2293-S AMH WINE H4787.5

SHB 2293 - H AMD 0190  ADOPTED  2/18/92

By Representatives Wineberry, O'Brien, Anderson and Bowman

    On page 15, after line 15, insert the following:

    "(9)(a) The board of accountancy shall assess a surcharge equal to fifteen percent of the license fee, or the amount determined under (d) of this subsection, for each license issued or renewed, to be used for financial assistance for economically disadvantaged ethnic minority and other economically disadvantaged students in accountancy programs in their last thirty semester hours or equivalent of college education.  The surcharge in this subsection shall be deposited in the accountancy financial assistance account created in this section.

(b) The accountancy financial assistance account is hereby created in the custody of the state treasurer.  All receipts from the surcharge assessed in (a) of this subsection shall be deposited into the account.  Expenditures from the account may be used only to provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged ethnic minority and other economically disadvantaged students in accountancy programs in their last thirty semester hours or equivalent of college.  Only the executive director of the higher education coordinating board or the executive director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account.  The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures.

(c)  Funds in the accountancy financial assistance account shall be distributed among the four-year public institutions of higher education offering degrees in accountancy or the equivalent proportionate to the number of economically disadvantaged ethnic minority and other economically disadvantaged students in the last thirty semester or equivalent hours of each institution's accountancy program.

(d) By August 1st of each odd-numbered year, the office of financial management shall determine the balance in the accountancy financial assistance account as of the end of the biennium.  Balance determinations by the office of financial management are final.  If funds in the account exceed five hundred thousand dollars, the board of accountancy shall adjust, by rule, the amount of the surcharge in (a) of this subsection to be assessed for each license issued or renewed to maintain the balance in the account at five hundred thousand dollars.  Any adjustments to the surcharge shall be effective January 1st of even-numbered years.  If the board adjusts the surcharge, by August 1st of each subsequent odd-numbered year, the higher education coordinating board shall report to the legislature on the amount existing in the account."