AN
ACT Relating to temporary amendments to the state's expenditure limitations to
address the revenue shortfall in the 2001-2003 biennium; reenacting and
amending RCW 43.135.035 and 43.135.045; providing an expiration date; and
declaring an emergency.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.135.035 and 2001 c 3 s 8 (Initiative Measure No. 728) and 2000 2nd sp.s. c 2
s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1)
After July 1, 1995, any action or combination of actions by the legislature
that raises state revenue or requires revenue-neutral tax shifts may be taken
only if approved by a two-thirds vote of each house, and then only if state
expenditures in any fiscal year, including the new revenue, will not exceed the
state expenditure limits established under this chapter. However, during
the 2001-2003 biennium, any action or combination of actions by the legislature
that raises state revenue or requires revenue-neutral tax shifts may be taken
only if approved by a majority vote of each house, and then only if state
expenditures in any fiscal year, including the new revenue, will not exceed the
state expenditure limits established under this chapter.
(2)(a)
If the legislative action under subsection (1) of this section will result in
expenditures in excess of the state expenditure limit, then the action of the
legislature shall not take effect until approved by a vote of the people at a
November general election. The office of financial management shall adjust the
state expenditure limit by the amount of additional revenue approved by the
voters under this section. This adjustment shall not exceed the amount of
revenue generated by the legislative action during the first full fiscal year
in which it is in effect. The state expenditure limit shall be adjusted
downward upon expiration or repeal of the legislative action.
(b)
The ballot title for any vote of the people required under this section shall
be substantially as follows:
"Shall
taxes be imposed on . . . . . . . in order to
allow a spending increase above last year's authorized spending adjusted for
inflation and population increases?"
(3)(a)
The state expenditure limit may be exceeded upon declaration of an emergency
for a period not to exceed twenty-four months by a law approved by a two-thirds
vote of each house of the legislature and signed by the governor. The law
shall set forth the nature of the emergency, which is limited to natural
disasters that require immediate government action to alleviate human suffering
and provide humanitarian assistance. The state expenditure limit may be
exceeded for no more than twenty-four months following the declaration of the
emergency and only for the purposes contained in the emergency declaration.
(b)
Additional taxes required for an emergency under this section may be imposed
only until thirty days following the next general election, unless an extension
is approved at that general election. The additional taxes shall expire upon
expiration of the declaration of emergency. The legislature shall not impose
additional taxes for emergency purposes under this subsection unless funds in
the education construction fund have been exhausted.
(c)
The state or any political subdivision of the state shall not impose any tax on
intangible property listed in RCW 84.36.070 as that statute exists on January
1, 1993.
(4)
If the cost of any state program or function is shifted from the state general
fund on or after January 1, 1993, to another source of funding, or if moneys
are transferred from the state general fund to another fund or account, the
state expenditure limit committee, acting pursuant to RCW 43.135.025(5), shall
lower the state expenditure limit to reflect the shift. For the purposes of
this section, a transfer of money from the state general fund to another fund
or account includes any state legislative action taken after July 1, 2000, that
has the effect of reducing revenues from a particular source, where such
revenues would otherwise be deposited into the state general fund, while
increasing the revenues from that particular source to another state or local
government account. This subsection does not apply to the dedication or use of
lottery revenues under RCW 67.70.240(3) or property taxes under RCW 84.52.068,
in support of education or education expenditures.
(5)
If the cost of any state program or function is shifted to the state general
fund on or after January 1, 2000, from another source of funding, or if moneys
are transferred to the state general fund from another fund or account, the
state expenditure limit committee, acting pursuant to RCW 43.135.025(5), shall
increase the state expenditure limit to reflect the shift.
Sec.
2. RCW
43.135.045 and 2001 c 3 s 9 (Initiative Measure No. 728), 2000 2nd sp.s. c 5 s
1, and 2000 2nd sp.s. c 2 s 3 are each reenacted and amended to read as
follows:
(1)
The emergency reserve fund is established in the state treasury. During each
fiscal year, the state treasurer shall deposit in the emergency reserve fund
all general fund‑-state revenues in excess of the state expenditure limit
for that fiscal year. Deposits shall be made at the end of each fiscal quarter
based on projections of state revenues and the state expenditure limit. The
treasurer shall make transfers between these accounts as necessary to reconcile
actual annual revenues and the expenditure limit for fiscal year 2000 and
thereafter.
(2)
The legislature may appropriate moneys from the emergency reserve fund only
with approval of at least two-thirds of the members of each house of the
legislature, and then only if the appropriation does not cause total
expenditures to exceed the state expenditure limit under this chapter. However,
during the 2001-2003 biennium, the legislature may transfer moneys from the
emergency reserve fund to the general fund only with approval of a majority of
the members of each house of the legislature, and then only if the
appropriation does not cause total expenditures to exceed the state expenditure
limit under this chapter.
(3)
The emergency reserve fund balance shall not exceed five percent of annual
general fund‑-state revenues as projected by the official state revenue
forecast. Any balance in excess of five percent shall be transferred on a
quarterly basis by the state treasurer as follows: Seventy-five percent to the
student achievement fund hereby created in the state treasury and twenty-five
percent to the general fund balance. The treasurer shall make transfers
between these accounts as necessary to reconcile actual annual revenues for
fiscal year 2000 and thereafter. When per-student state funding for the
maintenance and operation of K-12 education meets a level of no less than
ninety percent of the national average of total funding from all sources per
student as determined by the most recent published data from the national
center for education statistics of the United States department of education,
as calculated by the office of financial management, further deposits to the
student achievement fund shall be required only to the extent necessary to
maintain the ninety-percent level. Remaining funds are part of the general
fund balance and these funds are subject to the expenditure limits of this
chapter.
(4)
The education construction fund is hereby created in the state treasury.
(a)
Funds may be appropriated from the education construction fund exclusively for
common school construction or higher education construction.
(b)
Funds may be appropriated for any other purpose only if approved by a
two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature and if approved by a vote of
the people at the next general election. An appropriation approved by the
people under this subsection shall result in an adjustment to the state
expenditure limit only for the fiscal period for which the appropriation is
made and shall not affect any subsequent fiscal period.
(5)
Funds from the student achievement fund shall be appropriated to the
superintendent of public instruction strictly for distribution to school
districts to meet the provisions set out in the student achievement act.
Allocations shall be made on an equal per full-time equivalent student basis to
each school district.
(6)
Earnings of the emergency reserve fund under RCW 43.84.092(4)(a) shall be
transferred quarterly to the multimodal transportation account, except for
those earnings that are in excess of thirty-five million dollars each fiscal
year. Within thirty days following any fiscal year in which earnings
transferred to the multimodal transportation account under this subsection did
not total thirty-five million dollars, the state treasurer shall transfer from
the emergency reserve fund an amount necessary to bring the total deposited in
the multimodal transportation account under this subsection to thirty-five
million dollars. The revenues to the multimodal transportation account
reflected in this subsection provide ongoing support for the transportation
programs of the state. However, it is the intent of the legislature that any
new long-term financial support that may be subsequently provided for
transportation programs will be used to replace and supplant the revenues
reflected in this subsection, thereby allowing those revenues to be returned to
the purposes to which they were previously dedicated.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. This
act expires June 30, 2003.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. 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 takes effect immediately.
