READ FIRST TIME 03/08/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to the economic development strategic reserve account; amending RCW 67.70.190; and adding a new section to chapter 43.330 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The economic development strategic reserve account is created in the state treasury to be used only for the purposes of this section.
     (2) Only the governor, with the recommendation of the director of the department of community, trade, and economic development and the economic development commission, may authorize expenditures from the account.
     (3) Expenditures from the account shall be made in an amount sufficient to fund a minimum of one staff position for the economic development commission and to cover any other operational costs of the commission.
     (4) Expenditures from the account may be made to prevent closure of a business or facility, to prevent relocation of a business or facility in the state to a location outside the state, or to recruit a business or facility to the state. Expenditures may be authorized for:
     (a) Work force development;
     (b) Public infrastructure needed to support or sustain the operations of the business or facility; and
     (c) Other lawfully provided assistance, including, but not limited to, technical assistance, environmental analysis, relocation assistance, and planning assistance. Funding may be provided for such assistance only when it is in the public interest and may only be provided under a contractual arrangement ensuring that the state will receive appropriate consideration, such as an assurance of job creation or retention.
     (5) The funds shall not be expended from the account unless:
     (a) The circumstances are such that time does not permit the director of the department of community, trade, and economic development or the business or facility to secure funding from other state sources;
     (b) The business or facility produces or will produce significant long-term economic benefits to the state, a region of the state, or a particular community in the state;
     (c) The business or facility does not require continuing state support;
     (d) The expenditure will result in new jobs, job retention, or higher incomes for citizens of the state;
     (e) The expenditure will not supplant private investment; and
     (f) The expenditure is accompanied by private investment.
     (6) No more than three million dollars per year may be expended from the account for the purpose of assisting an individual business or facility pursuant to the authority specified in this section.
     (7) If the account balance in the strategic reserve account exceeds fifteen million dollars at any time, the amount in excess of fifteen million dollars shall be transferred to the education construction account.

Sec. 2   RCW 67.70.190 and 1994 c 218 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unclaimed prizes shall be retained in the state lottery account for the person entitled thereto for one hundred eighty days after the drawing in which the prize is won, or after the official end of the game for instant prizes. If no claim is made for the prize within this time, all rights to the prize shall be extinguished, and the prize shall be retained in the state lottery fund for further use as prizes, ((and all rights to the prize shall be extinguished)) except that one-third of all unclaimed prize money shall be deposited in the economic development strategic reserve account created in section 1 of this act.