FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 1213

C 126 L 03

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Eliminating boards and commissions.

Sponsors: By House Committee on State Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Haigh, Armstrong, Morris, Hatfield, Linville, Ruderman and Rockefeller; by request of Governor Locke).

House Committee on State Government

Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections

Background:

The Governor and the Office of Financial Management are required to review state boards and commissions and, in every odd-numbered year, submit to the Legislature a recommended list of boards and commissions to be terminated or consolidated. During the 1995-1997 biennium, Washington had 381 boards and commissions, down from a high of 569 during the 1991-1993 biennium. During the 1999 legislative session, 33 boards, commissions, and committees were eliminated, and during the 2001 legislative session, seven boards, commissions, and committees were eliminated.

Summary:

The following boards, commissions, and committees are abolished, and related responsibilities of these entities are terminated:

•    Health Care Policy Technical Advisory Committee (Health Care Authority): Advises the Health Care Authority on effective approaches to cost control, quality assurance, and access to health care.

•    Governor's Small Business Improvement Council (Office of the Governor): Identifies regulatory, administrative, and legislative proposals that will improve the entrepreneurial environment for small businesses.

•    Rebuilding Families Advisory Committee (Department of Corrections): Provides community involvement in the planning, development, and implementation of programs at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

•    Independent Living Advisory Committee (Department of Services for the Blind): Provides guidance and direction to the Independent Living Program within the Department of Services for the Blind.

•    Ocean Spot Shrimp Emerging Fishery Advisory Board (Department of Fish and Wildlife): Helps construct options for limiting fishery participation/efforts and provides recommendations.

•    Water Trail Advisory Committee (Parks and Recreation Commission): Assists and advises the Parks and Recreation Commission in the development of water trail facilities and programs.

•    Community Outdoor Athletic Fields Advisory Council (Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation): Provides information and makes recommendations to the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation on the award of funds from the Youth Athletic Facility grant account.

•    Arthritis Advisory Group (Department of Health): Required as part of a two-year arthritis planning grant funded by the Center for Disease Control. Develops and helps implement a Washington arthritis action plan.

•    Committee on Taxation, and the Advisory Group to the Committee on Taxation (Legislature): Evaluated the current tax system.

Votes on Final Passage:

House 97  0

Senate 47  0    (Senate amended)

House 97  0    (House concurred)

Effective: July 1, 2003