BILL REQ. #:  S-1037.1 

Read first time 02/13/13.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring an inventory of state fees; amending RCW 44.48.150; and adding a new section to chapter 43.88 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) By January 1, 2014, the office of financial management shall compile, maintain, and periodically update an inventory of all fees imposed by state agencies and institutions of higher education pursuant to statute or administrative rule. At a minimum, the inventory shall identify the agency or institution collecting the fee, the purpose of the fee, the current amount of the fee, the amount of the fee over the previous five years, and the statutory authority for the fee. The office of financial management may aggregate or consolidate fee information when there is commonality among the fee payers or the purposes for which the fee is paid.
     (2) To facilitate the fee inventory under this section, each state agency and institution of higher education shall report the information required under subsection (1) of this section to the office of financial management and shall update the information at least every two years.
     (3) The fee inventory under this section shall be incorporated into the state expenditure information web site maintained by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee under RCW 44.48.150.
     (4) The office of financial management shall convene a work group consisting of representatives from the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, the office of regulatory assistance, the department of licensing, the department of labor and industries, the department of transportation, and the department of health to develop a process to facilitate more frequent updates to the inventory and to recommend changes to increase public accessibility.
     (5) For purposes of this section, "fee" means any charge, fixed by law or administrative rule, for the benefit of a service or to cover the cost of a regulatory program or the costs of administering a program for which the fee payer benefits. "Fee" does not include taxes; penalties or fines; intergovernmental charges; commercial charges; pension or health care contributions or rates; industrial, unemployment, or other state-operated insurance programs; or individualized cost recoveries.

Sec. 2   RCW 44.48.150 and 2008 c 326 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2009, in collaboration with the office of financial management, using existing databases and structures currently shared, the office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee shall establish and make available to the public a searchable state expenditure information web site. The state expenditure information web site shall provide access to current budget data, access to current accounting data for budgeted expenditures and staff, and access to historical data. At a minimum, the web site will provide access or links to the following information as data are available:
     (a) State expenditures by fund or account;
     (b) State expenditures by agency, program, and subprogram;
     (c) State revenues by major source;
     (d) State expenditures by object and subobject;
     (e) State agency workloads, caseloads, and performance measures, and recent performance audits; ((and))
     (f) State agency budget data by activity; and
     (g) The inventory of state agency fees required by section 1 of this act.
     (2) "State agency," as used in this section, includes every state agency, office, board, commission, or institution of the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, including institutions of higher education.
     (3) The state expenditure information web site shall be updated periodically as subsequent fiscal year data become available, and the prior year expenditure data shall be maintained by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee as part of its ten-year historical budget data.