KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research

Today, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, which adjusts or removes some of the less popular provisions of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that Obama signed into law last week.  The new law also excludes commercial banks from issuing federal student loans.  In order to ensure he had support for these laws from the more conservative constituents of the Democratic Party, President Obama issued an Executive Order restricting federal funding for abortion. For more information, please follow the links below:

It’s Official: President Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill (NY Daily News)

Obama Signs Bill on Student Loans and Health Care (New York Times)

Obama Signs Higher Education Measure into Law (Washington Post)

Executive Order: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Consistency with Longstanding Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds for Abortion

White House Announces Executive Order on Abortion (Washington Post)

President Obama has signed into law the landmark health reform legislation recently approved by Congress but the debate is far from over.  Here are a few related links that will help you make sense of this critical issue:

HR 3590 — Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Legislative information from Thomas sponsored by the Library of Congress that includes the text of the act signed by the President and links to related material.

HR 4872 —  Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010. Legislative information from Thomas sponsored by the Library of Congress that includes the text of the act the Senate is still reviewing and links to related material.

The “Popular Documents” portion of the US Senate’s web site that includes valuable links to legislation summaries from both parties and the White House.

The official Blog from the Whitehouse that includes links to the President’s recent press conference about health care reform.

A “What does the health care bill mean to me?” link at the Washington Post’s web site that forecasts the impact this new law will have on you personally based on basic data you enter.

A clever chart, also from the Washington Post, which compares voting records on the health reform legislation to a Congressman’s financial support from the health industry and the percentage of people in his or her district without health insurance.

Washington Attorneys Assisting Community Organizations (WAACO) has some terrific nonprofit legal resources available for free on its website.

First, there is the 2009 edition of the Washington Nonprofit Handbook: How to Form and Maintain a Nonprofit Corporation in Washington State published by WAACO and the King County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.  This 200-page book covers formation and governance of a nonprofit corporation, obtaining and maintaining 501(c)(3) status, and topics such as international activities and grantmaking, employment issues, and intellectual property considerations.

There are also sample forms, such as articles of incorporation and bylaws, and a nonprofit legal self-assessment checklist.

On March 15, the King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office announced a series of improvments to the E-filing application software that manages electronic filing.  Among the host of improvements highlighted in the Release Notes document, one of the most exciting is the fact that the E-filing system now accepts .pdf documents created by the newer versions of Adobe Acrobat Professional. including the latest, Version 9. 

As stated in the Release Notes:  “The E-Filing application and supporting systems were upgraded to accept Adobe® Acrobat 9® converted PDF documents or use of Adobe® Acrobat 9® functionality (e.g., Typewriter). Users are no longer required to modify Adobe® Acrobat 9® conversion tools to an earlier software version in order to pass the E-Filing application’s file validation requirements.”

This improvement should make it much easier for everyone to prepare .pdf documents that are acceptable to the E-filing system.  There are many other improvements mentioned in the Release Notes so you should definitely take the time to read through them.

With Toyota making a daily appearance in the news, you may be wondering whether your vehicle—Toyota or not—is actually safe to drive. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the government offshoot of the Department of Transportation set up to address vehicle safety issues. Their mission is to “Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes.”

The NHTSA site helps users determine whether a vehicle has any outstanding recalls, gives users information on how to file a complaint about an allegedly defective vehicle, and give the latest research to help determine which car or child seat is safest. When accessing the site, one can research under the following tabs: “Traffic Safety”; “Vehicles and Equipment”; “Laws/Regulations/Guidance”; “NCSA (National Center for Safety Analysis)”; and, “Vehicle Safety Research”.

To find out more information about the Toyota recall, look here.