| Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research |
BILL ANALYSIS |
| Finance Committee | |
HB 1381
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
Brief Description: Making changes of a technical nature to tax laws.
Sponsors: Representatives Hasegawa, Orcutt, McIntire and Condotta; by request of Department of Revenue.
Brief Summary of Bill |
|
Hearing Date: 1/30/07
Staff: Jeff Mitchell (786-7139).
Background:
Inaccuracies in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) may occur in a variety of ways.
Typographical, drafting, structural, or grammatical errors may be made in bill drafts and floor
amendments. Sections may be repealed, recodified, or amended in a way that changes their
internal numbering, creating incorrect cross-references. A bill may change a particular term or an
entity may be renamed or abolished, and references to these terms or entities in other provisions
of the code become inaccurate.
A bill may have contingent effective or expiration dates. Contingent dates lead to a multiplicity
of sections, which causes confusion for readers and additional bill drafting complexity.
In a given legislative session, two or more bills may amend the same section of the code without
reference to each other. This is called "double" or "multiple" amendments. Merging multiple
amendments may sometimes require the restructuring of a section for grammatical or other
reasons.
Some provisions of the code become obsolete with the passage of time. The Washington
Legislature may provide a tax reduction, for example, that operates only for a specified number
of years or expires on a specified date.
Summary of Bill:
Technical corrections are made to various provisions related to property and excise taxes. These
changes include:
(1) correcting drafting errors, structural problems such as RCW strings that are not in numeric order, inaccurate references to terms that have been changed, and inaccurate cross-references;
(2) adding or modifying language to clarify statutory provisions;
(3) reenacting sections of code to merge multiple amendments; and
(4) repealing several obsolete provisions of code.
In addition, a contingency clause in chapter 67, Laws of 2002, making the act null and void if the
federal mobile telecommunications sourcing act is invalidated by a court, is repealed to eliminate
the multiplicity of sections it has generated. The likelihood of court action is extremely remote.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed, except section 5 which takes effect July 1, 2011.