Implementing changes to child support based on the child support schedule work group report.

Increasing the number of tasting rooms allowed under a domestic winery license.

Modifying the distribution of the thirty dollar vehicle license fee.

Concerning population-based representation on the governing body of public transportation benefit areas.

Concerning public works assistance account program interest rates, project ranking, board membership, and other requirements.

Changes the composition of the public works board.

Ensuring the competitiveness of Washington state's fishing and seafood processing industries by supporting the recapitalization of fishing fleets through certain tax preferences.

Provides a business and occupation tax preference for manufacturers of qualified vessels or components of qualified vessels.

Concerning DNA biological samples.

Concerning the licensing of marijuana-related businesses involving a partnership, employee cooperative, association, nonprofit corporation, corporation, business entity, or nonprofit entity.

Addressing the caseload forecast council.

Requires the caseload forecast council to forecast: (1) The number of nonmedicaid persons expected to enroll in qualified health or dental plans offered by the state health benefit exchange; and

(2) Early achiever quality award and tiered reimbursement, levels 2 through 5, for the working connections child care, seasonal child care, and homeless child care programs.

Requires the state health benefit exchange to provide certain information to the caseload forecast council.

Equalizing access to permanent ballot drop boxes for every Washington citizen.

Enhancing public safety by reducing distracted driving incidents caused by the use of personal wireless communications devices.

Provides that, a person is guilty of a traffic infraction if he or she is operating a motor vehicle on a public highway and: (1) Holding a personal wireless communications device in his or her hand or hands; or

(2) Using a personal wireless communications device to read or manually enter data.

Concerning public records act requests to local agencies.

Creates the public records commission to administer the provisions of the public records act.

Authorizes a local agency, in order to prevent excessive interference with other essential functions of the local agency, to adopt procedures that: (1) Limit the number of hours it devotes on a monthly basis to responding to public records requests;

(2) Prioritize requests according to criteria established by the local agency; and

(3) Encourage public records officers to contact requestors to inquire about the purpose for a request.

Creates the dedicated open records account.

Concerning the excise taxation of crowdfunding donations.

Creating the Washington next generation educational savings account program.

Creates the Washington next generation educational savings account program to expand educational opportunity and financial capability for every child born or adopted in the state.

Requires the student achievement council to: (1) Administer the program;

(2) Partner with one or more private organizations to establish and fund the program; and

(3) Determine when an adequate amount of funding has been secured to begin implementation of the program.

Prohibits any amounts deposited in an educational savings account from being taken into account in determining an individual's eligibility for federally or state-funded assistance or benefits, including temporary assistance for needy families, medicaid, or student financial aid.

Concerning administrative processes of the state parks and recreation commission that require a majority vote of the commission.

Modifies provisions regarding the state parks and recreation commission's administrative processes that require a majority vote of the commission.

Extends, from fifty years to eighty years, the maximum length of a property lease for certain parks.

Requires the parks and recreation commission, before granting any concession, to consider the likely substantial effects of concession operations on management of the entire park, wildlife and natural habitat, and the community in which the park is located, as well as on potential displacement of existing park users.

Establishing the Washington open education pilot grant program for the four-year institutions of higher education.

Creates the Washington open education pilot grant program within the student achievement council to create a competitive grant program to provide an incentive for faculty to adopt open educational resources and reduce students' costs of attendance.

Requires the student achievement council to award up to one hundred grants per year to faculty members to develop or obtain open educational materials and resources.

Expires June 30, 2019.

Making the cost of textbooks and other college course materials more affordable.

Requires community and technical colleges to revise their college catalogs and course descriptions to designate which courses qualify as having open educational resources.

Requires the state board for community and technical colleges to: (1) Administer a grant program to fund campus level coordinations to promote and facilitate expansion of the open course library; and

(2) Administer a grant program to support colleges that seek to develop an entire degree or certificate program composed of courses designated as having open educational resources.

Requires the student achievement council to administer a grant program to fund campus level coordinators to promote and facilitate access to open educational resources for the four-year institutions of higher education.

Concerning first degree rape.

Concerning the regulation of continuing care retirement communities.

Regulates continuing care retirement communities.

Requires a person or an entity to be registered by the department of social and health services before: (1) Operating a continuing care retirement community;

(2) Entering into a residency agreement with a prospective resident;

(3) Soliciting a prospective resident to pay an application fee or executing a residency agreement; or

Creating administrative efficiencies for institutions of higher education.

Authorizes an institution of higher education to: (1) Working with the arts commission, expend up to ten percent of the projected art allocation for a project during the design phase in order to select an artist and design art to be integrated in the building design; and

Concerning property tax exemptions for service-connected disabled veterans and senior citizens.

Provides property tax relief to senior citizens, disabled persons, and veterans.

Clarifying the limited authority of park rangers.

Creating a pilot program for community and technical colleges to offer bachelor degrees.

Increases access to bachelor degrees through expansion of upper-division capacity and the creation of bachelor degree programs at community and technical colleges on a pilot basis.

Requires the state board for community and technical colleges to select up to five community or technical colleges to develop and offer programs of study leading to bachelor degrees in high-demand fields of study.

Authorizes a college to submit an application to the state board to become a pilot college.

Concerning tax relief for the construction of adapted housing for disabled veterans.

Concerning the sale of manufactured/mobile home communities.

Addresses the sale of manufactured/mobile home communities.

Establishing the Washington promise program, which provides for universal and affordable access to community and technical colleges for all Washingtonians.

Creates the Washington promise program to help make the first two years of college affordable and accessible to the state's citizens by offering a tuition waiver for eligible students enrolled in associate degree or certificate programs offered by the state's community and technical colleges.

Requires the office of student financial assistance to administer the program for resident students seeking an associate's degree or certificate from a community or technical college.

Requires the state board for community and technical colleges to develop a plan to provide all Washington promise program students who are enrolled at a community or technical college with a quarter-long student success course, during or before their first enrollment period, that teaches essential skills for college success.

Requires the state institute for public policy to conduct a study on the effectiveness of the program.

Requires the caseload forecast council to forecast the number of students who are: (1) Eligible for the Washington promise program; and

(2) Expected to attend a community or technical college.

Regarding a purple card information system.

Providing a sales and use tax exemption for certain new building construction to be used by maintenance repair operators for airplane repair and maintenance.

Provides a sales and use tax exemption, in the form of a remittance, on charges for labor and services rendered in respect to the constructing of new buildings made to: (1) Eligible maintenance repair operators engaged in the maintenance of airplanes; or

(2) Port districts, political subdivisions, or municipal corporations, if the new building is to be leased to an eligible maintenance repair operator engaged in the maintenance of airplanes.

Addressing certification requirements for elections administrators.

Creating a task force on high patient out-of-pocket costs.

Creates the task force on high patient out-of-pocket costs.

Requires the department of health to convene the task force and coordinate task force meetings.

Requires the task force to: (1) Evaluate factors contributing to the out-of-pocket costs for patients including prescription drug cost trends and plan benefit design; and

Concerning the recruitment and retention of Washington state patrol commissioned officers.

Requires the office of financial management to: (1) Perform an organization study through a third-party independent consultant to implement the changes in the joint transportation committee recruitment and retention study, dated January 7, 2016, affecting each organization in the study; and

(2) Conduct a survey of the law enforcement agencies described below and share the results with the collective bargaining units of the Washington state patrol.

Requires the state to consider, during the collective bargaining process for commissioned officers of the Washington state patrol, the average total compensation for each corresponding rank from the Seattle police department, King county sheriff's office, Tacoma police department, Snohomish county sheriff's office, Spokane police department, and Vancouver police department.

Requires the minimum monthly salary paid to Washington state patrol officers to be competitive with law enforcement agencies within the boundaries of the state.

Requires the salary levels to be the average of compensation paid to the corresponding rank from the law enforcement agencies mentioned above.

Requires Washington state patrol management to work actively with the independent consultant to implement the recommended changes.

Requires the select committee on pension policy to review the pension-related items in the study and make recommendations to the governor's office and the legislature.

Requires the legislature to provide different funding options to start implementing the study recommendations.

Requires the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs to work with the office of financial management on the survey.

Making felony sex offenses a crime that may be prosecuted at any time after its commission.

Eliminates the statute of limitations for the following offenses: (1) Rape in the first or second degree;

(2) Rape of a child in the first or second degree;

(3) Child molestation in the first or second degree;

(4) Custodial sexual misconduct in the first degree;

(5) Incest in the first or second degree;

(6) Sexual exploitation of a minor;

(7) Commercial sexual abuse of a minor; and

Expanding distribution dates for supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits.

Creating a penalty assessment for crimes involving the abuse of children used to support child advocacy centers.

Authorizes all superior courts, and courts organized under Title 3 RCW (district courts--courts of limited jurisdiction) or Title 35 RCW (cities and towns), to impose a penalty assessment not to exceed one thousand dollars on an adult offender convicted of a crime involving the physical abuse or sexual abuse of children.

Modifying the business and occupation tax and public utility tax credits for alternative fuel commercial vehicles.

Establishing a maternal mortality review panel.

Creates the maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in the state to identify factors associated with the deaths and make recommendations for system changes to improve health care services for women.

Requires health care providers, health care facilities, clinics, laboratories, and medical examiners to report maternal deaths to the panel and to the secretary of the department of health.

Enhancing crime victim participation in the criminal justice system process.

Establishes the safety and access for immigrant victims act.

Requires certain entities and law enforcement agencies to complete victim certifications for nonimmigrant visa applications for qualifying victims.

Requires the office of crime victims advocacy to convene a crime victim certification steering committee.

Prohibiting marijuana, alcohol, or other intoxicant, or a cell phone while confined or incarcerated in a state, county, or local correctional institution.

Requiring issuers to accept payments made by businesses solely owned by an enrollee.

Concerning small works rosters.

Modifies small works roster contract procedures and the limited public works process.

Encouraging participation in Washington trade conventions by modifying tax provisions related to establishing substantial nexus.

Concerning certain obsolete provisions in chapter 43.325 RCW overseen by the department of commerce.

Establishing a legislative task force to review the growth management act.

Creating the Washington free to finish college program.

Creates the Washington free to finish college program, to be administered by the office of student financial assistance, to encourage state residents who attended a postsecondary education degree or certificate program, but were unable to graduate and are no longer enrolled in a postsecondary education degree or certificate program, to return to an institution of higher education to complete their program of study.

Requires the office of student financial assistance to contract with a third party to complete an evaluation of the program.

Establishing a legislative task force on technology in transportation.

Creates the legislative task force on information technology in transportation to assist policymakers, businesses, and the public to prepare for and develop a transportation system that: (1) Accommodates an array of information technology uses in vehicles and for transportation purposes, generally; and

(2) Seeks to maximize the benefits from the use of such technology, with respect to: Reduced congestion and traffic accidents; increased mobility, particularly for mobility-challenged persons and those that are underserved by the current transportation system; and greater utility for the traveling public, in general.

Prohibits the task force from considering or performing any work relating to a road usage charge, vehicle miles traveled fee, or other mileage-based user fee.

Concerning performance oversight of the state transportation system.

Requires the office of financial management to review and comment on a report before the department of transportation submitting the report to the legislature and the governor on the progress toward the attainment by state transportation agencies of the state transportation policy goals and objectives prescribed by statute, appropriation, and governor directive.

Requires the office of financial management, rather than the department of transportation, to do the following: (1) In consultation with the transportation commission, establish objectives and performance measures for the department of transportation and other state agencies with transportation-related responsibilities to ensure transportation system performance progresses toward the attainment of certain policy goals;

(2) Submit objectives and performance measures to the legislature for its review and provide copies of the same to the transportation commission; and

(3) By December 31, 2016, and each year thereafter, complete a performance report for the prior fiscal year.

-- 2016 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 8	Public hearing in the House Committee on Transportation at 1:30 PM.
Feb 9	TR - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.
	Referred to Rules 2 Review.
	Executive action taken in the House Committee on Transportation at 9:00 AM.
Feb 11	Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
Feb 12	1st substitute bill substituted.
	Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
	Third reading, passed; yeas, 95; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 2.
-- IN THE SENATE --
Feb 16	First reading, referred to Transportation.