BILL REQ. #:  H-2164.1 

READ FIRST TIME 3/10/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to the state poet laureate; reenacting and amending RCW 43.79A.040; adding new sections to chapter 43.46 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature wishes to recognize: The value of poetry and the contribution Washington poets make to the culture of our state; that poetry is a literary form respected and growing throughout all segments of Washington's population; that awareness and appreciation of poetry encourages increased literacy and advanced communication skills; and that Washington state has produced many excellent and nationally recognized poets.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.46 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The Washington state arts commission shall establish and administer the poet laureate program. The poet laureate shall engage in activities to promote and encourage poetry within the state, including but not limited to a minimum of twenty readings, workshops, lectures, and/or presentations for Washington educational institutions and communities in geographically diverse areas over a two-year term.
     (2) Selection of a poet laureate shall be made by a committee appointed and coordinated by the commission. The committee may include representatives of the Washington state library, the education community, the Washington commission for the humanities, publishing, and the community of Washington poets.
     (3) The commission and the committee shall establish criteria to be used for the selection of a poet laureate. In addition to other criteria established, the poet laureate must be a published poet, a resident of Washington state, active in the poetry community, and willing and able to promote poetry in the state of Washington throughout the two-year term.
     (4) The poet laureate shall receive compensation at a professional level for professional services and travel expenses. The commission shall determine the compensation. Travel expenses shall be provided in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (5) The poet laureate may not serve more than two consecutive two-year terms.
     (6) The commission may fund the poet laureate program through gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources that are made from time to time, in trust or otherwise.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.46 RCW to read as follows:
     The poet laureate account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts collected for the poet laureate program must be deposited into the account and expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes of this act. Only the executive director of the commission or the executive director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

Sec. 4   RCW 43.79A.040 and 2002 c 322 s 5, 2002 c 204 s 7, and 2002 c 61 s 6 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the state treasury.
     (2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust fund shall be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be known as the investment income account.
     (3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to financial institutions. Payments shall occur prior to distribution of earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer shall distribute the earnings credited to the investment income account to the state general fund except under (b) and (c) of this subsection.
     (b) The following accounts and funds shall receive their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The Washington promise scholarship account, the college savings program account, the Washington advanced college tuition payment program account, the agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment fund, the basic health plan self-insurance reserve account, the Washington state combined fund drive account, the Washington international exchange scholarship endowment fund, the developmental disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, the fair fund, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, the game farm alternative account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the juvenile accountability incentive account, the poet laureate account, the rural rehabilitation account, the stadium and exhibition center account, the youth athletic facility account, the self-insurance revolving fund, the sulfur dioxide abatement account, and the children's trust fund. However, the earnings to be distributed shall first be reduced by the allocation to the state treasurer's service fund pursuant to RCW 43.08.190.
     (c) The following accounts and funds shall receive eighty percent of their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance for the period: The advanced right of way revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving account, the city and county advance right-of-way revolving fund, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.
     (5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings without the specific affirmative directive of this section.