2021 Washington Legislative Session

The Washington State legislative session opens today, Monday January 11, 2021.  The Legislature begins each legislative session annually on the second Monday in January. In odd-numbered years, such as when the state budget is debated upon, the State Legislature meets for 105 days, and in even-numbered years, it meets for 60 days.

The cut-off dates for this session are:

Monday, February 15, 2021, the thirty-sixth day, will be the final day to read in committee reports in the house of origin, with the exception of reports from the Senate Ways and Means, Senate Transportation, and House of Representatives fiscal committees.

Monday, February 22, 2021, the forty-third day, will be the final day to read in Senate Ways and Means, Senate Transportation, and House of Representatives fiscal committee reports in the house of origin.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, the fifty-eighth day, at 5:00 p.m., will be the final time to consider bills in their house of origin.

Friday, March 26, 2021, the seventy-fifth day, will be the final day to read in committee reports on bills from the opposite house with the exception of reports from the Senate Ways and Means, Senate Transportation, and House of Representatives fiscal committees.

Friday, April 2, 2021, the eighty-second day, will be the final day to read in Senate Ways and Means, Senate Transportation, and House of Representatives fiscal committee reports on bills from the opposite house.

Some of the pre-filed Bills for the 2021 Session that we will be watching include:

HB 1108 – Maintaining funding and assistance for homeowners navigating the foreclosure process

SB 5025 – the Consumer Protection Improvement Act

SB 5062 – the Washington Privacy Act

Compliance Services Group tracks these and other legislative actions that may impact your institution on our monthly Regulatory Recap.  If you want to be added to our email distribution list, Contact Us

How a bill becomes a law in Washington State:

  1. A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or House of Representatives by a member.
  2. It is referred to a committee for a hearing. The committee studies the bill and may hold public hearings on it. It can then pass, reject, or take no action on the bill.
  3. The committee report on the passed bill is read in open session of the House or Senate, and the bill is then referred to the Rules Committee.
  4. The Rules Committee can either place the bill on the second reading calendar for debate before the entire body, or take no action.
  5. At the second reading, a bill is subject to debate and amendment before being placed on the third reading calendar for final passage.
  6. After passing one house, the bill goes through the same procedure in the other house.
  7. If amendments are made in the other house, the first house must approve the changes.
  8. When the bill is accepted in both houses, it is signed by the respective leaders and sent to the governor.
  9. The governor signs the bill into law or may veto all or part of it. If the governor fails to act on the bill, it may become law without a signature.

 

 

Please be advised that CSG provides financial services compliance audit and consulting services to our clients.  The services that we provide include certain tasks that may be characterized as “law-related services” under Rule 5.7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers.  Since some of our employees are lawyers with an active bar license but are NOT engaged in the private practice of law, that Rule requires us to make disclosures clarifying that the services we perform may be law-related services, but they are not legal services.  Because they are not legal services, those services and our relationship will not be governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct that guide the client-lawyer relationship, such as rules applicable to privileged communications and prohibitions of conflicts of interest.  Notwithstanding this disclaimer, we will continue to govern our relationship with you using reasonable ethical and professional standards that are expected to meet your expectations.

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