BILL REQ. #:  Z-0742.2 

Read first time 04/03/09.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to reducing the administrative cost of state government; amending 2009 c 5 ss 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (uncodified); adding a new section to 2009 c 5 (uncodified); creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   2009 c 5 s 6 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     STATE EMPLOYMENT. (1) From February 18, 2009, until July 1, 2009, and consistent with the governor's directive dated August 4, 2008, state agencies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches shall not establish new staff positions or fill vacant existing staff positions except as specifically authorized by this section.
     (2) The following activities of state agencies are exempt from subsection (1) of this section:
     (a) Direct custody, supervision, and patient care in corrections, juvenile rehabilitation, institutional care of veterans, the mentally ill, developmentally disabled, state hospitals, the special commitment center, and the schools for the blind and the deaf;
     (b) Direct protective services to children and other vulnerable populations in the department of social and health services;
     (c) Washington state patrol investigative services and field enforcement;
     (d) Hazardous materials response and emergency cleanup;
     (e) Emergency public health and patient safety response and the public health laboratory;
     (f) Military operations and emergency management within the military department;
     (g) Firefighting;
     (h) Enforcement officers in the department of fish and wildlife, the liquor control board, the gambling commission, and the department of natural resources;
     (i) Park rangers at the parks and recreation commission;
     (j) Seasonal employment by natural resources agencies to the extent that employment levels do not exceed the prior fiscal year;
     (k) Seasonal employment in the department of transportation maintenance programs to the extent that employment levels do not exceed the prior fiscal year;
     (l) Employees hired on a seasonal basis by the department of agriculture for inspection and certification of agricultural products and for insect detection;
     (m) Activities directly related to tax and fee collection, revenue generation, auditing, and recovery;
     (n) In institutions of higher education, any positions directly related to academic programs, ((as well as)) positions not funded from state funds or tuition, positions that are filled by enrolled students at their own institution as student workers, positions in campus police and security, positions related to emergency management and response, and positions related to student health care and counseling;
     (o) Operations of the state lottery and liquor control board business enterprises;
     (p) The unemployment insurance program of the employment security department; and
     (q) Activities that are necessary to receive or maintain federal funds by the state.
     (3) The exemptions specified in subsection (2) of this section do not require the establishment of new staff positions or the filling of vacant existing staff positions in the activities specified.
     (4) Exceptions to this section may be granted under section 10, chapter 5, Laws of 2009 and section 5 of this act.

Sec. 2   2009 c 5 s 7 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     PERSONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS. From February 18, 2009, until July 1, 2009, and consistent with the governor's directive dated August 4, 2008, state agencies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches shall not enter into any contracts or other agreements for the acquisition of personal services not related to an emergency or other catastrophic event that requires government action to protect life or public safety. This section does not apply to personal services contracts or other agreements for the acquisition of personal services where the costs are funded exclusively from private or federal grants, where the costs are for tax and fee collection, where the costs are for revenue generation and auditing activities, where the costs are necessary to receive or maintain federal funds by the state, or, in institutions of higher education, where the costs are not funded from state funds or tuition, or where costs are related to hearing officers, where costs are related to real estate appraisals or habitat assessments, where costs are related to carrying out a court order, or where costs are related to information technology contracts related to an information services board approved information technology project, or where costs are related to judicial information system technology projects. Exceptions to this section may be granted under section 10, chapter 5, Laws of 2009 and section 5 of this act. This section does not apply to the unemployment insurance program of the employment security department.

Sec. 3   2009 c 5 s 8 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     EQUIPMENT PURCHASES. From February 18, 2009, until July 1, 2009, and consistent with the governor's directive dated August 4, 2008, state agencies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches shall not enter into any contracts or other agreements for the acquisition of any item of equipment the cost of which exceeds five thousand dollars and is not related to an emergency or other catastrophic event that requires government action to protect life or public safety. This section does not apply to costs that are funded exclusively from private or federal grants. Exceptions to this section may be granted under section 10, chapter 5, Laws of 2009 and section 5 of this act. This section does not apply to the unemployment insurance program of the employment security department, to costs that are for tax and fee collection, for revenue generation and audit activities, or for receiving or maintaining federal funds by the state, or, in institutions of higher education, to costs not funded from state funds or tuition, or for equipment necessary to complete a project funded in the omnibus capital or transportation appropriation acts, or the operational divisions of the department of information services, or cost related to the continuation, renewal, or establishment of maintenance for existing computer software licensing and existing computer hardware, or for costs related to the judicial information system.

Sec. 4   2009 c 5 s 9 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     STATE EMPLOYEE TRAVEL AND TRAINING. Consistent with the governor's directive dated August 4, 2008, state agencies of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches shall not make expenditures for the cost or reimbursement of out-of-state travel or out-of-state training by state employees where the travel or training is not related to (1) an emergency or other catastrophic event that requires government action to protect life or public safety, or (2) direct service delivery, and the travel or training occurs after February 18, 2009, and before July 1, 2009. This section does not apply to travel expenditures when the costs are funded exclusively from private or federal grants. Exceptions to this section may be granted under section 10, chapter 5, Laws of 2009 and section 5 of this act. This section does not apply to the unemployment insurance program of the employment security department, to costs that are for tax and fee collection, for revenue generation and audit activities, or for receiving or maintaining federal funds by the state, or, in institutions of higher education, to costs not funded from state funds or tuition, or to costs related to carrying out a court order or to costs to travel by air into Washington state from any airport located in a contiguous state of which the largest city is part of a metropolitan statistical area with a city located in Washington state, or to motor vehicle and parking costs for single day travel to a contiguous state or British Columbia, Canada.

Sec. 5   2009 c 5 s 10 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:
     EXCEPTIONS. (1) Exceptions to sections 6 through 9, chapter 5, Laws of 2009 may be granted for the critically necessary work of an agency as provided in this section.
     (2) For agencies of the executive branch, the exceptions shall be subject to approval by the director of financial management. For agencies of the judicial branch, the exceptions shall be subject to approval of the chief justice of the supreme court. For the house of representatives and the senate, the exceptions shall be subject to approval of the chief clerk of the house of representatives and the secretary of the senate, respectively, under the direction of the senate committee on facilities and operations and the executive rules committee of the house of representatives. For other legislative agencies, the exceptions shall be subject to approval of both the chief clerk of the house of representatives and the secretary of the senate under the direction of the senate committee on facilities and operations and the executive rules committee of the house of representatives.
     (3) ((Exceptions approved under subsection (2) of this section shall take effect no sooner than five business days following notification of the chair and ranking minority member of the ways and means committees in the house of representatives and the senate.)) The person approving exceptions under subsection (2) of this section shall send the exceptions to the legislature for consideration every ((thirty)) five days from February 18, 2009, or earlier should volume or circumstances so necessitate.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to 2009 c 5 (uncodified) to read as follows:
     Notwithstanding sections 1 through 5, chapter 5, Laws of 2009, institutions of higher education may grant a wage or salary increase to critical academic personnel as needed for retention purposes, for retention of critical personnel positions that are not funded from state funds or tuition, or for additional academic responsibilities during the summer quarter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Captions used in this act are not any part of the law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.