BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to performance budgeting for transportation agencies; and creating a new chapter in Title 47 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature and the governor to ensure accountability for transportation agencies' programs and activities. Performance budgeting is a tool that provides such accountability and an opportunity to prioritize and focus transportation revenues to programs that maximize the value of the public's transportation resources and revenues.

The objective of this chapter is to require that the major transportation agencies submit performance-based budgets for the 1997‑'99 biennium to the governor and the legislature. The major transportation agencies are the department of transportation, the Washington state patrol, and the department of licensing.

This chapter provides the framework for the legislature, governor, major transportation agencies, and the citizens of the state to more fully understand the transportation programs and their goals, objectives, and effectiveness.

It is the intent of this chapter that agencies will be exempt from some aspects of the current budget submittal process that requires an enormous amount of detail for budget requests from agencies and the governor.

This chapter capitalizes upon activities currently being performed by the major transportation agencies: Strategic planning, cost accounting, performance measure establishment, quality initiatives, and participation in the transportation executive information system.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. STRATEGIC PLANNING. A major transportation agency shall submit a strategic plan with its agency request budget. The strategic plan must at a minimum include a six-year outlook and provide for specific functions and activities. The strategic plans submitted by major transportation agencies will serve as the focus for agency operations. It will also serve as the basis for the agency to request and account for, the governor to recommend, the legislature to appropriate money and approve programs, and the citizens to understand transportation agencies' programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. COST ACCOUNTING. The agencies shall use their cost accounting systems in preparing detailed information in support of agency programs during the budget submittal process and the monitoring process. Where practical, cost accounting information must be used to measure the unit costs of agency activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. PERFORMANCE MEASURE ESTABLISHMENT. The agencies shall establish performance measures that measure activities identified in the strategic plan and shall project them for six years. In addition, they shall provide historical information on those performance measures. The agencies shall establish performance measures for the major activities of each subprogram.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. PERFORMANCE BUDGET DEVELOPMENT--LINKAGE TO STRATEGIC PLAN. The agencies' decision packages must be linked to their strategic plans.

It is the intent of this chapter that each agency consider the name of each program, subprogram, and major activity to ensure that the name is clear and understandable to a lay person.

It is the intent of this chapter that each decision package clearly delineate the level of service to be enhanced or created.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. EXEMPTION TO CURRENT BUDGET PREPARATION PROCESS. The agencies shall adhere to the governor's budget instructions. The budget instructions must include exemption from the current budget submittal process in order to provide the agencies the time to prepare performance-based budgets and decision packages.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. MANAGEMENT QUALITY INITIATIVES. The agencies shall submit as part of the strategic plan required as part of the budget submittal the plans for quality initiatives and self‑assessment. They shall also offer the governor and the legislature means by which the governor and the legislature shall perform external reviews of the agencies' programs, in addition to the current oversight techniques employed by the governor and the legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION REVIEW. The advisory committee created in section 9 of this act shall establish means of reviewing all transportation programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. PERFORMANCE BUDGETING ADVISORY COMMITTEE. An advisory committee to implement the Transportation Performance Budget Act of 1996 is created. A steering committee of leadership from the legislative transportation committee, the governor, the director of financial management, and the directors of the major transportation agencies is created to guide this effort. The steering committee shall designate appropriate staff of the governor, office of financial management, the legislative transportation committee, and the major transportation agencies to develop the specific methods of implementing this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. CAPITALIZATION ON CURRENT ACTIVITIES. This chapter does not require an agency to develop a new strategic plan, cost accounting system, establish new performance measures, or management quality initiatives in place of current activities that meet the intent of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Section captions used in this act are not part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 11 of this act are a new chapter in Title 47 RCW.