ii) For the purposes of this subsection (2)(b), "public transportation authority" means a municipality, as defined in RCW 35.58.272, a regional transit authority authorized by chapter 81.112 RCW, a public mass transportation system authorized by chapter 47.60 RCW, or a city transportation authority authorized by chapter 35.95A RCW.
     (3) The contents of a safe deposit box or other safekeeping repository presumed abandoned under RCW 63.29.160 and reported under RCW 63.29.170 shall be paid or delivered to the department within six months after the final date for filing the report required by RCW 63.29.170.
      If the owner establishes the right to receive the abandoned property to the satisfaction of the holder before the property has been delivered or it appears that for some other reason the presumption of abandonment is erroneous, the holder need not pay or deliver the property to the department, and the property will no longer be presumed abandoned. In that case, the holder shall file with the department a verified written explanation of the proof of claim or of the error in the presumption of abandonment.
     (4) The holder of an interest under RCW 63.29.100 shall deliver a duplicate certificate or other evidence of ownership if the holder does not issue certificates of ownership to the department. Upon delivery of a duplicate certificate to the department, the holder and any transfer agent, registrar, or other person acting for or on behalf of a holder in executing or delivering the duplicate certificate is relieved of all liability of every kind in accordance with RCW 63.29.200 to every person, including any person acquiring the original certificate or the duplicate of the certificate issued to the department, for any losses or damages resulting to any person by the issuance and delivery to the department of the duplicate certificate.