Washington State

House of Representatives

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BILL

ANALYSIS

Judiciary Committee

HB 2359

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.

Title: An act relating to updating obsolete provisions and making technical corrections.

Brief Description: Updating obsolete provisions and making technical corrections.

Sponsors: Representatives Goodman and Jinkins; by request of Statute Law Committee.

Brief Summary of Bill

  • Amends form year designations throughout the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) by removing references to a specific century and instead providing a general instruction to insert the year as follows: "(year)."

  • Removes obsolete language in various sections of the RCW and corrects technical errors.

Hearing Date: 1/19/16

Staff: Omeara Harrington (786-7136).

Background:

Duties of the Statute Law Committee.

The primary responsibilities of the Statute Law Committee (Committee) and the Code Reviser (Reviser) are to periodically codify, index, and publish the RCW and to revise, correct, and harmonize the statutes by means of administrative or suggested legislative action. The Committee, or the Reviser with the approval of the Committee, must periodically make written recommendations to the Legislature concerning deficiencies, conflicts, or obsolete provisions in the RCW.

Form Year Designations.

Throughout the RCW are provisions directing that certain forms, in substantially the form specified in the particular statute, be filed or used. A few examples of such forms include:

Generally, somewhere in the form there is a space where the reference to a date is to be inserted. In many of the statutory forms, in the space for the date the century is specified, such as "19__" and "20__."

Summary of Bill:

A variety of forms throughout the RCW are amended to remove references to the twentieth century. Rather than specifying "19__" in the space where the date is to be inserted, the form language provides a general instruction to insert the year is follows: "(year)."

Certain obsolete and expired provisions are removed from the RCW. Other corrections are made to resolve conflicts in expiration dates and to harmonize multiple amendments to different versions of the same RCW section.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.