CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

HOUSE BILL 2592

Chapter 56, Laws of 2010

61st Legislature
2010 Regular Session



TOW TRUCK OPERATORS--INCENTIVE PROGRAMS--PROHIBITION



EFFECTIVE DATE: 06/10/10

Passed by the House February 10, 2010
  Yeas 95   Nays 2

FRANK CHOPP
________________________________________    
Speaker of the House of Representatives


Passed by the Senate March 4, 2010
  Yeas 48   Nays 0


BRAD OWEN
________________________________________    
President of the Senate
 
CERTIFICATE

I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 2592 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth.


BARBARA BAKER
________________________________________    
Chief Clerk
Approved March 15, 2010, 2:47 p.m.








CHRISTINE GREGOIRE
________________________________________    
Governor of the State of Washington
 
FILED
March 15, 2010







Secretary of State
State of Washington


_____________________________________________ 

HOUSE BILL 2592
_____________________________________________

Passed Legislature - 2010 Regular Session
State of Washington61st Legislature2010 Regular Session

By Representatives Hunt and Hasegawa

Prefiled 01/08/10. Read first time 01/11/10.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.



     AN ACT Relating to prohibiting incentive towing programs for private property impounds; and amending RCW 46.55.035.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 46.55.035 and 1992 c 18 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) No registered tow truck operator may:
     (a) Except as authorized under RCW 46.55.037, ask for or receive any compensation, gratuity, reward, or promise thereof from a person having control or possession of private property or from an agent of the person authorized to sign an impound authorization, for or on account of the impounding of a vehicle;
     (b) Be beneficially interested in a contract, agreement, or understanding that may be made by or between a person having control or possession of private property and an agent of the person authorized to sign an impound authorization;
     (c) Have a financial, equitable, or ownership interest in a firm, partnership, association, or corporation whose functions include acting as an agent or a representative of a property owner for the purpose of signing impound authorizations;
     (d)(i) Enter into any contract or agreement or offer any program that provides an incentive to a person authorized to order a private impound under RCW 46.55.080 that is related to the authorization of an impound or a number of impounds.
     (ii) The incentives prohibited by this section may be either monetary or nonmonetary things of value, such as gifts or prizes which are contingent on, or as a reward for the authorization of impounds.
     (iii) Gifts of de minimus value that are given in the ordinary course of business and are not tied to any specific decision to authorize an impound or impounds are not prohibited. Permitted gifts would include promotional items such as pens, calendars, cups, and other items labeled with the registered tow truck operator's business information, holiday gifts such as cookies or candy, flowers for occasions such as illness or death, or the cost of a single meal for one person when discussing business.
     (iv) The provision of the actual physical signs required by this chapter to be posted on private property and the labor and materials for placing them is not a violation of this section
.
     (2) This section does not prohibit the registered tow truck operator from collecting the costs of towing, storage, or other services rendered during the course of towing, removing, impounding, or storing of an impounded vehicle as provided by RCW 46.55.120.
     (3) A violation of this section is a gross misdemeanor.


         Passed by the House February 10, 2010.
         Passed by the Senate March 4, 2010.
         Approved by the Governor March 15, 2010.
         Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 15, 2010.