H-4300.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2361

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2002 Regular Session

By House Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Representatives Fisher, Hatfield, Hankins, Lovick, Edwards and Kenney; by request of Department of Licensing)

Read first time 02/11/2002.  Referred to Committee on .

Authorizing department of licensing publications to include advertising.

    AN ACT Relating to authorization for the department of licensing to include advertising in its publications; and adding a new section to chapter 46.01 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 46.01 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The department may sell advertising or enter into agreements for the purpose of selling advertising for inclusion in any of its publications, materials, or mailings.

    (2) The department may enter into agreements for the distribution of third-party publications or other materials related to its mission of protecting and enhancing the public safety and welfare in the areas it licenses and regulates that may contain commercial advertisements or logos.

    (3) The department shall retain the right by agreement to approve advertising content to ensure that the products or services are harmonious with the subject matter of the publication and are not inconsistent with the department's mission to promote public safety.  The director shall deny any advertisement that includes content that may be interpreted as contrary to the agency's mission or may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency or that would be misleading.  Any public information materials that include advertising of any kind must provide a statement that inclusion of the materials does not constitute an endorsement by the state or the agency of the products or services so advertised.

    (4) The department shall deposit proceeds from advertising appearing in publications, materials, and mailings related to the driver services program into the highway safety fund.  Expenditure from these proceeds must be appropriated.

    (5) The department shall deposit proceeds from advertising appearing in publications, materials, and mailings related to the vehicle services program into the motor vehicle account.  Expenditure from these proceeds must be appropriated.

    (6) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section.

    (7) The department must report back to the transportation committees by no later than January 31, 2003, and January 31, 2004, on the status of implementing the provisions of this section.  The status report must, at a minimum, address the agency's advertisement plan which must include, but not be limited to, information on the sources and the subjects of the advertising the department is accepting, the amount of advertising revenue generated to date, and information on any feedback provided by the general public regarding the use of advertising.

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