AN ACT Relating to
ride-sharing vehicles; adding new sections to chapter 82.04 RCW; adding new
sections to chapter 82.16 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties;
and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. Transportation demand
strategies that reduce the number of vehicles on Washington state's highways,
roads, and streets, and provide attractive and effective alternatives to
single-occupancy travel can improve ambient air quality, conserve fossil fuels,
and forestall the need for capital improvements to the state's transportation
system. The legislature has required many public and private employers in the
state's largest counties to implement transportation demand management programs
to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicle travelers during the morning
and evening rush hours. The legislature finds that additional transportation
demand management strategies are necessary to mitigate the adverse social,
environmental, and economic effects of automobile dependency and traffic
congestion. While expensive capital improvements, including dedicated busways
and commuter rail systems, may be necessary to improve the region's mobility,
they are only part of the solution. All public and private entities that
attract single-occupant vehicle drivers must develop imaginative and
cost-effective ways to encourage walking, bicycling, carpooling, vanpooling,
bus riding, and telecommuting. It is the intent of the legislature to revise
those portions of state law that inhibit the application of imaginative
solutions to the state's transportation mobility problems and to encourage many
more public and private employers to adopt effective transportation demand
management strategies.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added
to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Major employers in
the state's eight largest counties affected by the commute trip reduction
programs required under RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551 who are taxable under this
chapter and provide financial incentives to their employees for ride sharing
before June 30, 1996, shall be allowed a credit for amounts paid to employees
for ride sharing in vehicles carrying four or more persons, not to exceed sixty
dollars per employee per year. The credit shall be equal to the amount paid to
each employee multiplied by fifty percent, but may not exceed sixty dollars per
employee per year. The credit may not exceed the amount of tax that would
otherwise be due under this chapter.
(2) Application for tax
credit under this chapter may only be made by major employers as defined by RCW
70.94.524 and in the form and manner prescribed in rules adopted by the
department and in consultation with the commute trip reduction task force.
(3) The credit shall be
taken against taxes due for the same calendar year in which the amounts for
which credit is claimed were paid to employees for ride sharing.
(4) The director shall
on the 25th of February, May, August, and November of each year advise the
state treasurer of the amount of credit taken during the preceding calendar
quarter ending on the last day of December, March, June, and September,
respectively.
(5) On the first of
April, July, October, and January of each year, the state treasurer based upon
information provided by the department shall deposit a sum equal to the dollar
amount of the credit provided under subsection (1) of this section from the air
pollution control account to the general fund.
(6) The commute trip
reduction task force shall determine the effectiveness of this tax credit as
part of its ongoing evaluation of the commute trip reduction law and report no
later than December 1, 1996, to the legislative transportation committee.
(7) Any person who
knowingly makes a false statement of a material fact in the application for a
credit under subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
3. A new section is added
to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The department
shall keep a running total of all credits granted under this chapter during
each calendar year, and shall disallow any credits that would cause the
tabulation for any calendar year to exceed two million dollars.
(2) No employer shall
be eligible for tax credits in excess of two hundred thousand dollars in any
calendar year.
(3) No employer shall
be eligible for tax credits in excess of the amount of tax that would otherwise
be due under this chapter.
(4) No portion of an
application for credit disallowed under this section may be carried back or
carried forward.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. A new section is added
to chapter 82.16 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Major employers in
the state's eight largest counties affected by the commute trip reduction
programs required under RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551 who are taxable under
this chapter and provide financial incentives to their employees for ride
sharing before June 30, 1996, shall be allowed a credit for amounts paid to
employees for ride sharing in vehicles carrying four or more persons, not to
exceed sixty dollars per employee per year. The credit shall be equal to the
amount paid to each employee multiplied by fifty percent, but may not exceed
sixty dollars per employee per year. The credit may not exceed the amount of
tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter.
(2) Application for tax
credit under this chapter may only be made by major employers as defined by RCW
70.94.524 and in the form and manner prescribed in rules adopted by the
department and in consultation with the commute trip reduction task force.
(3) The credit shall be
taken against taxes due for the same calendar year in which the amounts for
which credit is claimed were paid to employees for ride sharing.
(4) The director shall
on the 25th of February, May, August, and November of each year advise the
state treasurer of the amount of credit taken during the preceding calendar
quarter ending on the last day of December, March, June, and September,
respectively.
(5) On the first of
April, July, October, and January of each year, the state treasurer based upon
information provided by the department shall deposit a sum equal to the dollar
amount of the credit provided under subsection (1) of this section from the air
pollution control account to the general fund.
(6) The commute trip
reduction task force shall determine the effectiveness of this tax credit as
part of its ongoing evaluation of the commute trip reduction law and report no
later than December 1, 1996, to the legislative transportation committee.
(7) Any person who
knowingly makes a false statement of a material fact in the application for a
credit under subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
5. A new section is added
to chapter 82.16 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The department
shall keep a running total of all credits granted under this chapter during
each calendar year, and shall disallow any credits that would cause the tabulation
for any calendar year to exceed two million dollars.
(2) No employer shall
be eligible for tax credits in excess of two hundred thousand dollars in any
calendar year.
(3) No employer shall
be eligible for tax credits in excess of the amount of tax that would otherwise
be due under this chapter.
(4) No portion of an
application for credit disallowed under this section may be carried back or
carried forward.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
6. This act shall expire
December 31, 1996.
