Weekly Legislative Update
April 17, 2009

And then there was one
LRC kills dozens of bills, CPA remains

Today is the cut-off for bills to be passed out of the opposite chamber and provides only nine more days for the regular legislative session.  That’s good news, indeed. 

Out of the dozens of liability-expanding bills introduced this session, all but one major bill remains.  Senate Bill 5531 passed the House and now awaits concurrence by the Senate (which is likely).  This measure expands the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) by increasing the treble damages limit to $25,000 and allowing private citizens to file CPA lawsuits even though the public interest is not affected.  This creates incentives for more litigation. 

CPA statutes are often ripe territory for abuse.  Case in point is the CPA claim filed by a judge—yes, a judge—against his dry cleaners for $54 million.   

Some good news for the LRC … the late-game introduction of HB 2329, the false claims bill, was pulled from the committee agenda the day before the hearing.  Thanks to a team effort of LRC members, lawmakers were informed of the intent and consequences of such costly and unnecessary legislation.

As of the writing of this week’s Update, the Senate has not taken action on HB 1393, a measure to significantly expand contractor liability and require contractors to carry a line of insurance which the Insurance Commissioner himself says is not available in Washington.  Thankfully, this bill appears to be dead. 

The price of beauty

Woman sues for $160 million for wax mishap

According to WPIX of New Jersey, a local woman is suing Sally Hansen beauty products for $160 million saying she was burned by the company’s wax products.  The alleged incident took place three years ago but the federal lawsuit was filed just this week.