BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to creating an education and training program for port district officials; amending RCW 53.06.060; adding new sections to chapter 53.06 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 39.84 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 53.06 RCW to read as follows:

Port districts are authorized to utilize the services of a nonprofit corporation for the purposes of providing training, education, and general improvement to the public sector management skills necessary to implement the economic development programs of port districts. Actions taken under this section must be implemented pursuant to the powers granted in chapter 39.84 RCW. Any nonprofit corporation utilized pursuant to this section must be a tax exempt nonprofit corporation, may be a nonprofit corporation created by the Washington public ports association, and must be created for the sole purposes of education and training for port district officials and employees. Port districts are authorized to transfer to a qualified nonprofit corporation utilized pursuant to this section any funds received from an industrial development corporation created by a port district under RCW 39.84.130.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the receipt of additional public or private funds by a nonprofit corporation established under this section. The coordination of these programs and the transfers and expenditures of funds shall be deemed to be for industrial development and trade promotion as provided for in Article VIII, section 8 of the Washington state Constitution.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 39.84 RCW to read as follows:

Funds received by a port district under RCW 39.84.130 may be transferred to a nonprofit corporation created or re-created for the exclusive purpose of providing training, education, and general improvement to the public sector management skills necessary to implement the economic development programs of the port district. The nonprofit corporation selected for that purpose may be, without limitation, a corporation formed by the Washington public ports association.

Any nonprofit corporation selected for the purposes of this section must have tax exempt status under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3).

Transfers and expenditures of funds shall be deemed to be for industrial development and trade promotion as provided in Article VIII, section 8 of the Washington state Constitution.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the receipt of additional public or private funds by a nonprofit corporation for the purposes described in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 53.06 RCW to read as follows:

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to grant to the Washington public ports association or any other nonprofit corporation any status, powers, or duties of a public agency. In carrying out the purposes described in this and other chapters of this title, the legislature recognizes that the Washington public ports association, and any nonprofit corporation created or re-created for the purposes of this chapter, is a private nonprofit corporation contracting to provide coordinating or other services to which port districts may subscribe.

Sec. 4. RCW 53.06.060 and 1995 c 301 s 74 are each amended to read as follows:

The financial records of the Washington public ports association, and of any nonprofit corporation utilized by port districts under this chapter, shall be subject to audit by the state auditor to determine compliance with the contractual terms and conditions under which payments or reimbursements of public funds are received under this chapter.