Housing Liability Expansion Heard in House Committee

The House Judiciary Committee today held a hearing on HB 1935, sponsored by Representative Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia), to expand liability on housing projects. At the hearing, Representative Williams presented a proposed substitute that would be an exact copy of SB 5550, which was introduced by Senator Brian Weinstein (D-41, Bellevue). SB 5550 is pending further action in the Senate Rules Committee (see the summary posted previously). AIA/WA’s contract lobbyist Cliff Webster testified against the bill. AIA/WA supports the study committee portion of the bill. However, AIA/WA opposes the substantive provisions in the bill, because they presuppose the policy outcome that the study is designed to ascertain. To listen the hearing, go to http://www.tvw.org/ and enter the bill number in the search engine.

Senate Committee Hears Certificate of Merit Bill

On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the AIA/WA-backed bill, SB 5833, to require a “certificate of merit” be filed prior to a lawsuit proceeding against a licensed design professional (architect, engineer, landscape architect or land surveyor). Last year the legislature passed a similar requirement for medical professionals as part of a larger package on medical liability reform. Several states currently have this requirement for design professionals as well. AIA/WA is pushing the bill as part of the Architects & Engineers Legislative Council (AELC). The only testimony against the bill was from the Washington State Trial Lawyers Assn. Even though WSTLA agreed to similar language for medical professionals, they continue to oppose our bill.

Now that the bill has had a hearing, it is eligible to be considered in “executive session” and passed out of the committee. The next step is to schedule a committee vote on the bill.

Simple Majority for School Levies Gets a Hearing

On Monday, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee held a hearing on several proposals to put a Constitutional amendment before voters to pass school levies (SJR 8207) and bonds (SB 5028, SJR 8203) with a simple majority. Currently, it takes a 60% majority of those voting and the number of voters in the election must meet certain standards. The AIA Washington Council supports changing these voting requirements to a simple majority for levies and bonds. It is unclear which specific bill or bills will move this year, but it is expected that something will be passed this year. To listen to the hearing visit Television Washington’s (http://www.tvw.org/) website and put one of the bill numbers in the search engine.