BILL REQ. #:  H-2514.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/07/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to creating a job development fund; amending RCW 82.18.040; adding new sections to chapter 43.155 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature has and continues to recognize the vital importance of economic development to the health and prosperity of Washington state as indicated in RCW 43.160.010, 43.155.070(4)(g), 43.163.005, and 43.168.010. The legislature finds that current economic development programs and funding, which are primarily low-interest loan programs, can be enhanced by creating a grant program to assist local governments with public infrastructure projects that directly stimulate community and economic development by supporting the creation of new jobs or the retention of existing jobs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW to read as follows:
     The job development fund is created in the state treasury. All receipts from section 5 of this act must be deposited into the account. Money in the fund may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account shall be used to make grants to local governments for public infrastructure projects to stimulate community and economic development as provided in this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) In administering the job development fund, the board shall establish a competitive process to request and prioritize proposals for public infrastructure projects, the primary objective of which is to stimulate community and economic development through development or redevelopment of an area.
     (2) The board shall conduct a statewide request for project applications from political subdivisions or federally recognized Indian tribes in partnership with a political subdivision. The board shall develop criteria on which to evaluate and rank applications, and shall develop performance and evaluation criteria to review how well successful applicants met the community and economic development objectives stated in their applications. Among the priorities for ranking projects, the board shall include consideration of:
     (a) The relative benefits provided to the community by the jobs the project would create, including, but not limited to: (i) The total number of jobs; (ii) the total number of full-time, family wage jobs; (iii) the unemployment rate in the area; and (iv) the increase in employment in comparison to total community population;
     (b) The present level of economic activity in the community and the existing local financial capacity to increase economic activity in the community;
     (c) The rate of return of the state's investment, that includes the expected increase in state and local tax revenues associated with the project;
     (d) The lack of another timely source of funding available to finance the project which would likely prevent the proposed community or economic development, absent the financing available under this act;
     (e) The ability of the project to improve the viability of existing business entities in the project area; and
     (f) Whether or not the project is a partnership of multiple jurisdictions.
     (3) At a minimum, applicants shall demonstrate that the requested assistance will directly stimulate community and economic development by facilitating the creation of new jobs or the retention of existing jobs. The evaluation and ranking process shall also include an examination of existing assets that applicants may apply to projects.
     (4) The board shall not provide financial assistance if the funds will not be used within the jurisdiction or jurisdictions of the local government deemed in need of the community or economic development.
     (5) The board shall not provide financial assistance for any project for which evidence exists that the project would result in a development or expansion that would displace existing jobs in any other community in the state.
     (6) Beginning September 1, 2010, and continuing every five years thereafter, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The report, at a minimum, should evaluate the effectiveness of the job development fund grant program, including a project by project review. The report should include information regarding the criteria and performance measures used, whether the performance measures were met, and how the funds were used.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.155 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) For the 2005-2007 biennium, the board may solicit and rank applications as provided in section 3(2) of this act, and need not submit the list for approval to the legislature, to the extent funding is included in the 2005-2007 capital budget for purposes of this section and to the extent the legislature has not specified otherwise in the appropriation.
     (2)(a) Beginning with the 2007-2009 biennium, for seventy percent of any biennial appropriation, the board may not sign contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds until the legislature has approved a specific list of projects. Beginning with the 2007-2009 biennium and thereafter, the board shall submit a prioritized list of recommended projects to the governor and the legislature. The legislature may remove projects from the list recommended by the board.
     The legislature may not change the order of the priorities recommended for funding by the board. For purposes of the biennial capital budget request, the board shall base their request on the available money in the job development fund at the beginning of the last fiscal year of a biennium. The total amount of the board's recommended state funding for projects on a biennial project list submitted by the board may not exceed seventy percent of the available money in the job development fund at the beginning of the last fiscal year of a biennium. The board may provide an additional alternate project list up to ten million dollars. The list shall include a description of each project, the amount of recommended state funding, and documentation of nonstate funds to be used for the project. The board shall also describe the expected community or economic development benefits for each of the recommended projects in its budget request.
     (b) The remaining funds not expended or obligated under (a) of this subsection may be expended or obligated by the governor, in consultation with the legislature, for applications not on the list approved by the legislature if:
     (i) The application was submitted for consideration in the board's biennial application solicitation and ranking process, meets the criteria developed pursuant to section 3(2) of this act, but circumstances have subsequently changed that make the project more urgent and more highly ranked;
     (ii)(A) The application was submitted after the board's biennial application deadline through no fault of the applicant; (B) the application meets the criteria developed pursuant to section 3(2) of this act; (C) the application would have ranked high on the list had it been submitted in time; and (D) the applicant cannot wait for the next biennial application period due to exigent or emergency circumstances; or
     (iii)(A) Through no fault of the applicant, the project was not proposed in time for consideration in the board's biennial application solicitation; (B) the project meets the criteria developed pursuant to section 3(2) of this act; (C) the project would have ranked high had it been submitted; and (D) the project cannot wait for the next biennial application period due to exigent or emergency circumstances.
     (c) As used in (b) of this subsection, "consultation with the legislature" means the board notifies in writing the speaker of the house of representatives and the majority leader of the senate, or their designees, and waits ten business days to give the legislature an opportunity to comment on the governor's proposed action before the department expends or obligates the funds. If the governor receives a letter from either the speaker of the house of representatives or the majority leader of the senate, or their designees, within the ten business days opposing the funding of the project, the project will not receive any funds under (b) of this subsection.
     (3) The maximum grant from the job development fund for any one project is ten million dollars. Grant assistance from the job development fund may not exceed thirty-three percent of the total cost of the project. The nonstate portion of the total project cost may include cash, the value of real property when acquired solely for the purpose of the project, and in-kind contributions.

Sec. 5   RCW 82.18.040 and 2000 c 103 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     Taxes collected under this chapter shall be held in trust until paid to the state. Taxes received by the state shall be deposited in the ((public works assistance account created in RCW 43.155.050)) job development fund created in section 2 of this act. Any person collecting the tax who appropriates or converts the tax collected shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor if the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the date payment is due. If a taxpayer fails to pay the tax imposed by this chapter to the person charged with collection of the tax and the person charged with collection fails to pay the tax to the department, the department may, in its discretion, proceed directly against the taxpayer for collection of the tax.
     The tax shall be due from the taxpayer within twenty-five days from the date the taxpayer is billed by the person collecting the tax.
     The tax shall be due from the person collecting the tax at the end of the tax period in which the tax is received from the taxpayer. If the taxpayer remits only a portion of the total amount billed for taxes, consideration, and related charges, the amount remitted shall be applied first to payment of the solid waste collection tax and this tax shall have priority over all other claims to the amount remitted.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.