AN ACT Relating to
duties of the higher education coordinating board; amending RCW 28B.85.020,
42.17.310, and 28B.15.558; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28B.85.020 and 1994
c 38 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The board:
(((1))) (a)
Shall adopt by rule minimum standards for degree-granting institutions
concerning granting of degrees, quality of education, unfair business
practices, financial stability, and other necessary measures to protect
citizens of this state against substandard, fraudulent, or deceptive
practices. The board shall adopt the rules in accordance with chapter 34.05
RCW;
(((2))) (b)
May investigate any entity the board reasonably believes to be subject to the
jurisdiction of this chapter. In connection with the investigation, the board
may administer oaths and affirmations, issue subpoenas and compel attendance,
take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, correspondence,
memorandums, or other records which the board deems relevant or material to the
investigation. The board, including its staff and any other authorized
persons, may conduct site inspections and examine records of all institutions
subject to this chapter;
(((3))) (c)
Shall develop an interagency agreement with the work force training and
education coordinating board to regulate degree-granting private vocational
schools with respect to degree and nondegree programs.
(2) Financial
disclosures provided to the board by degree-granting private vocational schools
are not subject to public disclosure under chapter 42.17 RCW.
Sec. 2. RCW 42.17.310 and 1995 c
267 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The following are
exempt from public inspection and copying:
(a) Personal
information in any files maintained for students in public schools, patients or
clients of public institutions or public health agencies, or welfare
recipients.
(b) Personal
information in files maintained for employees, appointees, or elected officials
of any public agency to the extent that disclosure would violate their right to
privacy.
(c) Information
required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or collection of any
tax if the disclosure of the information to other persons would (i) be
prohibited to such persons by RCW 82.32.330 or (ii) violate the taxpayer's
right to privacy or result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the taxpayer.
(d) Specific
intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by
investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies
vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the
nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the
protection of any person's right to privacy.
(e) Information
revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims of crime or
who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies,
other than the public disclosure commission, if disclosure would endanger any
person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is
filed the complainant, victim or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or
nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints filed with
the public disclosure commission about any elected official or candidate for
public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath.
(f) Test questions,
scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a license,
employment, or academic examination.
(g) Except as provided
by chapter 8.26 RCW, the contents of real estate appraisals, made for or by any
agency relative to the acquisition or sale of property, until the project or
prospective sale is abandoned or until such time as all of the property has
been acquired or the property to which the sale appraisal relates is sold, but
in no event shall disclosure be denied for more than three years after the
appraisal.
(h) Valuable formulae,
designs, drawings, and research data obtained by any agency within five years
of the request for disclosure when disclosure would produce private gain and
public loss.
(i) Preliminary drafts,
notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memorandums in which opinions are
expressed or policies formulated or recommended except that a specific record
shall not be exempt when publicly cited by an agency in connection with any
agency action.
(j) Records which are
relevant to a controversy to which an agency is a party but which records would
not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for
causes pending in the superior courts.
(k) Records, maps, or
other information identifying the location of archaeological sites in order to
avoid the looting or depredation of such sites.
(l) Any library record,
the primary purpose of which is to maintain control of library materials, or to
gain access to information, which discloses or could be used to disclose the
identity of a library user.
(m) Financial
information supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, or corporation for the
purpose of qualifying to submit a bid or proposal for (i) a ferry system
construction or repair contract as required by RCW 47.60.680 through 47.60.750
or (ii) highway construction or improvement as required by RCW 47.28.070.
(n) Railroad company
contracts filed prior to July 28, 1991, with the utilities and transportation
commission under RCW 81.34.070, except that the summaries of the contracts are
open to public inspection and copying as otherwise provided by this chapter.
(o) Financial and
commercial information and records supplied by private persons pertaining to
export services provided pursuant to chapter 43.163 RCW and chapter 53.31 RCW.
(p) Financial
disclosures filed by private vocational schools under chapters 28B.85 and
28C.10 RCW.
(q) Records filed with
the utilities and transportation commission or attorney general under RCW
80.04.095 that a court has determined are confidential under RCW 80.04.095.
(r) Financial and
commercial information and records supplied by businesses or individuals during
application for loans or program services provided by chapters 43.163, 43.160,
43.330, and 43.168 RCW, or during application for economic development loans or
program services provided by any local agency.
(s) Membership lists or
lists of members or owners of interests of units in timeshare projects,
subdivisions, camping resorts, condominiums, land developments, or
common-interest communities affiliated with such projects, regulated by the
department of licensing, in the files or possession of the department.
(t) All applications
for public employment, including the names of applicants, resumes, and other
related materials submitted with respect to an applicant.
(u) The residential
addresses and residential telephone numbers of employees or volunteers of a
public agency which are held by the agency in personnel records, employment or
volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees or volunteers.
(v) The residential
addresses and residential telephone numbers of the customers of a public
utility contained in the records or lists held by the public utility of which
they are customers.
(w)(i) The federal
social security number of individuals governed under chapter 18.130 RCW
maintained in the files of the department of health, except this exemption does
not apply to requests made directly to the department from federal, state, and
local agencies of government, and national and state licensing, credentialing,
investigatory, disciplinary, and examination organizations; (ii) the current
residential address and current residential telephone number of a health care
provider governed under chapter 18.130 RCW maintained in the files of the
department, if the provider requests that this information be withheld from
public inspection and copying, and provides to the department an accurate
alternate or business address and business telephone number. On or after
January 1, 1995, the current residential address and residential telephone
number of a health care provider governed under RCW 18.130.140 maintained in
the files of the department shall automatically be withheld from public
inspection and copying if the provider has provided the department with an accurate
alternative or business address and telephone number.
(x) Information
obtained by the board of pharmacy as provided in RCW 69.45.090.
(y) Information
obtained by the board of pharmacy or the department of health and its
representatives as provided in RCW 69.41.044, 69.41.280, and 18.64.420.
(z) Financial
information, business plans, examination reports, and any information produced
or obtained in evaluating or examining a business and industrial development
corporation organized or seeking certification under chapter 31.24 RCW.
(aa) Financial and
commercial information supplied to the state investment board by any person
when the information relates to the investment of public trust or retirement
funds and when disclosure would result in loss to such funds or in private loss
to the providers of this information.
(bb) Financial and
valuable trade information under RCW 51.36.120.
(cc) Client records
maintained by an agency that is a domestic violence program as defined in RCW
70.123.020 or 70.123.075 or a rape crisis center as defined in RCW 70.125.030.
(dd) Information that
identifies a person who, while an agency employee: (i) Seeks advice, under an
informal process established by the employing agency, in order to ascertain his
or her rights in connection with a possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60
RCW against the person; and (ii) requests his or her identity or any
identifying information not be disclosed.
(ee) Investigative
records compiled by an employing agency conducting a current investigation of a
possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60 RCW or of a possible violation of
other federal, state, or local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment.
(ff) Business related
information protected from public inspection and copying under RCW 15.86.110.
(gg) Financial,
commercial, operations, and technical and research information and data
submitted to or obtained by the clean Washington center in applications for, or
delivery of, program services under chapter 70.95H RCW.
(hh) Information and
documents created specifically for, and collected and maintained by a quality
improvement committee pursuant to RCW 43.70.510, regardless of which agency is
in possession of the information and documents.
(2) Except for
information described in subsection (1)(c)(i) of this section and confidential
income data exempted from public inspection pursuant to RCW 84.40.020, the
exemptions of this section are inapplicable to the extent that information, the
disclosure of which would violate personal privacy or vital governmental
interests, can be deleted from the specific records sought. No exemption may
be construed to permit the nondisclosure of statistical information not
descriptive of any readily identifiable person or persons.
(3) Inspection or
copying of any specific records exempt under the provisions of this section may
be permitted if the superior court in the county in which the record is
maintained finds, after a hearing with notice thereof to every person in
interest and the agency, that the exemption of such records is clearly
unnecessary to protect any individual's right of privacy or any vital
governmental function.
(4) Agency responses
refusing, in whole or in part, inspection of any public record shall include a
statement of the specific exemption authorizing the withholding of the record
(or part) and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the record
withheld.
Sec. 3. RCW 28B.15.558 and 1992
c 231 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The governing
boards of the state universities, the regional universities, The Evergreen
State College, and the community colleges may waive all or a portion of the
tuition and services and activities fees for state employees as defined under
subsection (2) of this section pursuant to the following conditions:
(a) Such state
employees shall register for and be enrolled in courses on a space available
basis and no new course sections shall be created as a result of the
registration;
(b) Enrollment
information on state employees registered pursuant to this section shall be
maintained separately from other enrollment information and shall not be
included in official enrollment reports, nor shall such state employees be
considered in any enrollment statistics which would affect budgetary
determinations; and
(c) State employees
registering on a space available basis shall be charged a registration fee of
not less than five dollars.
(2) For the purposes of
this section, "state employees" means permanent ((full-time))
employees employed half-time or more in classified service under
chapter((s 28B.16 and)) 41.06 RCW; permanent employees employed
half-time or more who are governed by chapter 41.56 RCW pursuant to the
exercise of the option under RCW 41.56.201; permanent classified employees and
exempt paraprofessional employees of technical colleges employed half-time or
more; and nonacademic employees and members of the faculties and instructional
staff employed half-time or more at institutions of higher education as defined
in RCW 28B.10.016.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. Section 3 of this act is
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
5. If any provision of this
act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or
circumstances is not affected.
