FINAL BILL REPORT

SB 5045

PARTIAL VETO

C 336 L 11

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Making technical corrections to gender-based terms.

Sponsors: Senators Kohl-Welles, Conway, Holmquist Newbry, Keiser, Kline, King and Chase; by request of Statute Law Committee.

Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection

House Committee on Judiciary

Background: Since 1983 state law requires that all statutes be written in gender-neutral terms, unless a specification of gender is intended. In 2007 the Legislature passed ESB 5063, an act relating to removing gender references. The act changed gender-specific terms to gender-neutral terms in several chapters of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), including those chapters dealing with firefighters, police officers, bondspersons, and material suppliers. The Legislature directed the Code Reviser, in consultation with the Statute Law Committee, to develop and implement a plan to correct gender-specific references in the entire RCW. The Code Reviser must make annual legislative recommendations to make the RCW completely gender-neutral by June 30, 2015.

Summary: Gender-specific terms and references are made gender-neutral in several Titles of the RCW. For example, references to man or men are changed to person or persons, councilman is changed to councilmember, and chairman is changed to chair. Titles relating to local and state government and insurance are included and are made gender-neutral throughout. Other code sections are included, such as sections that contain business regulations, to modify specific references to man or men.

Votes on Final Passage:

Partial Veto Summary: Vetoes language in the bill that incorrectly amends the phrase "his widow" to "his or her widow." Vetoes section due to conflicting amendments in another bill already signed into law in the 2011 session.