California– The Secretary of State has some new forms and has made changes to some existing ones in an effort to help reduce rejected filings. New forms include Articles of Incorporation of a Cannabis Cooperative Association; a redomestication form for California insurance corporations to change domicile from California to another jurisdiction.

Minnesota– Effective January 1, 2018, Limited Liability Companies organized before August 1, 2015 must adhere to the Minnesota Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (Chapter 322C), which is a law that was passed in 2015.

Oregon– Effective January 1, 2018, House Bill 2191 provides the Secretary of State’s office and the Department of Justice with new means to deter the abuse of shell corporations in Oregon by requiring additional information filing documents associated with articles, including amendments, restated articles, conversions, and merger filings. The additional information required includes 1) principal/physical place of business and may not be a commercial mail receiving agency, mail forwarding or virtual office 2) An individual’s name with direct knowledge of the business activities of the entity 3) a signer acknowledgement.

Washington– The Secretary of state implemented a new filing system and has change the procedures for issuing the filing date for corporate filings. Under the new system, the filing date will be the date that the filing is processed and not the date it was submitted.

Also effective January 1, 2018, the business Corporation and LLC Annual Report filings were transferred to the Secretary of State’s office from the Business Licensing Service (BLS) office. However, licenses can still be obtained through the BLS office, but there will be an $11 handling fee in addition to a credit card processing fee. Licenses obtained through the Secretary of State’s office will not have the added fees.