S-1211.1

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5381

BySenate State Government & Elections (originally sponsored by Senators Braun, Pedersen, Boehnke, Conway, Dhingra, Hunt, Keiser, King, Kuderer, Nguyen, Randall, Saldaña, Warnick, C. Wilson, and J. Wilson)

AN ACT Relating to letters of recommendation or congratulations sent by legislators; and adding a new section to chapter 42.52 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 42.52 RCW to read as follows:

It is not a violation of this chapter for a legislator to send by mail or email:

(1) A letter of recommendation on behalf of an individual constituent if the constituent has requested the letter;

(2) A congratulatory letter to an individual constituent who has received an award or honor of extraordinary distinction of a type that is sufficiently infrequent to be noteworthy to a reasonable person including, but not limited to: (a) An international or national award such as the Nobel prize or the Pulitzer prize; (b) a state award such as Washington scholar; (c) an Eagle Scout award; or (d) a Medal of Honor; or

(3) Except when under a mailing restriction as provided in RCW 42.52.185, a congratulatory letter to an individual constituent who has received an honor or award if the individual or a third party on the individual's behalf has requested the letter.

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