FINAL BILL REPORT

                           SSB 6070

                          C 193 L 94

                      SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

Brief Description:  Managing certain public records.

SPONSORS: Senate Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Senators Loveland, Winsley and M. Rasmussen; by request of Secretary of State)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

BACKGROUND:

In order to ensure the proper management and safeguarding of public records, the Division of Archives and Records Management is established in the Office of the Secretary of State.  Funding for the Archives and Records Management Division may only come from fees charged to state agencies.  In addition to serving state agencies, the Archives and Records Management Division must provide a program on behalf of local government archives.  Because local governments make no contribution to the funding of the archival services they receive, it falls to state agencies to subsidize the Archives and Records Management Division's work for local governments.  The demand for local government archives and records management services has grown significantly over the past ten years.  The resources available to provide those services have not grown in proportion to the demand.  As a result, the Archives and Records Management Division has fallen behind in a number of its basic local government archives and records management functions, including the development and maintenance of general records retention schedules, records storage media guidelines and the processing of local government archives for public research use.  Superior court filing fees currently range from $25 to $110.  The current tax warrant filing fee is $5.  A $20 surcharge would make costs for tax warrants comparable to other types of filings. 

SUMMARY:

A $20 surcharge is assessed on superior court filings of warrants for unpaid taxes.  These warrants are filed by the Department of Revenue for unpaid taxes or liabilities.  The revenue so generated is transmitted to the State Treasurer who shall deposit it in the archives and records management account.  An alternative procedure for the collection and transmittal of the surcharge revenue is established cooperatively between the filing agencies and clerks of superior court.  There should not be an undue impact on the state agencies or on the superior court clerks occasioned by their compliance with the act.  The tax warrant surcharge revenue is required to be spent by the Secretary of State on public archives and records management services to local government agencies by the Division of Archives and Records Management.  A committee is established by the Secretary of State to advise the state archivist on the local government archives and records management program.  The purposes to which the tax warrant surcharge revenue are allocated are specifically enumerated. 

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Senate    30   13

House     94   1   (House amended)

Senate    32   13   (Senate concurred)

EFFECTIVE:July 1, 1994