BILL REQ. #:  Z-1057.1 

Read first time 01/20/2004.   Referred to Committee on Trade & Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to clarifying the authority of the community economic revitalization board to make loans and grants to eligible federally recognized Indian tribes in rural counties and rural natural resources impact areas eligible for assistance under the rural program; amending RCW 43.160.020 and 43.160.200; and reenacting and amending RCW 43.160.060.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.160.020 and 1999 c 164 s 102 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Board" means the community economic revitalization board.
     (2) "Bond" means any bond, note, debenture, interim certificate, or other evidence of financial indebtedness issued by the board pursuant to this chapter.
     (3) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.
     (4) "Financial institution" means any bank, savings and loan association, credit union, development credit corporation, insurance company, investment company, trust company, savings institution, or other financial institution approved by the board and maintaining an office in the state.
     (5) "Industrial development facilities" means "industrial development facilities" as defined in RCW 39.84.020.
     (6) "Industrial development revenue bonds" means tax-exempt revenue bonds used to fund industrial development facilities.
     (7) "Local government" or "political subdivision" means any port district, county, city, town, special purpose district, and any other municipal corporations or quasi-municipal corporations in the state providing for public facilities under this chapter.
     (8) "Sponsor" means any of the following entities which customarily provide service or otherwise aid in industrial or other financing and are approved as a sponsor by the board: A bank, trust company, savings bank, investment bank, national banking association, savings and loan association, building and loan association, credit union, insurance company, or any other financial institution, governmental agency, or holding company of any entity specified in this subsection.
     (9) "Umbrella bonds" means industrial development revenue bonds from which the proceeds are loaned, transferred, or otherwise made available to two or more users under this chapter.
     (10) "User" means one or more persons acting as lessee, purchaser, mortgagor, or borrower under a financing document and receiving or applying to receive revenues from bonds issued under this chapter.
     (11) "Public facilities" means a project of a local government or a federally recognized Indian tribe for the planning, acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, or improvement of bridges, roads, domestic and industrial water, earth stabilization, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, railroad, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, natural gas, buildings or structures, and port facilities, all for the purpose of job creation, job retention, or job expansion.
     (12) "Rural county" means a county with a population density of fewer than one hundred persons per square mile as determined by the office of financial management.
     (13) "Rural natural resources impact area" means:
     (a) A nonmetropolitan county, as defined by the 1990 decennial census, that meets three of the five criteria set forth in subsection (14) of this section;
     (b) A nonmetropolitan county with a population of less than forty thousand in the 1990 decennial census, that meets two of the five criteria as set forth in subsection (14) of this section; or
     (c) A nonurbanized area, as defined by the 1990 decennial census, that is located in a metropolitan county that meets three of the five criteria set forth in subsection (14) of this section.
     (14) For the purposes of designating rural natural resources impact areas, the following criteria shall be considered:
     (a) A lumber and wood products employment location quotient at or above the state average;
     (b) A commercial salmon fishing employment location quotient at or above the state average;
     (c) Projected or actual direct lumber and wood products job losses of one hundred positions or more;
     (d) Projected or actual direct commercial salmon fishing job losses of one hundred positions or more; and
     (e) An unemployment rate twenty percent or more above the state average. The counties that meet these criteria shall be determined by the employment security department for the most recent year for which data is available. For the purposes of administration of programs under this chapter, the United States post office five-digit zip code delivery areas will be used to determine residence status for eligibility purposes. For the purpose of this definition, a zip code delivery area of which any part is ten miles or more from an urbanized area is considered nonurbanized. A zip code totally surrounded by zip codes qualifying as nonurbanized under this definition is also considered nonurbanized. The office of financial management shall make available a zip code listing of the areas to all agencies and organizations providing services under this chapter.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.160.060 and 2002 c 242 s 4 and 2002 c 239 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The board is authorized to make direct loans to political subdivisions of the state and to federally recognized Indian tribes for the purposes of assisting the political subdivisions and federally recognized Indian tribes in financing the cost of public facilities, including development of land and improvements for public facilities, project-specific environmental, capital facilities, land use, permitting, feasibility, and marketing studies and plans; project design, site planning, and analysis; project debt and revenue impact analysis; as well as the construction, rehabilitation, alteration, expansion, or improvement of the facilities. A grant may also be authorized for purposes designated in this chapter, but only when, and to the extent that, a loan is not reasonably possible, given the limited resources of the political subdivision or the federally recognized Indian tribe and the finding by the board that financial circumstances require grant assistance to enable the project to move forward. However, at least ten percent of all financial assistance provided by the board in any biennium shall consist of grants to political subdivisions and federally recognized Indian tribes.
     Application for funds shall be made in the form and manner as the board may prescribe. In making grants or loans the board shall conform to the following requirements:
     (1) The board shall not provide financial assistance:
     (a) For a project the primary purpose of which is to facilitate or promote a retail shopping development or expansion.
     (b) For any project that evidence exists would result in a development or expansion that would displace existing jobs in any other community in the state.
     (c) For the acquisition of real property, including buildings and other fixtures which are a part of real property.
     (d) For a project the primary purpose of which is to facilitate or promote gambling.
     (2) The board shall only provide financial assistance:
     (a) For those projects which would result in specific private developments or expansions (i) in manufacturing, production, food processing, assembly, warehousing, advanced technology, research and development, and industrial distribution; (ii) for processing recyclable materials or for facilities that support recycling, including processes not currently provided in the state, including but not limited to, de-inking facilities, mixed waste paper, plastics, yard waste, and problem-waste processing; (iii) for manufacturing facilities that rely significantly on recyclable materials, including but not limited to waste tires and mixed waste paper; (iv) which support the relocation of businesses from nondistressed urban areas to rural counties or rural natural resources impact areas; or (v) which substantially support the trading of goods or services outside of the state's borders.
     (b) For projects which it finds will improve the opportunities for the successful maintenance, establishment, or expansion of industrial or commercial plants or will otherwise assist in the creation or retention of long-term economic opportunities.
     (c) When the application includes convincing evidence that a specific private development or expansion is ready to occur and will occur only if the public facility improvement is made.
     (3) The board shall prioritize each proposed project according to:
     (a) The relative benefits provided to the community by the jobs the project would create, not just the total number of jobs it would create after the project is completed and according to the unemployment rate in the area in which the jobs would be located; and
     (b) The rate of return of the state's investment, that includes the expected increase in state and local tax revenues associated with the project.
     (4) A responsible official of the political subdivision or the federally recognized Indian tribe shall be present during board deliberations and provide information that the board requests.
     Before any financial assistance application is approved, the political subdivision or the federally recognized Indian tribe seeking the assistance must demonstrate to the community economic revitalization board that no other timely source of funding is available to it at costs reasonably similar to financing available from the community economic revitalization board.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.160.200 and 1999 c 164 s 107 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The economic development account is created within the public facilities construction loan revolving fund under RCW 43.160.080. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes of RCW 43.160.010(5) and this section. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW.
     (2) Applications under this section for assistance from the economic development account are subject to all of the applicable criteria set forth under this chapter, as well as procedures and criteria established by the board, except as otherwise provided.
     (3) Eligible applicants under this section are limited to political subdivisions of the state and federally recognized Indian tribes in rural natural resources impact areas and rural counties.
     (4) Applicants must demonstrate that their request is part of an economic development plan consistent with applicable state planning requirements. Applicants must demonstrate that tourism projects have been approved by the local government or federally recognized Indian tribe. Industrial projects must be approved by the local government and the associate development organization, or by the federally recognized Indian tribe.
     (5) Publicly owned projects may be financed under this section upon proof by the applicant that the public project is a necessary component of, or constitutes in whole, a tourism project.
     (6) Applications must demonstrate local match and participation. Such match may include: Land donation, other public or private funds or both, or other means of local commitment to the project.
     (7) Board financing for project-specific environmental, capital facilities, land use, permitting, feasibility(([,])), and marketing studies and plans; project engineering, design, and site planning and analysis; and project debt and revenue impact analysis shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars per study. Board funds for these purposes may be provided as a grant and require a match.
     (8) Board financing for tourism projects shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Other public facility construction projects under this section shall not exceed one million dollars. Loans with flexible terms and conditions to meet the needs of the applicants shall be provided. Grants may also be authorized, but only when, and to the extent that, a loan is not reasonably possible, given the limited resources of the political subdivision or the federally recognized Indian tribe.
     (9) The board shall develop guidelines for allowable local match and planning and predevelopment activities.
     (10) The board may allow de minimis general system improvements to be funded if they are critically linked to the viability of the economic development project assisted under this section.
     (11) Applications under this section need not demonstrate evidence that specific private development or expansion is ready to occur or will occur if funds are provided.
     (12) The board shall establish guidelines for providing financial assistance under this section to ensure that the requirements of this chapter are complied with. The guidelines shall include:
     (a) A process to equitably compare and evaluate applications from competing communities.
     (b) Criteria to ensure that approved projects will have a high probability of success and are likely to provide long-term economic benefits to the community. The criteria shall include: (i) A minimum amount of local participation, determined by the board per application, to verify community support for the project; (ii) an analysis that establishes the project is feasible using standard economic principles; and (iii) an explanation from the applicant regarding how the project is consistent with the communities' economic strategy and goals.
     (c) A method of evaluating the impact of the financial assistance on the economy of the community and whether the financial assistance achieved its purpose.