BILL REQ. #: H-3740.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/27/12. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
AN ACT Relating to intermediate capital projects and minor works; and amending RCW 43.88.110.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 43.88.110 and 2009 c 518 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
This section sets forth the expenditure programs and the allotment
and reserve procedures to be followed by the executive branch for
public funds.
(1) Allotments of an appropriation for any fiscal period shall
conform to the terms, limits, or conditions of the appropriation.
(2) The director of financial management shall provide all agencies
with a complete set of operating and capital instructions for preparing
a statement of proposed expenditures at least thirty days before the
beginning of a fiscal period. The set of instructions need not include
specific appropriation amounts for the agency.
(3) Within forty-five days after the beginning of the fiscal period
or within forty-five days after the governor signs the omnibus biennial
appropriations act, whichever is later, all agencies shall submit to
the governor a statement of proposed expenditures at such times and in
such form as may be required by the governor.
(4) The office of financial management shall develop a method for
monitoring capital appropriations and expenditures that will capture at
least the following elements:
(a) Appropriations made for capital projects including
transportation projects;
(b) Estimates of total project costs including past, current,
ensuing, and future biennial costs;
(c) Comparisons of actual costs to estimated costs;
(d) Comparisons of estimated construction start and completion
dates with actual dates;
(e) Documentation of fund shifts between projects.
This data may be incorporated into the existing accounting system
or into a separate project management system, as deemed appropriate by
the office of financial management.
(5) The office of financial management, prior to approving
allotments for major capital construction projects valued over five
million dollars, with the exception of projects at institutions of
higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, which may be valued up
to ten million dollars, shall institute procedures for reviewing such
projects at the predesign stage that will reduce long-term costs and
increase facility efficiency. The procedures shall include, but not be
limited to, the following elements:
(a) Evaluation of facility program requirements and consistency
with long-range plans;
(b) Utilization of a system of cost, quality, and performance
standards to compare major capital construction projects; and
(c) A requirement to incorporate value-engineering analysis and
constructability review into the project schedule.
(6) No expenditure may be incurred or obligation entered into for
such major capital construction projects including, without exception,
land acquisition, site development, predesign, design, construction,
and equipment acquisition and installation, until the allotment of the
funds to be expended has been approved by the office of financial
management. This limitation does not prohibit the continuation of
expenditures and obligations into the succeeding biennium for projects
for which allotments have been approved in the immediate prior
biennium.
(7) Minor works projects, as defined by the office of financial
management, may be valued up to five million dollars for institutions
of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016.
(8) If at any time during the fiscal period the governor projects
a cash deficit in a particular fund or account as defined by RCW
43.88.050, the governor shall make across-the-board reductions in
allotments for that particular fund or account so as to prevent a cash
deficit, unless the legislature has directed the liquidation of the
cash deficit over one or more fiscal periods. Except for the
legislative and judicial branches and other agencies headed by elective
officials, the governor shall review the statement of proposed
operating expenditures for reasonableness and conformance with
legislative intent. The governor may request corrections of proposed
allotments submitted by the legislative and judicial branches and
agencies headed by elective officials if those proposed allotments
contain significant technical errors. Once the governor approves the
proposed allotments, further revisions may at the request of the office
of financial management or upon the agency's initiative be made on a
quarterly basis and must be accompanied by an explanation of the
reasons for significant changes. However, changes in appropriation
level authorized by the legislature, changes required by across-the-board reductions mandated by the governor, changes caused by executive
increases to spending authority, and changes caused by executive
decreases to spending authority for failure to comply with the
provisions of chapter 36.70A RCW may require additional revisions.
Revisions shall not be made retroactively. However, the governor may
assign to a reserve status any portion of an agency appropriation
withheld as part of across-the-board reductions made by the governor
and any portion of an agency appropriation conditioned on a contingent
event by the appropriations act. The governor may remove these amounts
from reserve status if the across-the-board reductions are subsequently
modified or if the contingent event occurs. The director of financial
management shall enter approved statements of proposed expenditures
into the state budgeting, accounting, and reporting system within
forty-five days after receipt of the proposed statements from the
agencies. If an agency or the director of financial management is
unable to meet these requirements, the director of financial management
shall provide a timely explanation in writing to the legislative fiscal
committees.
(((8))) (9) It is expressly provided that all agencies shall be
required to maintain accounting records and to report thereon in the
manner prescribed in this chapter and under the regulations issued
pursuant to this chapter. Within ninety days of the end of the fiscal
year, all agencies shall submit to the director of financial management
their final adjustments to close their books for the fiscal year.
Prior to submitting fiscal data, written or oral, to committees of the
legislature, it is the responsibility of the agency submitting the data
to reconcile it with the budget and accounting data reported by the
agency to the director of financial management.
(((9))) (10) The director of financial management may exempt
certain public funds from the allotment controls established under this
chapter if it is not practical or necessary to allot the funds.
Allotment control exemptions expire at the end of the fiscal biennium
for which they are granted. The director of financial management shall
report any exemptions granted under this subsection to the legislative
fiscal committees.