BILL REQ. #:  S-0182.1 

Read first time 01/15/09.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to repealing chapter 385, Laws of 2005; creating a new section; and repealing RCW 43.09.430, 43.09.435, 43.09.440, 43.09.445, 43.09.450, 43.09.455, 43.09.460, 43.88.162, and 2.56.200.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Washington citizens demand and deserve accountability for the performance of government programs.
     In the 2005 legislative session, the legislature created a citizen advisory board to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in state government. The state auditor serves as a nonvoting member of this board. The board is to develop a work plan and timeline for conducting performance audits of state government, and the state auditor is to contract out for these performance audits. This legislation became effective in July 2005.
     In November 2005, Washington's voters approved Initiative 900, which also separately directs the state auditor to conduct independent, comprehensive performance audits of state and local government.
     The legislature finds that these actions by the legislature and the voters created two separate statutory directives for performance auditing by the state auditor. Both requirements remain in current law. This has resulted in conflicting and redundant statutory directives.
     It is the intent of this act to repeal the citizen advisory board and related statutes enacted in the 2005 legislative session in order to remove these redundancies and conflicts, and to clarify the state auditor's role and authority for conducting performance audits.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
     (1) RCW 43.09.430 (Performance audits -- Definitions) and 2005 c 385 s 2;
     (2) RCW 43.09.435 (Performance audits -- Citizen advisory board) and 2005 c 385 s 3;
     (3) RCW 43.09.440 (Performance audits -- Collaboration with joint legislative audit and review committee -- Criteria -- Statewide performance review -- Contracting out -- Release of audit reports) and 2005 c 385 s 5;
     (4) RCW 43.09.445 (Performance audits -- Local jurisdictions) and 2005 c 385 s 6;
     (5) RCW 43.09.450 (Performance audits -- Audit of performance audit program) and 2005 c 385 s 8;
     (6) RCW 43.09.455 (Performance audits -- Follow-up and corrective action -- Progress reports) and 2005 c 385 s 9;
     (7) RCW 43.09.460 (Performance audits -- Appropriation -- Budget request) and 2005 c 385 s 11;
     (8) RCW 43.88.162 (State auditor's powers and duties--Performance audits) and 2005 c 385 s 7; and
     (9) RCW 2.56.200 (Performance audits) and 2005 c 385 s 10.