READ FIRST TIME 04/06/12.   

     AN ACT Relating to requiring a balanced state budget for the current and ensuing fiscal biennium; amending RCW 82.33.010 and 82.33.020; adding a new section to chapter 43.88 RCW; and adding new sections to chapter 82.33 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.88 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature must adopt a four-year balanced budget as follows:
     (a) Beginning in the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the legislature shall enact a balanced omnibus operating appropriations bill that leaves, in total, a positive ending fund balance in the general fund and related funds.
     (b) Beginning in the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the projected maintenance level of the omnibus appropriations bill enacted by the legislature shall not exceed the available fiscal resources for the next ensuing fiscal biennium.
     (2) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Available fiscal resources" means the beginning general fund and related fund balances and any fiscal resources estimated for the general fund and related funds, adjusted for enacted legislation, and with forecasted revenues adjusted to the greater of (i) the official general fund and related funds revenue forecast for the ensuing biennium, or (ii) the official general fund and related funds forecast for the second fiscal year of the current fiscal biennium, increased by 4.5 percent for each fiscal year of the ensuing biennium;
     (b) "Projected maintenance level" means estimated appropriations necessary to maintain the continuing costs of program and service levels either funded in that appropriations bill or mandated by other state or federal law, and the amount of any general fund moneys projected to be transferred to the budget stabilization account pursuant to Article VII, section 12 of the state Constitution, but does not include in the 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 fiscal biennia the costs related to the enhanced funding under the new definition of basic education as established in chapter 548, Laws of 2009, and affirmed by the decision in Mathew McCleary et al., v. The State of Washington, 173 Wn.2d 477, 269 P.3d 227, (2012), from which the short-term exclusion of these obligations is solely for the purposes of calculating this estimate and does not in any way indicate an intent to avoid full funding of these obligations;
     (c) "Related funds," as used in this section, means the Washington opportunity pathways account and the education legacy trust account.     
     (3) Subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section does not apply to an appropriations bill that makes net reductions in general fund and related funds appropriations and is enacted between July 1st and February 15th of any fiscal year.
     (4) Subsection (1)(b) of this section does not apply in a fiscal biennium in which money is appropriated from the budget stabilization account.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.33.010 and 1990 c 229 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The economic and revenue forecast council is hereby created. The council shall consist of two individuals appointed by the governor, the state treasurer, and four individuals, one of whom is appointed by the chairperson of each of the two largest political caucuses in the senate and house of representatives. The chair of the council shall be selected from among the four caucus appointees. The council may select such other officers as the members deem necessary.
     (2) The council shall employ an economic and revenue forecast supervisor to supervise the preparation of all economic and revenue forecasts and the presentation of state budget outlooks. As used in this chapter, "supervisor" means the economic and revenue forecast supervisor. Approval by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the council is required for any decisions regarding employment of the supervisor. Employment of the supervisor shall terminate after each term of three years. At the end of the first year of each three-year term the council shall consider extension of the supervisor's term by one year. The council may fix the compensation of the supervisor. The supervisor shall employ staff sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this section.
     (3) The economic and revenue forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least ((four)) five members, the official, optimistic, and pessimistic state economic and revenue forecasts prepared under RCW 82.33.020. If the council is unable to approve a forecast before a date required in RCW 82.33.020, the supervisor shall submit the forecast without approval and the forecast shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
     (4) The economic and revenue forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least five members, the state budget outlook prepared under section 4 of this act. If the council is unable to approve a state budget outlook before a date required in section 4 of this act, the supervisor shall submit the outlook prepared under section 4 of this act without approval and the outlook shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
     (5) A councilmember who does not cast an affirmative vote for approval of the official economic and revenue forecast or the state budget outlook may request, and the supervisor shall provide, an alternative economic and revenue forecast or state budget outlook based on assumptions specified by the member including, for purposes of the state budget outlook, revenues to and expenditures from additional funds.
     (((5))) (6) Members of the economic and revenue forecast council shall serve without additional compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

Sec. 3   RCW 82.33.020 and 2005 c 319 s 137 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Four times each year the supervisor shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council under RCW 82.33.010:
     (a) An official state economic and revenue forecast;
     (b) An unofficial state economic and revenue forecast based on optimistic economic and revenue projections; and
     (c) An unofficial state economic and revenue forecast based on pessimistic economic and revenue projections.
     (2) The supervisor shall submit forecasts prepared under this section, along with any unofficial forecasts provided under RCW 82.33.010, to the governor and the members of the committees on ways and means and the chairs of the committees on transportation of the senate and house of representatives, including one copy to the staff of each of the committees, on or before November 20th, February 20th in the even-numbered years, March 20th in the odd-numbered years, June 20th, and September 20th. All forecasts shall include both estimated receipts and estimated revenues in conformance with generally accepted accounting principles as provided by RCW 43.88.037. In odd-numbered years, the period covered by forecasts for the state general fund and related funds must cover the current fiscal biennium and the next ensuing fiscal biennium. In even-numbered years, the period covered by the forecasts for the state general fund and related funds shall be current fiscal and the next two ensuing fiscal biennia.
     (3) All agencies of state government shall provide to the supervisor immediate access to all information relating to economic and revenue forecasts. Revenue collection information shall be available to the supervisor the first business day following the conclusion of each collection period.
     (4) The economic and revenue forecast supervisor and staff shall co-locate and share information, data, and files with the tax research section of the department of revenue but shall not duplicate the duties and functions of one another.
     (5) As part of its forecasts under subsection (1) of this section, the supervisor shall provide estimated revenue from tuition fees as defined in RCW 28B.15.020.
     (6) The economic and revenue forecast council must, in consultation with the economic and revenue forecast work group created in RCW 82.33.040, review the existing economic and revenue forecast council revenue model, data, and methodologies and in light of recent economic changes, engage outside experts if necessary, and recommend changes to the economic and revenue forecast council revenue forecasting process to increase confidence and promote accuracy in the revenue forecast. The recommendations are due by September 30, 2012, and every five years thereafter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 82.33 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To facilitate compliance with, and subject to the terms of, section 1 of this act, the state budget outlook work group shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council under RCW 82.33.010, an official state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures for the general fund and related funds. In odd-numbered years, the period covered by the November state budget outlook shall be the current fiscal biennium and the next ensuing fiscal biennium. In even-numbered years, the period covered by the November state budget outlook shall be the next two ensuing fiscal biennia. The revenue and caseload projections used in the outlook must reflect the most recent official forecasts adopted by the economic and revenue forecast council and the caseload forecast council for the years for which those forecasts are available.
     (2) The outlook must:
     (a) Estimate revenues to and expenditures from the state general fund and related funds. The estimate of ensuing biennium expenditures must include maintenance items including, but not limited to, continuation of current programs, forecasted growth of current entitlement programs, and actions required by law, including legislation with a future implementation date. Estimates of ensuing biennium expenditures must exclude policy items including, but not limited to, legislation not yet enacted by the legislature, collective bargaining agreements not yet approved by the legislature, and changes to levels of funding for employee salaries and benefits unless those changes are required by statute. Estimated maintenance level expenditures must also exclude costs of court rulings issued during or within fewer than ninety days before the beginning of the current legislative session;
     (b) Address major budget and revenue drivers, including trends and variability in these drivers;
     (c) Clearly state the assumptions used in the estimates of baseline and projected expenditures and any adjustments made to those estimates;
     (d) Clearly state the assumptions used in the baseline revenue estimates and any adjustments to those estimates; and
     (e) Include the impact of previously enacted legislation with a future implementation date.
     (3) The outlook must also separately include projections based on the revenues and expenditures proposed in the governor's budget documents submitted to the legislature under RCW 43.88.030.
     (4) The economic and revenue forecast council shall submit state budget outlooks prepared under this section to the governor and the members of the committees on ways and means of the senate and house of representatives, including one copy to the staff of each of the committees, as required by this section.
     (5) Each January, the state budget outlook work group shall also prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council, a state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures that reflects the governor's proposed budget document submitted to the legislature under chapter 43.88 RCW. Within thirty days following enactment of an operating budget by the legislature, the work group shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council, a state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures that reflects the enacted budget.
     (6) All agencies of state government shall provide to the supervisor immediate access to all information relating to state budget outlooks.
     (7) The state budget outlook work group must publish its proposed methodology on the economic and revenue forecast council web site. The state budget outlook work group, in consultation with the economic and revenue forecast work group and outside experts if necessary, must analyze the extent to which the proposed methodology for projecting expenditures for the ensuing fiscal biennia may be reliably used to determine the future impact of appropriations and make recommendations to change the outlook process to increase reliability and accuracy. The recommendations are due by December 1, 2013, and every five years thereafter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 82.33 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To promote the free flow of information and to promote legislative input in the preparation of the state budget outlook, immediate access to all information relating to the state budget outlook shall be available to the state budget outlook work group, hereby created. The state budget outlook work group shall consist of one staff member selected by the executive head or chairperson of each of the following agencies or committees:
     (a) Office of financial management;
     (b) Legislative evaluation and accountability program committee;
     (c) Office of the state treasurer;
     (d) Economic and revenue forecast council;
     (e) Caseload forecast council;
     (f) Ways and means committee of the senate; and
     (g) Ways and means committee of the house of representatives.
     (2) The state budget outlook work group shall provide technical support to the economic and revenue forecast council. Meetings of the state budget outlook work group may be called by any member of the group for the purpose of assisting the economic and revenue forecast council, reviewing the state budget outlook, or for any other purpose which may assist the economic and revenue forecast council.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   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.