Meetings - 2000

• September 22, 2000
• October 27, 2000
• December 8, 2000

September 22, 2000

Present: Atwood, Aylward, Baldwin, Brink, Cary, Coghlan, Francis, Hanbey, Harkins, Harris, Hayner, Holte, Karademos, Law, Lim, Littlewood, Matthews, Radosevich, Revelle, Schmalz, Schwartz, Snyder.

Excused: Eiler, Lawrence, Riley.

Absent: Corning, Federow, Lowy, Mitchell, Parks, Walton.

Staff: Fattorini, Stone, Brinkmeyer, Michels

Guests: Holly Towle, Alex Modelski, and Bill Taylor, Cyberspace Committee; Sally Gustafson, Attorney General's Office; Hal Hodgins, KCBA Legislative Committee; Victor Moore, Office of Administrator of the Courts; Rick Goldfarb, Business Law Section.

The first meeting of the 2000 Legislative Committee of the Washington State Bar Association was called to order at 1:10 p.m., Friday, September 22 at the SeaTac Marriott Hotel by Chairperson Keith Baldwin. He gave a short presentation to the group regarding committee procedures.

Introductions. Each of the members introduced themselves, telling the committee about their practice, bar activities, and legislative experience.

Article 9 Revisions. Rick Goldfarb from the Business Law Section presented the Section's draft regarding revisions to the new Article 9 passed by the Legislature last year. The Committee discussed the revisions, which were largely corrective, rather than substantive. A motion was made to recommend that the Association sponsor the legislation and the Board of Governors introduce the draft as a bill. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

UCITA. Holly Towle, Bill Taylor, and Alex Modelski made a presentation on behalf of the Cyberspace Committee of the Business Law Section regarding the committee's draft of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. The draft is intended to govern sales of information, including software, paralleling the Uniform Commercial Code Article 2, governing the sale of goods.

Following the presentation by the Cyberspace Committee, Sally Gustafson from the Attorney General's Office addressed the group regarding the concerns that the Attorney General's Office has with the draft. These concerns are generally in the area of consumer protection.

Members of the Legislative Committee asked questions of the presenters and discussed the bill draft at length. Peter Harris raised a concern that the Consumer Protection Committee of WSBA had not reviewed the bill. After discussion, Pete Karademos made a motion to defer consideration of the draft until the October 27 meeting, so that the Consumer Protection Committee and other interested persons would have a chance to look at the bill and report back to the Committee. The motion was seconded by Terry Schmalz and passed unaninimously.

Lobbyists' Report. John Fattorini gave a report to the Committee regarding the upcoming session of the legislature. He reminded the group that at the next meeting on October 27, each of the bar-related groups in the state would give a presentation to the Committee regarding their legislative agenda.

BAR-PAC. Vice-chair Michele Radosevich gave a report to the group on BAR-PAC's recent fundraising efforts.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m..

Minutes respectfully submitted by Michele Radosevich, Vice Chair.

October 27, 2000
Legislative Committee Minutes
Special Meeting with Legal Community Stakeholders

Present: Aylward, Baldwin, Brink, Cary, Corning, Federow, Francis, Hanbey, Harkins, Harris, Karademos, Law, Lawrence, Lim, Littlewood, Lowey, Matthews, Mitchell, Radosevich, Schmalz and Schwartz.

Excused: Atwood, Coghlan, Hayner, Holte and Revelle

Absent: Eller, Parke, Riley, Snyder and Walton

Staff: Fattorini, Stone and Brinkmeyer

Larry Shannon, Washington State Trial Lawyers;

Teresa Mathis, Executive Director, and Walter Palmer, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;

Hon. James Murphy, President, Superior Court Judges Association;

Victor Moore, Office of the Administrator for the Courts;

Elaine Rose, Governmental Relations, Office of the Attorney General;

Fred Johnson, President, and Tom McBride, lobbyist, Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys;

Melanie Stewart, District & Municipal Court Judges Association;

Hal Hodgins and Paula Littlewood, Co-Chairs, KCBA Legislation Committee;

Arnie Whedbee, Columbia Legal Services;

Debbie Wilke, Deputy Director, Washington Association of County Officials (also representing the Washington Association of County Clerks;

Richard Bartholomew, WSBA Family Law Section;

Jean Holcomb, Librarian, King County Law Library;

Pam Crone, Northwest Women's Law Center;

Sandi Swarthout, Equal Justice Coalition;

Christie Hedman, Washington Defender Association; and

Barbara Baker, representing the House Democratic Caucus

A special meeting of the 2000 Legislative Committee of the Washington State Bar Association was called to order at 9:30 a.m., Friday, October 27, 2000, by Chairperson Keith Baldwin. The meeting was held at the offices of the Washington State Bar Association in Seattle, Washington.

After introductions of all persons present and a brief discussion by the Chairperson of the goals and purposes of the WSBA Legislative Committee, presentations by each of the organizations represented were invited. Each organization was invited to present its legislative agenda and any specific legislative proposals expected to be introduced in the 2001 Legislative Session.

Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. Larry Shannon identified WSTLA's priority as being "nuts and bolts" items, not sweeping changes. He expressed continuing concern for access to the courts for civil litigants. Expected WSTLA initiatives are in mandatory arbitration (to raise the limit to $50,000 as a local option) with provisions regarding offers of compromise; survivor statutes, with the goal of reconciling them and modernizing them (including the proposed bill by Jan Eric Peterson to extend wrongful death statutes to minor siblings of a decedent); and workers' compensation (review of employability issues).

Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Walter Palmer expressed two areas of ACDL concern: extending the current felony records expungement provisions to include certain misdemeanors (there is currently no provision in the law for expungement of misdemeanors); and maintaining the privacy of criminal investigative files. The misdemeanor expungement proposal has the support of WAPA, WA Defender Ass'n and the District and Municipal Court Judges Ass'n.

Superior Court Judges Association. Judge Murphy referenced the substantial effort that has gone into the Project 2001 Report, and specifically highlighted the issue of trial court coordination. Project 2001 is a joint project designed to review and offer alternatives to the merger of all levels of the Washington trial courts as proposed by Justice Talmadge.

Office of the Administrator for the Courts. Victor Moore also referred to the Project 2001 Report, which may be reviewed on the OAC web site, www.courts.wa.gov

Office of the Attorney General. Elaine Rose reported that the AG is concerned about identity theft and introduced a bill last year, SB 6513, dealing with that subject. There are jurisdictional issues that may require specific legislation. The AG is working with the prosecutor and defender associations as well as the police chiefs to draft appropriate responses to this growing problem.

The AG is also reviewing a youth violence bill promoted by the National Association of Attorneys General. It would address not schoolyard bullying but rather violent outbursts by youthful offenders. The AG is also revisiting a prior legislative proposal (SB 6382) which would create an exception to the hearsay rule for elderly adults in connection with the crime of criminal mistreatment. With respect to consumer privacy issues, the AG will put its energy behind federal legislation. The AG has opposed UCITA pending hearings on that legislation currently in progress at the FTC.

Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. Fred Johnson reported that WAPA's legislative proposals will be in the following areas: sealing misdemeanor convictions for juveniles comparable to current provisions for sealing felony convictions; identity theft; and timing of access to criminal records during a criminal investigation.

Municipal and District Court Judges Association. Melanie Stewart reported that the MDCJA is working to support legislation to expunge misdemeanor records after a certain period, subject to certain exceptions; providing for courts to hold hearings and trials outside their normal jurisdictions in the event of an emergency or civil disturbance such as the WTO demonstrations of 1999; increasing civil jury fees to $125 for District Courts; and providing for extension of periods for payment of court-ordered obligations, with local control over fees and garnishments.

King County Bar Association Legislation Committee. Hal Hodgins reported that the KCBA Committee works in parallel with the WSBA Legislative Committee, shares some members and is willing to offer resources and cooperation. It has no specific legislative agenda, but reviews legislation and makes recommendations to the KCBA Board of Trustees for public positions.

Columbia Legal Services. Arnie Whedbee reported that CLS continues to be concerned with state policy that sets one income cap in order to qualify for Meidcaid assistance for a person in a nursing home or other institution, but a higher income cap in order to qualify for those same services offered in the client's home.

Washington Association of County Officials. Debbie Wilke expressed concern by WACO for privacy issues in connection with family law files in the custody of county clerks. They are a fertile source of Social Security numbers for identity theft and fraud. There are also issues of concern with county clerk liability with respect to privacy. WACO desires to see filing fees increased for warrants for unpaid taxes, from $5 to $15, and from $2 to $20 for disclaimers of interest.

WSBA Family Law Section. Rick Bartholomew reported on the family court privacy issues referenced by other speakers. The Section would also like to see legislation or court rules regarding third party and grandparent visitation in marital dissolution cases.

King County Law Library. Jean Holcomb reported that funding issues still occupy the time and attention of KCLL and other county law libraries statewide. Law libraries provide access to the law for citizen users as well as lawyers. Filing fees (which help fund law libraries) have remained unchanged since 1992. The libraries would like to see a local option filing fee surcharge and introduced such legislation with the WSBA's support last year. Efforts will be made once again this year to pass such legislation.

Northwest Women's Law Center. Pam Crone reported that NWLC continues to be concerned for the rights of women in connection with family, employment, civil rights, education, and reproductive rights and health. The Center has a legislative committee of volunteers. The Center is particularly supportive of the privacy rights of family court litigants, is concerned about rights of third party visitation in marital dissolution cases, supports health insurance coverage for contraceptives, and wishes to see changes in employment law and practice permitting employer-paid family leave to caregivers for sick children, parents or newborn babies, up to a period of 5 weeks.

Washington Defender Association. Christie Hedman expressed the legislative priorities of WDA as being expungement of criminal case files in misdemeanor cases; funding of dependency cases brought against state institutions; and issues raised by the Project 2001 Report.

Equal Justice Coalition. Sandi Swarthout reported that the EJC will be working on securing adequate funding for civil legal services.

At the end of the presentations, the Chairperson thanked all participants for their involvement in the legislative process and invited them to submit legislative proposals to the Association for review by appropriate Sections and Committees, and ultimately for review by the Legislative Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.

December 8, 2000
Legislative Committee Minutes

Present: Atwood, Aylward, Baldwin, Brink, Cary, Coghlan, Francis, Harkins, Harris, Holte, Karademos, Law, Lawrence, Lim, Littlewood, Radosevich, Revelle, Settle, Snyder.

Excused: Corning, Hanbey, Hayner, Matthews, Riley, Schmalz

Absent: Eller, Federow, Lowy, Mitchell, Schwartz, Walton.

Staff: Fattorini, Stone, Froslie.

Guests: Victor Moore, Office of the Administrator for the Court; Holly Towle, Cyberspace Committee; Wayne Blair, Project 2001; Kirk Johns, Court Improvement Committee; Martin Snodgrass, Creditor-Debtor Section; Laurie Miller, Washington Association of Law Libraries.

The third meeting of the 2000 Legislative Committee of the Washington State Bar Association was called to order at 12:30 p.m., Friday, December 8, at the SeaTac Radisson by Chairperson Keith Baldwin.

Project 2001. Wayne Blair presented the background on Project 2001, its recommendations for court improvement, and the WSBA Board of Governors response. According to Wayne, the Board of Governors was seeking more input as to the proposal for portability of judges. He explained that this recommendation was put forth by the Project as a more efficient alternative to merger of the court systems. Kirk Johns explained the details of the proposal and some alternatives proposed by the Court Improvement Committee. The members of the Legislative Committee then discussed the proposal and asked questions of Wayne and Kirk. They thanked us for our input.

Exemptions under RCW 6.15. Martin Snodgrass presented the recommendations of the Creditor-Debtor Section for legislation to increase the amount of the exemptions from execution under RCW 6.15.010 too bring them in harmony with the exemptions specified under federal bankruptcy law. According to Martin, these liberalizations represented a consensus among both debtor and creditor attorneys. Geoff Revelle moved that the Committee recommend sponsorship of this legislation to the Board of Governors. Frank Atwood seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

Law Library Funding. Laurie Miller, the Pierce County Law Librarian, presented the bill that the Washington Association of Law Libraries will be sponsoring in the upcoming session of the Legislature to allow a local option surcharge on the filing fee to support law libraries. Pete Francis moved and Frank Atwood seconded that the Committee recommend that the Board of Governors support the Law Libraries' bill. The motion passed unanimously.

TEDRA. Doug Lawrence presented the recommendations from the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section for clarifying amendments to TEDRA (Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act). Michele Radosevich moved that the Committee recommend to the Board of Governors that the Association sponsor the proposed bill. Pete Francis seconded. After discussion, a minor amendment to subsection (8) of the bill was agreed to as a friendly amendment to the motion. Dan Brink asked that the section consider requiring a signed certification from the special representatives. Doug Lawrence agreed to take that suggestion back to the section. The motion passed unanimously.

Trusts for the Benefit of Animals. Doug Lawrence presented another recommendation from the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section for a bill to allow trusts for the benefit of animals. Klaus Snyder moved and Kim Couglan seconded that the Committee recommend that the Board of Governors take no position on the proposed legislation. After lengthy discussion, the motion was defeated on a 7-10 vote. Frank Atwood moved to recommend that the Board of Governors support the legislation, if the section could find another sponsor. The motion was seconded by Pat Aylward and passed 11-5, with 2 abstentions.

UCITA. Holly Towle from the Cyberspace Committee of the Business Law Section gave a brief update on the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). According to Holly, the bill will not be introduced this session until after the cut-off. The hope is that it will be studied in the interim, so that something can happen in the following legislative session. John Cary moved that the Committee recommend to the Board of Governors that WSBA:

1. Supports in principle the concept of uniform legislation governing computer information transactions, but that it does not take a position on UCITA at this time.

2. Supports the establishment of a group to study UCITA, leaving to WSBA's lobbyists the exact composition of the study group.

3. Brings to the Legislature's attention the work product of WSBA's sections that have studied UCITA in depth and recommends that the study group draw on the expertise and resources of these sections.

Pete Francis seconded the motion. Geoff Revelle offered a minor change, which was agreed to as a friendly amendment, bringing the motion into the form shown above. The motion passed 16-1, with 1 abstention.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:58 p.m..

Minutes respectfully submitted by Michele Radosevich, Vice Chair.