| |
New laws take effect in
Washington
By Rep. Dan Kristiansen
It's hard to believe it's
been more than three months since the 2009 legislative session ended
April 26. I am reminded because hundreds of new laws recently became
effective from the action taken by the Legislature earlier this year.
Washington's constitution
says "No act, law, or bill subject to referendum shall take effect until
ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was
enacted." Some laws, however, are written to become effective later.
Some may actually take effect immediately after the governor signs them, if the legislation contains an emergency clause.
Legislation necessary to implement the budget normally contains an
emergency clause so it can become effective at the beginning of the
fiscal year, which is July 1.
Nearly 500 new laws have
become effective in the past month. Here's a sampling of several:
-
Newspaper tax
reductions: Many newspapers in Washington are struggling to stay
in business as classified and subscription revenues decline. House
Bill 2122 reduces the Business and Occupation (B&0) tax rate for
newspapers from 0.484 percent to 0.2904 percent. While I voted in
favor of this measure, I would have also preferred the B&O tax
reduction be extended to other small businesses that are also
struggling to stay afloat in our state.
-
College textbook
advanced notification: With tuition rates rising as much as 14
percent this year through legislation I opposed, it will be tougher
for students and parents to afford college. Some small relief comes
through House Bill 1025, which requires college-affiliated
bookstores to provide a four-week advance notice of course material
requirements. This gives students the ability to seek better prices
of books online and time to order those materials so they can arrive
before classes begin.
-
Protecting records
of home-schooled students: More than 16,000 children are
home-schooled in Washington. A quirk in the public records law
protects public school students' information, however, any requestor
could obtain personal information about home-schooled students. As a
result, home-schooling families have been receiving unsolicited
contacts from merchants and academics. House Bill 1288, which I
co-sponsored, provides the same privacy protections to home-schooled
kids as their public school counterparts.
-
Protecting students
from sexual misconduct in schools. House Bill 1835 protects
students from sexual misconduct by teachers and school employees up
to age 21. The new law is in response to a ruling earlier this year
by the Washington Court of Appeals, which said that state law does
not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old
students.
Other new laws: give
vehicle owners additional recourse under the state's "Lemon Law" (HB
1215); provide protections against care-giver child abuse (Erik's Law -
HB 2279); allow the state to accept voluntary contributions for purchase
of Washington state flags for military personnel (HB 1121); and make it
easier for paramedics and other emergency health care workers to
transition into a nursing career (HB 1808).
Even with these new laws,
hundreds of bills also died, many that could have been very bad for our
state and which I fought against, including expensive cap-and-trade
legislation and proposals to increase your taxes.
For a list of the "Best
and Worst Bills of the 2009 Session," go to my Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen.
# # #
EDITOR'S NOTE:
State Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish,
represents the 39th Legislative District, and also serves as chairman of
the Washington House Republican Caucus. He can be contacted at (360)
786-7967 or from his Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
|
|