Passed by the House February 25, 2011 Yeas 98   ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 12, 2011 Yeas 48   ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 1425 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/20/11. Referred to Committee on Higher Education.
AN ACT Relating to health sciences and services authorities; and amending RCW 35.104.040.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 35.104.040 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 33 s 2 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) The higher education coordinating board may approve
applications submitted by local governments for an area's designation
as a health sciences and services authority under this chapter. The
director must determine the division to review applications submitted
by local governments under this chapter. The application for
designation must be in the form and manner and contain such information
as the higher education coordinating board may prescribe, provided the
application:
(a) Contains sufficient information to enable the director to
determine the viability of the proposal;
(b) Demonstrates that an ordinance or resolution has been passed by
the legislative authority of a local government that delineates the
boundaries of an area that may be designated an authority;
(c) Is submitted on behalf of the local government, or, if that
office does not exist, by the legislative body of the local government;
(d) Demonstrates that the public funds directed to programs or
facilities in the authority will leverage private sector resources and
contributions to activities to be performed;
(e) Provides a plan or plans for the development of the authority
as an entity to advance as a cluster for health sciences education,
health sciences research, biotechnology development, biotechnology
product commercialization, and/or health care services; and
(f) Demonstrates that the state has previously provided funds to
health sciences and services programs or facilities in the applicant
city, town, or county.
(2) The director must determine the division to develop criteria to
evaluate the application. The criteria must include:
(a) The presence of infrastructure capable of spurring development
of the area as a center of health sciences and services;
(b) The presence of higher education facilities where undergraduate
or graduate coursework or research is conducted; and
(c) The presence of facilities in which health services are
provided.
(3) There may be no more than two authorities statewide.
(4) An authority may only be created in a county with a population
of less than one million persons and located east of the crest of the
Cascade mountains.
(5) The director may reject or approve an application. When
denying an application, the director must specify the application's
deficiencies. The decision regarding such designation as it relates to
a specific local government is final; however, a rejected application
may be resubmitted.
(6) Applications are due by December 31, 2010, and must be
processed within sixty days of submission.
(7) The director may, at his or her discretion, amend the
boundaries of an authority upon the request of the local government.
(8) The higher education coordinating board may adopt any rules
necessary to implement this chapter.
(9) The ((higher education coordinating board must develop
evaluation and performance measures in order to evaluate the
effectiveness of the programs in the authorities that are funded with
public resources. A report to the legislature is due on a biennial
basis beginning December 1, 2009. In addition, the)) higher education
coordinating board must develop evaluation criteria that enables the
local governments to measure the effectiveness of the program.