H-0227.2

HOUSE BILL 1147

State of Washington

67th Legislature

2021 Regular Session

ByRepresentatives Ryu, Klippert, Pollet, Goodman, and Rule

Read first time 01/12/21.Referred to Committee on Community & Economic Development.

AN ACT Relating to creating the Washington state office of resiliency; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Washington state residents have been increasingly impacted by natural disasters such as floods, landslides, wildfires, earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic and they continue to be at risk from these and other natural disasters, with communities of color and vulnerable populations disproportionately impacted. The legislature finds that it is critical to better prepare Washington for disasters to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters with coordinated resiliency strategies. The legislature further finds a resilient Washington increases quality of life for Washingtonians while every one dollar spent on mitigation saves six dollars spent on recovery. To address this critical need, the legislature intends to create an office of resiliency to implement a statewide resiliency strategy for the benefit of all Washingtonians while conserving expenditures by both public and private sectors.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Executive director" means the executive director of the Washington state office of resiliency.

(2) "Office" means the Washington state office of resiliency.

(3) "Resiliency" means the ability to prepare, mitigate, plan for, withstand, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events and changing conditions, and reorganize in an equitable manner that results in a new and better condition.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The Washington state office of resiliency is established within the office of the governor for the purpose of coordinating increased resiliency against catastrophic disasters to better assist the people of Washington state recover from these damaging events.

(2) The office shall be administered by an executive director. The governor shall appoint the executive director.

(3) The executive director shall receive a salary as fixed by the governor in accordance with RCW 43.03.040.

(4) The executive director shall:

(a) Employ and supervise staff as necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and the duties of the office; and

(b) Oversee the administration, programs, and policies of the office.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The office shall engage in the following activities:

(1) Develop and administer a statewide resiliency strategy and track and communicate the progress of the state resiliency strategy;

(2) Produce an annual report to the governor and the legislature on the activities of the office;

(3) Conduct and coordinate research, data collection, and analysis;

(4) Assist in the coordination of funding and research economic tools to address resiliency;

(5) Conduct policy research and make recommendations;

(6) Develop, coordinate, and communicate resiliency initiatives and projects;

(7) Serve as a public-private resiliency resource center;

(8) Enhance collaboration, education, and outreach programs; and

(9) Other activities the executive director deems necessary to carry out the purposes of the office.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The office may receive gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources that are made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, for the use and benefit of the purposes of the office and spend gifts, grants, endowments, or income from the public or private sources according to their terms, unless the receipt of the gifts, grants, or endowments violates RCW 42.17A.560.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The office of resiliency advisory board is created within the office to provide guidance and recommendations relating to the office's resiliency programs and activities.

(2) The advisory board membership must include:

(a) Two members and two alternates from the house of representatives, with one member and one alternate appointed from each of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(b) Two members and two alternates from the senate, with one member and one alternate appointed from each of the two major caucuses of the senate by the president of the senate; and

(c) Additional members appointed by the executive director representing tribal governments, private entities, state agencies, local authorities, academia, special purpose districts, subject-matter experts, historically marginalized groups, communities of color, people with disabilities, people who can improve language access, and people from economically and geographically diverse backgrounds.

(3) The advisory board shall be staffed by the office.

(4) The advisory board may create focused, ad hoc working groups that include relevant expertise and diverse membership.

(5) The advisory board may adopt bylaws for the operation of its business for the purposes of this chapter.

(6) Advisory board members shall serve without compensation. Legislative members of the advisory board are reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The office of resiliency account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from appropriations and other sources must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes of the office. Only the executive director of the office or the executive director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to the allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

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