Judiciary & Public Safety Public Hearing

Council of the District of Columbia COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004 COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES ALLEN, CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC HEARING ON B24-0125, the “Expedited Adoption Eligibility Amendment Act of 2021” B24-0169, the “Joint Property Protection Amendment Act of 2021” and B24-0450, the “Uniform Electronic Wills Act of 2021” Tuesday, March 8, 2022, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Virtual Hearing via Zoom To Watch Live: https://dccouncil.us/council-videos/ http://video.oct.dc.gov/DCC/jw.html https://www.facebook.com/CMcharlesallen On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, Councilmember Charles Allen, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will convene a public hearing to consider Bill 24-0125, the “Expedited Adoption Eligibility Amendment Act of 2021”; Bill 24-0169, the “Joint Property Protection Amendment Act of 2021”; and Bill 24-0450, the “Uniform Electronic Wills Act of 2021”. The hearing will be conducted virtually via Zoom from 1:30 p.m. to no later than 4:30 p.m. The stated purpose of B24-0125, the “Expedited Adoption Eligibility Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend Title 16 of the District of Columbia Official Code to entitle a couple who uses assisted reproductive technology to an expedited adoption. The stated purpose of B24-0169, the “Joint Property Protection Amendment Act of 2021”, is to amend an Act To establish a code of law for the District of Columbia to provide that property held by spouses or domestic partners as tenants by the entirety, including the proceeds of such property, and which is subsequently conveyed to a trust or trusts, shall retain the protections against claims of the separate creditors of the spouses or domestic partners as if the property were still held as tenants by the entirety. 1 The stated purpose of B24-0450, the “Uniform Electronic Wills Act of 2021”, is to enact the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, to provide that an electronic will executed in compliance with specified statutory procedures is a will under the law of the District for all purposes, to provide for a rule of harmless error, to provide a procedure whereby an electronic will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving, to permit a testator to create a certified paper copy of an electronic will, and for other purposes. The Committee invites the public to provide oral and written testimony. Public witnesses seeking to provide oral testimony at the Committee’s hearing must thoroughly review the following instructions: • Anyone wishing to provide oral testimony must email the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us with their name, telephone number, organizational affiliation, and title (if any), by the close of business on Tuesday, March 1. • The Committee will approve witnesses’ registrations based on the total time allotted for public testimony. The Committee will also determine the order of witnesses’ testimony. • Representatives of organizations will be allowed a maximum of five minutes for oral testimony, and individuals (and any subsequent representatives of the same organizations) will be allowed a maximum of three minutes. In order to accommodate additional public witnesses, the Committee may reduce witnesses’ allotted time for testimony but will inform witnesses if it plans to do so. • Witnesses are not permitted to yield their time to, or substitute their testimony for, the testimony of another individual or organization. • If possible, witnesses should submit a copy of their testimony electronically in advance to judiciary@dccouncil.us. • Witnesses who anticipate needing language interpretation are requested to inform the Committee as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the hearing. The Committee will make every effort to fulfill timely requests; however, requests received fewer than five business days before the hearing may not be fulfilled. For witnesses who are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to the Committee at judiciary@dccouncil.us. The record will close at the end of the business day on Tuesday, March 22. 2