HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 ESSB 5199

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                    Government Operations

Title:  An act relating to the elimination and consolidation of boards and commissions.

Brief Description:  Eliminating and consolidating boards and commissions.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Senators Quigley, Winsley, Haugen, Snyder, Sheldon, McAuliffe, Franklin and Drew; by request of Governor Lowry).

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Government Operations:  3/3195 [DPA].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 15 members:  Representatives Reams, Chairman; Goldsmith, Vice Chairman; L. Thomas, Vice Chairman; Rust, Ranking Minority Member; Scott, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Chopp; R. Fisher; Hargrove; Honeyford; Hymes; Mulliken; D. Schmidt; Sommers; Van Luven and Wolfe.

Staff:  Bonnie Austin (786-7135).

Background:  In 1993, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) conducted a survey and found that 569 state boards and commissions operated during the 1991-93 biennium.  In 1994, the Legislature passed ESHB 2676.  The bill abolished or consolidated 49 boards and commissions, established a process to eliminate redundant and obsolete boards and commissions, and restricted the establishment of new boards and commissions. 

Unless a new board or commission is established or required by statute, new boards and commissions not may not be established without the express approval of the director of OFM.   Prioritized approval criteria are detailed in statute.  The director of OFM is required to submit to the Legislature by January 8 of each year a list of boards and commissions for which approval was requested and of those that were approved during the preceding calendar year.

The Governor is required to review boards and commissions based on statutory criteria, and by January 8 of each odd-numbered year, submit a report and legislation to the Legislature recommending which boards and commissions should be terminated or consolidated.  The Governor has submitted the 1995 report, recommending the termination of 34 boards and commissions and the consolidation of 16 boards and commissions into five merged boards.

Summary of Amended Bill:  The following boards, councils, committees, and commissions are abolished:  The Law Revision Commission; Judicial Council; Juvenile Disposition Standards Commission;  Shorthand Reporter Advisory Board;  Maritime Bicentennial Advisory Committee; Centennial Commission; Student Financial Aid Policy Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee on Access to Education for Students with Disabilities; Timber Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee on Minority and Women's Business Enterprises; Supply Management Advisory Board; Prescription Drug Program Advisory Committee; Telecommunications Relay Service Program Advisory Committee; Laboratory Accreditation Advisory Committee; Metals Mining Advisory Group; Hydraulics Appeals Board; Economic Recovery Coordination Board; Joint Operating Agency Executive Committee; Office of Crime Victims Advocacy Committee; Health Care Access and Cost Control Council; Council on Volunteerism and Citizen Service; Commission for Efficiency and Accountability in Government; Technical Advisory Committee on Pupil Transportation; Oversight Committee on Longshoreman's and Harbor Worker's Compensation Coverage; Board of Advisors for Solid Waste Incinerator and Landfill Operator Certification; Waste and Wastewater Operator Certification Board of Examiners; Twin Rivers Corrections Center Volunteer Advisory Group; Advisory Board for Purchase of Fishing Vessels and Licenses; Rail Development Commission; Marine Oversight Board; and Interagency Coordinating Committee for Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program.

The following boards, councils, committees and commissions are consolidated:  (1)  the Emergency Management Council, the State Emergency Response Commission, the Disaster Assistance Council, the Emergency Management Communications Coordinating Committee, the Hazardous Materials Advisory Committee, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act Grant Review Committee, the Flood Damage Reduction Committee, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Review Committee; (2) the Fire Protection Policy Board and the State Fire Defense Board; (3) the Transportation Improvement Board and the Multimodal Transportation Programs and Projects Selection Committee; and (4) the Sea Urchin Endorsement Board of Review and the Sea Cucumber Endorsement Board of Review.

The Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetics, and Manicuring Advisory Board is reconstituted.  A representative of a private cosmetology school and a representative of a public vocational technical school involved in cosmetology training are added, expanding the Board from five to seven members.  New members will be appointed June 30, 1995 to conduct a review and make recommendations regarding restructuring the regulation of these professions.  The board will cease to exist on June 30, 1997.

Amended Bill Compared to Engrossed Substitute Bill:  The creation of a temporary advisory committee on bulkhead construction is deleted.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:   Section 301 (Juvenile Disposition Standards Commission) takes effect June 30, 1997; and the remainder of the bill takes effect July 1, 1995

Testimony For:  This is a pruning exercise.  Don't keep the bulkhead advisory committee.  Don't delete any more commissions.  Feel free to add more commissions.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Senator Quigley, prime sponsor; and Fred Hellberg, Office of the Governor.