Committee reports technical corrections bill out with amendment

The House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee on Feb. 12 voted to report substitute House Bill 1281 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation after adopting an amendment that corrects cross-references in the bill.

Staff told the committee that the bill is a routine statute-law cleanup. "House Bill 1281 is the bill from the statute law committee that makes technical corrections to the Revised Code of Washington," D. B. Adams, staff to the committee, said in the hearing.

Committee members said they generally viewed the measure as technical but noted a few points of concern. "We generally agree that this is a good cleanup bill," Ranking Member Representative Walsh said, adding that some members would register "very gentle nays" while they continued to check certain updated terms for professions referenced in the bill.

The committee adopted Amendment ADAM 151, moved by Representative Goodman, which staff said fixes three cross-reference errors identified after the bill was drafted. "This is the annual technical corrections bill, and this amendment is a technical correction to the technical corrections bill," Representative Goodman said during discussion.

After adopting the amendment, Vice Chair Farvar moved that the adopted amendment be incorporated into substitute House Bill 1281 and that the substitute bill be reported out of committee with a due-pass recommendation. The committee then took a roll call. Substitute House Bill 1281 was reported out with 11 ayes and 2 nays. The roll call recorded ayes from Representatives Taylor, Farvar, Abel, Burnett, Entenmann, Goodman, Jacobson, Peterson, Salahuddin, Tai and Wallen; Representatives Walsh and Graham voted nay, both recorded "nay without recommendation." Staff announced "11 ayes, 2 nays, and 0 excused or absent votes."

No substantive policy change or new program was adopted; staff and members characterized the bill as correcting manifest errors in statute text such as subsection cross-references and spelling. Committee discussion focused on confirming that changes are technical and do not alter substantive rights or duties.

The committee record shows the amendment adoption and the committee report as the formal outcomes of the item. No further committee action was recorded during the Feb. 12 meeting; the bill will proceed according to the Legislature's calendar.

Ending: The committee concluded its action on House Bill 1281 after the roll-call vote; staff will transmit the substitute bill with the committee's due-pass recommendation.