[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to foreign social referral service agencies; adding a new chapter to Title 18 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. FINDINGS AND INTENT. The legislature finds that businesses that match foreign women for marriage to men in the United States promote and advertise women as commodities and perpetuate sexist and racist stereotypes of foreign women. The legislature further finds that foreign women entering the United States and the state of Washington as brides through businesses that match foreign women to men in the United States often suffer emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their husbands. These women are less likely than citizens of the United States to report this abuse because of a number of factors, including lack of knowledge of their rights under the laws of the state of Washington and laws of the United States, fear of deportation, and isolation from society because of a lack of English language skills and unfamiliarity with the culture.

It is therefore the intent of the legislature to provide protection to these women by regulating businesses that match foreign women to men in the United States by requiring these businesses to provide: To foreign women, information about their rights under the laws, including the right to be free from emotional and physical abuse and the resources available to them to combat such abuse; and to men in the United States who are seeking social referral services with foreign women, information on the culture and customs of the foreign women.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Client" means a person seeking foreign social referral services through a foreign social referral service agency.

(2) "Department" means the department of licensing.

(3) "Director" means the director of licensing.

(4) "Foreign social referral service agency" means a person or business entity that provides domestic clients with social referral service matches to foreign clients for compensation, such as computer dating agencies, video dating agencies, and mail dating agencies, but does not include newspapers offering personal advertisement services.

(5) "Foreign social referral services" means those services primarily intended to introduce or match domestic persons with foreign persons for social, recreational, or romantic encounters.

(6) "Person" means an individual, firm, association, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other business entity.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. DIRECTOR--POWERS AND DUTIES. The director has the following powers and duties:

(1) To set all license and renewal fees in accordance with RCW 43.24.086;

(2) To adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter;

(3) To investigate alleged violations of this chapter and consumer complaints involving the provision of foreign social referral services;

(4) To issue subpoenas, statements of charges, statements of intent, final orders, stipulated agreements, and other legal remedies necessary to enforce this chapter;

(5) To conduct all disciplinary proceedings, impose sanctions, and assess fines for violations of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter;

(6) To establish minimum criteria for the cultural diversity education and training courses required by this chapter; and

(7) To employ administrative, investigative, and clerical staff as needed to implement this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. LICENSE REQUIRED. A person or business may not offer foreign social referral services in the state of Washington without having first obtained a foreign social referral service license issued by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE. An application for license must be made to the department on forms provided by the department and must contain that information as the department reasonably requires. An application for license must be accompanied by a license fee established by the department under RCW 43.24.086.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. LICENSE ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL. Upon receipt of an application for a license and the license fee, the department must issue a license if the applicant meets the requirements established under this chapter. A license issued under this chapter must expire one year from the date of issuance. A licensee may renew a license by filing a renewal application with the department on forms provided by the department thirty days before the license expiration date and paying a license renewal fee in an amount determined by the department under RCW 43.24.086.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE. An applicant must meet the following minimum requirements to obtain a foreign social referral service license:

(1) Be at least eighteen years of age;

(2) Be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(3) Be of good moral character;

(4) Pay the required application fee; and

(5) Comply with this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. REQUIREMENTS. A foreign social referral service agency shall:

(1) Require a client to provide information on the client's employment, age, health status, and marital history;

(2) Require a client to provide information on a conviction or deferred prosecution for a domestic violence offense, as defined in RCW 10.99.020, and information on a restraining order or no-contact order issued in connection with a domestic violence charge;

(3) Provide to a client, upon the client's request, the employment, age, health status, and marital history of another client with whom the client has been matched or selected;

(4) Provide to a client, upon the client's request, information on another client with whom the client is matched or selected regarding a conviction or deferred prosecution for a domestic violence offense, as defined in RCW 10.99.020, and information regarding a restraining order or no-contact order issued in connection with a domestic violence charge;

(5) Inform a client that the client may request the information listed in subsections (1) through (4) of this section;

(6) Provide a client who is a resident of a foreign country with information regarding the client's legal rights in the United States, including applicable law relating to immigration and domestic violence, and information regarding access to and sources of counseling, social and ethnic organizations, and battered women's shelters and aid organizations; and

(7) Require that a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident who is matched to a resident of a foreign country complete a cultural diversity education and training course in the culture and customs of the foreign client.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. DISCIPLINARY ACTION. An applicant or licensee under this chapter is subject to disciplinary action by the director if the applicant or licensee has:

(1) Engaged in the provision of social referral services without first obtaining the license required under this chapter;

(2) Made a material misstatement or omission in an original application or renewal;

(3) Engaged in false or misleading advertising;

(4) Aided and abetted unlicensed activity;

(5) Not provided a record as required by this chapter;

(6) Not cooperated with the department in supplying records or assisting in an investigation or disciplinary procedure; or

(7) Violated this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. VIOLATIONS--PENALTIES. If the director finds, following a hearing, that an applicant or licensee has violated this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter, the director may impose one or more of the following penalties:

(1) Denial of a license or renewal;

(2) Revocation or suspension of a license;

(3) A fine not to exceed five hundred dollars;

(4) Issuance of a reprimand or letter of censure; or

(5) Placement of the licensee on probation for a fixed period of time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. APPEALS. A person aggrieved by the refusal of the director to issue a license, the refusal to renew a license, the revocation or suspension of a license, or the application of a penalty provided under this chapter has the right to appeal the decision of the director to the superior court of the county in which the person maintains the person's business. The appeal must be filed within thirty days of the director's decision.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. PROHIBITED CONDUCT. A foreign social referral service agency may not condition payment, compensation, or other benefit to a client on marriage between its clients.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. CAPTIONS NOT LAW. Captions used in this chapter do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 1 through 14 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 18 RCW.