Legislation

2008 Washington Legislature adjourns;
LRC and cohesive team of supporters thwart attempts to expand liability!

A team effort by LRC members and other supporters thwarted the most aggressive effort to date to expand liability law in Washington state. The Washington Legislature adjourned March 13 without passing any of the 30-plus proposals put forth by the plaintiff lawyer lobby.

Wrongful death bill dies; taxpayers win
One of the 2008 legislative session’s sweetest victories was the defeat of HB 1873, an unnecessary and costly expansion of liability under Washington’s wrongful death statutes.

The battle to defeat HB 1873 went down to the wire, with the 2008 legislature adjourning without taking action. Local and state government budgets—and the taxpayers who support them—would have been the most burdened by the fiscal impact of this measure. The proposal also would have undermined the med-mal liability compromise of two years ago.

The Attorney General’s office and local government officials testified HB 1873 would have increased payout amounts (severity) by as much as $1.2 million at the state level and $2 million at the local level. An LRC-commissioned study on HB 1873 as passed by the House revealed the measure would have increased the number (frequency) of cases against state government by a whopping 80 percent, costing state government nearly $19 million per biennium. Local governments could have expected similar fiscal impacts.

The combined increases in severity and frequency would have cost taxpayers millions. HB 1873 was unnecessary as current law works well in providing a balanced tort system.

The LRC sincerely appreciates the efforts of its partners in the fight against HB 1873:

• Association of Washington Cities
• Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers

Liability expansion bills: the 2008 post-mortem

In January, plaintiff lawyers hit the State Capitol pushing an aggressive agenda of more than 30 bills to expand liability. Sixty days later, and after much hard combat, the LRC and its allies killed ALL 30 of the bills.

Here’s a run down of some of the bills that died this session:

• HB 2142—Allowing unlimited punitive damages for workplace bullying.
• HB 2602—Creating a new cause of action against employers.
• HB 2945—Creating a cause of action for the death of a companion animal.
• SB 6382—Allowing a 500 percent increase in damages available under Consumer Protection Act.
• HB 1873/SB 6696—Expanding the wrongful death statutes.
• SB 6840—Expanding Consumer Protection Act.
• SB 6385—Expanding residential construction liability.
• SB 6614—Providing unlimited punitive damages for any civil action.
  
  
  

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