HOUSE BILL REPORT

SHB 1091

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.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 14 members: Representatives Jinkins, Chair; Thai, Vice Chair; Irwin, Ranking Minority Member; Dufault, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Goodman, Graham, Kilduff, Kirby, Klippert, Orwall, Shea, Valdez, Walen and Ybarra.

Background:

Inaccuracies in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) may occur in a variety of ways. Sections may be repealed, recodified, or amended in a way that changes their internal numbering, and references to these sections or subsections in other provisions of the code then become incorrect. A bill may change a particular term and references to these terms in other provisions of the code become inaccurate, or drafting and typographical errors may be made in the drafting process.

In addition, two or more bills may amend the same section of the RCW without reference to each other. These are called "double" or "multiple" amendments. Usually there are no substantive conflicts between the multiple amendments, and the amendments may be merged, but sometimes merging multiple amendments may require restructuring of a section.

The Office of the Code Reviser, under the direction of the Statute Law Committee, is authorized to correct certain "manifest errors" in the statutes. These errors may include such things as mistakes in spelling, or obvious clerical or typographical errors. The Code Reviser is also authorized to recommend to the Legislature changes regarding deficiencies, conflicts, or obsolete provisions in the RCW.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

Technical corrections are made to various provisions of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). These changes include:

updating a reference regarding registration of the Washington state tartan to reflect 2008 Scottish legislation creating a new Register of Tartans;
reenacting several RCW sections to merge double amendments created when sections were amended without reference to other amendments made in the same year or without cognizance of other amendments made in previous years;
updating subsection citations that became inaccurate due to prior amendments that revised the numbering of the referenced subsection;
correcting apparently incorrect section or subsection references and apparently incorrect terms;
removing unnecessary subsection references for defined terms;
adding definitions for "department" and "secretary" to chapter 74.14B RCW to clarify that these references mean the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Secretary of the DCYF; and
amending multiple sections in chapter 29A.92 to reference "this chapter" rather than the session law citation.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) This is request legislation from the Statute Law Committee (SLC). The SLC oversees the Code Reviser's Office (CRO), which does an amazing job drafting bills and codifying the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). They are nationally renowned and the work they do is often taken for granted. The SLC approves recommendations from the CRO to make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the RCW. The staff of the CRO are very diligent and they work hard to find inaccuracies in our laws. The most interesting change relates to the Washington state tartan, which was established in 1991 and has a green background with a pattern of colors, called a sett, that includes stripes of blue, white, yellow, red, and black. The law requires the Washington tartan to be registered with the Scottish Tartan Society, but 2008 Scottish legislation changed that to the Register of Tartans.

(Opposed) None.