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September 2006Legislation of Interest to Lawyers: Legal News You Can Use
Although it was short, there was never a dull moment in the 2006 legislative session. The Legislature worked hard this session addressing many issues of interest to civil and criminal-defense lawyers. This article summarizes some of those bills, many of which were worked on in the House and Senate judiciary committees. Included in this summary are bills concerning healthcare liability, the dissolution of corporations, and increasing penalties for DUI. There is not enough space in this article to provide a full discussion of the context of each bill. However, all bills and bill reports from the 2006 legislative session may be obtained online at the legislative website, www.leg.wa.gov. In addition, a full description of all bills that passed the 2006 Legislature can be obtained by ordering the 2006 Final Legislative Report. To order, contact the Legislative Information Center at 360-786-7573. House Judiciary Committee staff can be contacted at 360-786-7122, or by sending inquiries to PO Box 40600, Olympia, WA 98504-0466. Civil Law 3SHB 1226: Adjusting application of campaign contribution limits Campaign contribution limits are extended to: (1) candidates for county office in a county that has more than 200,000 registered voters; (2) candidates for special-purpose district office in districts authorized to provide freight and passenger transfer and terminal facilities and that have more than 200,000 registered voters; and (3) candidates for judicial office. Contribution limits for candidates for county office may not exceed an aggregate of $700 per election from an individual, a union, a business, or a political action committee, and limits for candidates for special-purpose district office or judicial office may not exceed an aggregate of $1,400 per election from an individual, a union, a business, or a political action committee. Political party contribution limits also apply. Additionally, provisions related to campaign contribution disclosure by out-of-state political committees are changed. Out-of-state committees must report to the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) contributions of $2,500 or more made by out-of-state residents and corporations. Out-of-state political committees that report to the Federal Elections Commission are no longer exempted from reporting to the PDC. HB 1471: Changing provisions relating to authentication of documents Statutory provisions relating to seals and authentication of documents are updated. A seal required to authenticate a document need only be printed onto the document in some fashion to be considered valid, rather than the previous requirement that a seal be directly impressed onto the paper. Additionally, certified copies of official documents may be sent by fax or other electronic transmission and still be treated as genuine. SHB 1650: Modifying civil and traffic infraction provisions The requirement that a person who is cited for a traffic or other civil infraction or citation must sign the notice of infraction or citation is removed. In addition, the refusal to sign a notice of infraction or citation is decriminalized. The requirement that a person who is arrested for a traffic law violation punishable as a misdemeanor must sign a notice of written promise to appear in court in order to secure his or her release is removed. A person who receives a statement of his or her options and procedures for responding to a notice of civil infraction, and who thereafter fails to exercise one of those options in a timely manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ESHB 1850: Creating a retired volunteer medical worker license A retired volunteer medical worker license is established for individuals assisting during an emergency or disaster, and limited immunity from civil liability is provided for the acts or omissions of a license holder while assisting in an emergency or disaster. The secretary of health may issue a retired volunteer medical worker license to any person who: (1) held an active healthcare provider license within 10 years prior to applying for the license; (2) does not have any restrictions to practice due to violations of the Uniform Disciplinary Act; and (3) registers with a local emergency services or management organization affiliated with the Emergency Management Division of the Military Department. Retired volunteer medical workers must be supervised and may perform only the duties that were associated with their practice prior to retirement. They are required to maintain continuing competency requirements established by the Secretary of Health and are subject to the Uniform Disciplinary Act. An individual who holds a volunteer medical worker license and is registered as an emergency worker is considered a “covered volunteer.” Covered volunteers, their supervisors, healthcare facilities, property and vehicle owners, local organizations that register covered volunteers, and government entities are immune from liability for the acts or omissions of a covered volunteer while providing assistance or transportation during an emergency or disaster or during an approved training. The immunity applies when the covered volunteer was acting without compensation, within the scope of assigned duties, and under the direction of the organization with which he or she was registered. The immunity does not apply to acts of gross negligence or willful misconduct. 2SHB 2292: -Addressing healthcare liability reform A variety of changes are made relating to medical malpractice issues in the three areas designated patient safety, insurance industry reform, and healthcare liability reform. Patient Safety: In the area of patient safety, changes are made relating to a variety of healthcare practices and discipline. In a medical negligence action, a healthcare provider’s statement of fault, apology, sympathy, or potential remedial actions is not admissible as evidence if it was conveyed to the injured person or certain family members within 30 days of the act or omission, or the discovery of the act or omission, that is the basis for the claim. Immunity is provided to a healthcare provider who in good faith makes a report or provides evidence to a disciplining authority regarding another provider’s unprofessional conduct or lack of capacity to practice safely. An adverse-event reporting system is established. A medical facility must report serious “adverse events” to the Department of Health (DOH) within 48 hours and submit a subsequent report within 45 days. The reports must include a root-cause analysis of the adverse event and a corrective action plan. The DOH must investigate and evaluate the reports. The DOH must contract with an entity to develop a secure Internet-based adverse-event reporting system. The entity must analyze adverse-event reports and develop recommendations for changes in healthcare practices to reduce adverse events. A health-profession disciplining authority may consider prior findings of unprofessional conduct, stipulations to informal disposition, and the actions of other Washington or out-of-state disciplining authorities when imposing a sanction against a provider. Other patient-safety provisions include: increasing the public membership component of the Medical Quality Assurance Commission from four to six members; expanding the types of programs that may become coordinated quality-improvement programs; and requiring prescriptions for legend drugs to be either hand-printed, typewritten, or generated electronically. Insurance Industry Reform: A number of changes are made to the medical-malpractice-insurance industry, including requiring closed-claim reporting, changing requirements relating to underwriting standards and cancellation or non-renewal of policies, and requiring prior approval of rates and forms. Self-insurers and insuring entities that write medical-malpractice insurance are required to annually report medical-malpractice closed claims that are closed after January 1, 2008, to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC). If a claim is not covered by an insuring entity or self-insurer, the provider or facility must report the claim. The reports must contain specified data relating to the claim. A claimant or the claimant’s attorney in a medical-malpractice action that results in a final judgement, settlement, or disposition also must report to the OIC specified data relating to the claim. The OIC must use the data to prepare aggregate statistical summaries of closed claims and an annual report of closed claims and insurer financial reports. During the underwriting process, an insurer may consider the following factors only in combination with other substantive underwriting factors: (1) that an inquiry was made about the nature or scope of coverage; (2) that a notification was made about a potential claim that did not result in the filing of a claim; or (3) that a claim was closed without payment. An insurer must provide written notice to the insured describing the significant risk factors that led to an adverse action. The mandatory notice period for cancellation or non-renewal of medical-malpractice liability-insurance policies is increased from 45 days to 90 days. An insurer must deliver or mail to the insured a written notice of the cancellation or non-renewal that includes the actual reason for the action and the significant risk factors that led to the action. Medical-malpractice rate filings and form filings are changed to a prior approval system. An insurer, prior to issuing a medical malpractice policy, must file with the commissioner the policy rate and forms, which cannot become effective until 30 days after the filing. Healthcare Liability Reform: A variety of changes are made to the civil liability system as it applies to medical-negligence claims. Tolling of the statute of limitations during minority is eliminated. In addition, the eight-year statute of repose is reestablished. In an action involving a claim of a breach of the standard of care, the plaintiff must file a certificate of merit executed by a qualified expert at the time of commencing the action. The certificate of merit must state there is a reasonable probability that the defendant’s conduct did not meet the required standard of care. Failure to file a valid certificate of merit results in dismissal of the case. A voluntary arbitration system is established. The voluntary arbitration system may be used only where all parties have agreed to submit the dispute to voluntary arbitration once the suit is filed. The collateral source payment statute is amended to remove the restriction on presenting evidence of collateral source payments that come from insurance purchased by the plaintiff. The plaintiff, however, may introduce evidence of amounts paid to secure the right to the collateral source payments and evidence of an obligation to repay the compensation. Other healthcare liability provisions include: requiring a plaintiff to provide a defendant with 90 days’ prior notice of the intention to file a suit; requiring mandatory mediation of a medical-malpractice claim unless the claim is subject to either mandatory or voluntary arbitration; and establishing a provision regarding frivolous claims and defenses. HB 2366: Making certain communications between fire fighters and peer support group counselors privileged A testimonial privilege is created to protect communications made by a firefighter to a peer-support-group counselor while receiving counseling as the result of an incident in which the firefighter was involved while acting in his or her official capacity. This privilege applies to communications made to a counselor acting in his or her capacity as a peer-support-group counselor. The privilege does not apply if the counselor was an initial responding firefighter, a witness, or a party to the incident that prompted the counseling services to the firefighter. HB 2379: Disposing of nonprobate assets under will Where a beneficiary for a non-probate asset has been designated in a will that is later revoked by a new designation, which is also later revoked, the non-probate asset is treated as any other general asset of the owner’s estate, absent some other provision controlling the disposition of the asset. The executor of the estate may rely on information provided to him or her by a financial institution or other party with control of the non-probate asset when determining who is entitled to the asset. HB 2380: Changing the threshold age of minors under the uniform transfers to minors act The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) is amended to allow a transferor to elect to extend custodianship of property until a “minor” has reached age 25, instead of age 21. Such an extension must be elected by the transferor at the time of the initial nomination of the custodian of the property and is available only for transfers of property made on or after July 1, 2007. The statutory sample instrument for transfers under the UTMA is amended to include a warning statement about the possible federal gift tax consequences of extending a custodianship beyond the minor’s 21st birthday. Any custodianship forms made available by financial institutions or investment advisers must contain the same warning. The age at which a minor may independently exercise certain rights under a UTMA custodianship is raised from 14 to 18 years old. SHB 2576: Creating sexual-assault protection orders A new civil order is created for sexual-assault victims. Any person who is a victim of nonconsensual sexual conduct or nonconsensual sexual penetration, including a single incident, may file for a sexual-assault protection order. The court may not deny an order on the basis that no police report was made or because there is no proof of physical injury. If the respondent is represented by counsel, the court may appoint counsel for the petitioner. (Standardized forms are available on the Washington Courts website, www.courts.wa.gov/forms.) A more detailed summary of this legislation was provided in a June 2006 Bar News article A New Tool for Safety: Introducing Washington’s Sexual Assault Protection Order. EHB 2579: Requiring classroom-based civics assessments Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, students in grades 4, 5, 7, or 8, and 11 or 12 will complete a classroom-based assessment in civics. School districts must submit a verification report to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) documenting the districts’ use of a classroom-based assessment in civics. ESHB 2661: Expanding the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Commission The Law Against Discrimination is expanded to prohibit discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation. “Sexual orientation” is defined as heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender expression or identity. “Gender expression or identity” is defined as having or being perceived as having a gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth. Real-estate transactions that include the sharing, rental, or sublease of a dwelling unit when the dwelling unit is to be occupied by the owner or sublessor are exempted from the Law Against Discrimination. Further, the Law Against Discrimination is not to be construed to: require an employer to establish employment goals or quotas based on sexual orientation; modify or supersede state law relating to marriage; or endorse any specific belief, practice, behavior, or orientation. EHB 3074: Concerning default judgments against service members The Washington Service Members’ Civil Relief Act is amended to create a process for determining whether a defendant who does not make an appearance in a civil action or proceeding is a dependant of a service member in military service. In such an action, the plaintiff may serve on or mail via first-class mail to the defendant a written notice. The contents of the notice must be substantially the same as the notice set forth in the Act and must include provisions notifying the defendant of the rights available to a dependent of a service member in military service and the consequences of failing to notify the plaintiff of his or her status as a dependant of a service member in military service. For the purposes of entering a default judgment, a court or administrative tribunal may presume that an absent defendant is not a dependant of a service member in military service if the defendant fails to timely respond to a notice that is either served on the defendant at least 20 days, or mailed to the defendant at least 23 days, before an application for a default judgment. The stay of proceedings provision of the Act is amended to provide that the failure of a defendant who is protected under the Act to communicate or cooperate with counsel after having been contacted is not grounds to find that counsel has been unable to contact the defendant to determine whether there is a valid defense. HB 3139: Clarifying kinship caregivers’ consent for mental-health healthcare of minors The statutory provision regarding who may provide informed consent for healthcare for a minor who is legally incompetent to provide consent is amended to clarify that informed consent for medical care includes mental-health care. The mental-health statutes pertaining to minors are amended to permit a person who is authorized to give informed consent for medical care to authorize inpatient or outpatient mental-health care for a minor child under the age of 13. SB 6463: Allowing banks and savings banks to organize as limited liability companies A bank, savings bank, and the holding company of a bank or a savings bank may be organized as, or convert to, a limited liability company (LLC) upon approval by the director of the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). The director may approve a request if he or she finds that the bank or holding company meets specified criteria, including that the entity: will operate in a safe and sound manner; is perpetual in duration; is not subject to automatic termination, dissolution, or suspension upon the happening of some event; and does not hold an owner liable for the debts, liabilities, and obligations of the bank or holding company in excess of the amount of the owner’s investment. The exclusive authority to manage the bank or holding company must be vested in a board of directors that is elected or appointed by the owners and that is not required to include owners of the bank or holding company on the board. In addition, the board must possess adequate independence and authority to supervise the operation of the bank or holding company and must operate with substantially the same rights, powers, and duties as the board of directors of a corporation. A member’s interest in the bank or holding company may be transferred as if it were a share of stock in a corporation. If a member’s interest in the bank or holding company is transferred, the person who receives the interest obtains the entire rights associated with the interest in the bank or holding company. All voting members are liable and responsible as fiduciaries of the LLC to the same extent that directors of a bank or holding company organized as a corporation are liable or responsible to the DFI and applicable federal banking regulators. A bank or holding company organized as a limited liability company may not permit automatic dissolution or suspension, or automatic dissociation of all members of the LLC. If death, incapacity, or disqualification results in a complete dissociation of all members of the LLC, the LLC is deemed to remain in existence for the purpose of the DFI or a federal agency exercising the powers and authorities of a receiver. SSB 6572: Revising the unlawful detainer process under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act The notice to a tenant in an unlawful detainer action based on the failure to pay rent is amended to include a statement telling the tenant that he or she must notify the landlord in writing that rent has been paid in the court registry or that a statement regarding why rent is not owed has been submitted to the court. The tenant may serve notice to the landlord either by personal delivery, mail, fax, or other means authorized by court rules. SB 6596: Revising the dissolution of Washington corporations Various changes are made to Washington’s Business Corporations Act to help solve problems with interpretation and to help Washington remain consistent with the model code. Areas addressed include procedures for dissolution, creditors’ claims, and distribution of assets. Procedures for dissolution: A majority of initial directors or incorporators may authorize dissolution of the corporation if shares have not been issued. If not prohibited by the articles of incorporation, a majority of the board of directors may authorize dissolution of the corporation without approval of the shareholders if the corporation is not able to pay its liabilities as they become due, the corporation’s assets are less than the sum of its liabilities, and if 10 or more days have passed since the board gave notice to all shareholders of its intention to dissolve the corporation. Within 30 days of a voluntary dissolution, the corporation must publish notice of the dissolution and request that persons with claims present them to the corporation in a format prescribed in the initial published notice. The notice must also state that claims not filed in a timely manner may be barred. The corporation’s failure to publish its dissolution does not change the effective date of the dissolution. The corporation may give written notice of dissolution to the holders of claims known to the corporation, stating a general description of the claims or liabilities and stating that the claim may be barred if the claim holder does not respond. The written notice may also state that the claim may be rejected, in which case the claim holder will have a limited period of time in which to commence an action to enforce the claim. As a dissolved corporation winds up its affairs, it may dispose of properties and apply the proceeds to the payment of liabilities, or dispose of the properties with the applicable liens and security interests attached and within the applicable contractual restrictions. Once dissolved, the board of directors may determine that the payment of outstanding liabilities is provided for by an insurance policy. Once that determination is made, the board may consider the liabilities satisfied and may make a subsequent distribution of remaining assets to the shareholders. If the board of directors turns over control of the dissolved corporation to a court or receiver, the directors are relieved from any further duties of liquidating the corporation’s assets and satisfying the liabilities. A dissolved corporation may seek supervision by a superior court of its winding up and liquidation. The shareholders or directors need not be made parties to the proceeding unless relief is sought against them. A dissolved corporation may apply to a superior court for a determination that its proposed satisfaction of a claim or liability is reasonable. The corporation must give notice to the claim holder of such a proceeding. The superior court’s determination of the amount and form of satisfaction of a claim satisfies the corporation’s obligation with respect to that particular claim and further claims on the same facts are barred. Claims against the corporation: The holder of an unpaid claim may begin a proceeding against the corporation to collect on the claim. The proceeding may include a petition to collect assets that have already been distributed to shareholders, and those shareholders may become parties to the proceeding. The claim holder may not proceed directly against the directors, officers, or shareholders, except in limited circumstances. Claims that are barred by any of the circumstances in this act cannot be enforced against the corporation. Survival provisions are clarified to make clear that claims arising after filing for dissolution can be asserted against the corporation, and the survival period is extended to three rather than two years. Provisions for distribution of assets: Assets of a corporation transferred to a liquidity trust or other successor are not considered to be distributed for purposes of measuring their legality, until the trust or other successor distributes the assets to the shareholders. A shareholder is personally liable for distributions he or she received while knowing the distribution, or a portion thereof, was made in violation of WBCA’s provisions for distribution, or made in violation of the corporation’s articles of incorporation. The shareholder in violation is entitled to contribution from every other shareholder also in violation. A proceeding against the shareholder for the violation must begin within two years of the effective date of the distribution, or within three years after the date of dissolution of the corporation, whichever is earlier. The board of directors of a corporation may dedicate the corporation’s assets to the repayment of its creditors by way of assignment for the benefit of creditors, or receivership. SSB 6597: Modifying trusts and estates, Numerous changes are made to the trust and estate laws. Many of the changes enable Washington trusts to take advantage of federal tax provisions, or protect Washington trusts against inadvertently missing or losing favorable federal tax treatment. Washington Principal and Income Act of 2002: The Principal and Income Act is expressly made applicable to trusts that are converted to unitrusts. The four percent payout for a unitrust is retained as the default amount, but if the trust instrument allows it, a trustee may select an annual payout of between three and five percent. A unitrust trustee is allowed to allocate, reasonably and impartially, certain capital gains as income in order to achieve favorable federal-tax treatment. Marital deduction: Unless a contrary intent is expressed, a gift is presumed to be intended to take advantage of any available state or federal tax exemption, exclusion, deduction, or credit. For instance, a gift to a spouse is presumed to be intended to qualify for the marital deduction. These presumptions may be overcome only by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. The trust-gift distribution law is amended to explicitly allow Washington trusts to achieve favorable estate-tax treatment under the state law as well as the federal estate tax law and to expressly cover marital gifts whether they are lifetime, testamentary, outright, or in trust. The trust-gift distribution law is also amended to be consistent with federal law with respect to allowable periods of required spousal survival beyond the death of a spouse making a gift that qualifies for the marital deduction. Spendthrift trusts: The lapse of a beneficiary’s power of withdrawal does not result in the property over which the power could have been exercised being considered as having been placed in the trust by the beneficiary. Therefore, such a lapse does not result in the unintended creation of a self-settled trust, the assets of which would be subject to creditors’ claims. Small estates: The maximum value of a small estate that qualifies for disposition by affidavit instead of probate is raised from $60,000 to $100,000. Criminal Law HB 2328: Changing provisions relating to the insanity defense A criminal defendant’s privilege against answering questions during an insanity-defense mental examination is removed. A defendant who refuses to answer questions or to participate in a sanity evaluation may not present his or her own mental expert’s testimony at trial. These changes apply to mental examinations performed on or after the effective date of the act, June 7, 2006. HB 2409: Changing provisions relating to sex and kidnapping offender registration Sex and kidnapping offenders must provide their complete residential addresses when registering. The time within which such offenders coming from another state must register is decreased from 30 days to three business days. When a sex or kidnapping offender moves or becomes homeless, he or she must send written notice to the county sheriff. Knowing noncompliance with the registration statute is a crime. HB 3252: Prohibiting offenders who enter Alford pleas from receiving a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative An offender entering a plea of guilty may not receive a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative unless the offender admits to the underlying offense. HB 3277: Authorizing special verdict for specified sex offenses against children and vulnerable adults The minimum sentences for child molestation in the first degree, rape of a child in the first degree, and rape of a child in the second degree is increased when a special allegation has been made and proven that the offense was predatory. Minimum sentences for indecent liberties with forcible compulsion, kidnapping in the first degree with sexual motivation, rape in the first degree, and rape in the second degree are also increased when a special allegation has been made and proven that the victim was under the age of 15 at the time of the offense. Minimum sentences for indecent liberties with forcible compulsion, kidnapping in the first degree with sexual motivation, rape in the first degree, and rape in the second degree with forcible compulsion are increased when a special allegation has been made and proven that the victim was a person with a development disability, a mentally disordered person, or a frail elder or vulnerable adult. HB 3317: Changing provisions relating to driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug A conviction for drunk driving (DUI) is a class C felony if the offender: (1) has four or more prior DUI-related offenses within 10 years; or (2) has ever been convicted of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol or drugs or vehicular assault while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Felony DUI is ranked as a Level V offense under the Sentencing Reform Act and a Category B+ offense under the Juvenile Justice Act. A felony DUI offender is not eligible for the first-time-offender waiver program, the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, or work ethic camp. The court must order the offender to undergo treatment during incarceration. The offender is liable for the costs of treatment unless the court finds the offender is indigent and no third-party insurance is available. The license suspension and ignition interlock provisions under the misdemeanor DUI laws apply. The bill takes effect July 1, 2007. E2SSB 6239: Changing provisions relating to controlled substances Numerous changes were made regarding criminal sentencing for drug offenses, the authority of local health officers in the context of meth sites, and other miscellaneous areas related to drug use. Sentencing: Sentence enhancements for ranked drug offenses are to be served consecutively. Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative offenders will serve 12 months or up to the half point of a sentence, whichever is greater. When the court determines that chemical dependency contributed to the felony offense, the offender, not just drug offenders, must receive a chemical dependency screening report prior to sentencing. Authority of local health officers: When they have probable cause, local health officers (LHOs), in consultation with law enforcement officers, are granted the authority to seek a warrant to conduct inspections of property. LHOs are granted the authority to issue emergency, 72-hour orders when they determine the order is necessary to protect the public health, safety, or the environment. In addition to condemning or demolishing contaminated property, city or county officials may take additional actions such as prohibiting the use, occupancy, or removal of property, or ordering its decontamination. These actions are appealable; however, restrictions on use, occupancy, or removal of property are enforceable while the appeal is pending. City and county personnel, and their cleanup contractors, must comply with the local health officer’s orders. It is a misdemeanor for anyone to enter property after an order declaring it to be unfit has been issued. In addition to decontamination, the owners or authorized contractors are required to submit written work plans for demolition or disposal activities. Property owners are responsible for: 1) the costs of any property testing which may be required to demonstrate the presence or absence of hazardous chemicals; and 2) the costs of the property’s decontamination, demolition, and disposal expenses, as well as costs incurred by the local health officer. Within 30 days of issuing an order of unfitness, the local health officer must establish a time period in which decontamination, demolition, and disposal will be completed and fines or legal actions may be taken upon failure to meet the deadline. Miscellaneous: The definition of “neglect” of vulnerable adults and children is amended to include exposure to meth or ingredients of meth when there is intent to manufacture meth. The definition of “drug court” is clarified to include juvenile drug courts. ESHB 2848: Protecting confidentiality of domestic-violence information Communications between a domestic-violence victim and a domestic-violence advocate are privileged. A “domestic-violence advocate” is an employee or supervised volunteer from a community-based domestic-violence program or human-services program that provides information, advocacy, counseling, crisis intervention, emergency shelter, or support to victims of domestic violence and who is not employed by or under the direct supervision of law enforcement, a prosecutor’s office, or child protective services of the DSHS. An advocate may disclose confidential communications without the victim’s consent if failure to do so is likely to result in a clear, imminent risk of serious physical injury or death. The privilege does not relieve a domestic-violence advocate from the mandatory reporting requirements for child abuse. Domestic-violence advocates are immune from liability for good-faith disclosure. In an action arising out of disclosure, the advocate’s good faith is presumed. Unless required by court order, a domestic-violence program and those assisting in delivering services, or any agent, employee, or volunteer of a domestic-violence program, must not disclose information about a recipient of domestic-violence services without the recipient’s signed authorization. The recipient’s authorization must have a reasonable time limit on the duration. If the authorization does not have a specific expiration date, the authorization expires 90 days after the date it was signed. If disclosure is required by statute or court order, the domestic-violence program must make reasonable attempts to notify the recipient of the disclosure. If personally identifying information is to be disclosed, the domestic-violence program must take steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of the persons affected by the disclosure. SSB 6806: Establishing the Domestic Violence Hope Card Study Committee The Domestic Violence Hope Card Study Committee is created. The Committee is directed to review the practicality of requiring the statewide distribution of a wallet-sized card to a victim of domestic violence that: (a) documents the existence and contents of a protection order and provides identifying information about the respondent, including a photograph; and (b) contains contact information regarding the courts, domestic-violence services, and law enforcement. The Committee will also review: the information statutorily required to be provided to domestic-violence victims and whether they are receiving the information; the implementation costs of such a statewide program; the confidentiality, privacy, and safety concerns that may be implicated; and how non-state funds could be used to pay for program implementation. Family Law HB 3048: Changing the effective date of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) In 2002, the Legislature adopted amendments to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act that were proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, but with an effective date of six months following the date that Congress required states to adopt the UIFSA amendments. HB 3048 removes this contingent effective date and provides that the 2002 UIFSA amendments become effective on January 1, 2007. ESSB 6635: Changing provisions relating to adoption The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) must provide training regarding federal laws related to multi-ethnic and inter-ethnic adoption to employees involved in making adoption placements. The DSHS will, in collaboration with stakeholders, review and study adoption fees and possible barriers to the adoption of children out of foster care, and accreditation standards for adoption agencies. The Department of Health, in cooperation with the DSHS, must develop recommendations regarding an efficient process for the collection, compilation, and publication of adoption statistical data, including data regarding fees, costs, and expenses paid by adoptive parents. The attorney general is authorized to bring a suit under the Consumer Protection Act for advertising by unlicensed or unauthorized entities regarding adoption or placement of a child. An advertising entity that attempts to verify that a person or entity providing adoption services has complied with the law does not commit an unlawful trade practice for accepting adoption advertising in good faith.
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