Read first time 02/11/13.   Referred to Committee on Technology & Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to promoting economic development through business and government streamlining projects; adding a new section to chapter 43.330 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that: Since 2010, the department of commerce and the office of regulatory assistance have convened and coordinated a number of cross-agency collaborative regulatory streamlining efforts focused on improving the regulatory experience for small businesses, while maintaining public health and safety; the department of commerce has established efficient and effective regulation as one of its four global priorities to support the mission to grow and improve jobs; the state auditor's office issued a regulatory performance audit in 2012 identifying many agency actions that can also improve the business community's ability to comply with regulatory requirements; and the Washington state economic development commission's 2012 comprehensive statewide strategy emphasized the need for smarter regulations in order to achieve long-term global competitiveness, prosperity, and economic opportunity for all the state's citizens.
     (2) The legislature further finds that while individual agency streamlining activities result in improvements, businesses are required to interact with many state and local agencies, all with unique requirements, processes, forms, instructions, payment options, and electronic transaction capabilities. Cross-agency and cross-jurisdictional regulatory improvements are needed to meaningfully improve the overall business customer experience and ability to more easily understand and comply with requirements.      
     (3) Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize a business regulatory efficiency program administered by the department of commerce with the goal of providing an improved regulatory environment in Washington. By enhancing, simplifying, and better coordinating state and local regulatory processes for specific industry sectors, the amount of time it takes businesses to conduct their interactions with state government will decrease, compliance will increase, and businesses will have the opportunity to generate more revenue and create more jobs, thereby strengthening Washington's economy and overall global competitiveness.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department, in collaboration with the office of regulatory assistance and the office of accountability and performance, must conduct multijurisdictional regulatory streamlining projects that each impact a specific industry sector or subsector within a specific geographical location. Planning for an initial pilot project must begin by September 1, 2013, and the initial pilot project must be underway by December 31, 2013. One or more projects must be implemented in each subsequent calendar year through 2019.
     (2) The department must establish and implement a competitive process and select a minimum of one applicant comprised of a public-private partnership for participation in each project. The initial pilot project must focus on the manufacturing sector. The department, in consultation with the economic development commission, must determine the sectors for subsequent projects. The criteria to be used to select projects must include:
     (a) Evidence of strong business commitment to the project;
     (b) Evidence of strong commitment by the local government jurisdictions where the project is located to allocate necessary staff to the project and to streamline laws, rules, and administrative process requirements both within their jurisdictions and collaboratively across jurisdictions;
     (c) Willingness to apply lean principles and tools to streamline the business regulatory experience;
     (d) Identification of a lead partner capable of providing project management and coordination of partners;
     (e) Support of the stakeholders necessary to implement the project;
     (f) A plan and capacity to complete the project within the time frame; and
     (g) A minimum of fifty percent match must be provided from project partners. The match may be cash, in-kind, or a combination of cash and in-kind.
     (3) The department is encouraged to collaborate with nonprofit industry organizations, the private sector, foundations, and other interested entities to successfully complete each project.
     (4) The department must pursue opportunities for nonstate funding as the match to the fifty percent or more provided by project partners. A maximum of fifty thousand dollars of state funds may be used for a project.
     (5) The department may contract with a third party for expertise and facilitation.     
     (6) All state agencies with regulatory requirements that impact the project's industry sector must participate.
     (7) The state agencies, local jurisdictions, business partners, and other participants must jointly:     
     (a) Develop a project plan to conduct a cross-jurisdictional review process;     
     (b) Identify and review all laws, rules, and administrative processes and requirements pertaining to the selected sector;
     (c) Apply specific criteria to evaluate the extent to which the laws, rules, and administrative processes and requirements provide for consistent, clear, and efficient customer experiences while continuing to maintain public health, safety, and environmental standards;
     (d) Develop an implementation plan and schedule that identifies priority streamlining actions;
     (e) Present their recommendations to the department for comment and endorsement; and
     (f) Present their recommendations to the Washington state economic development commission for comment, endorsement, and evaluation.
     (8) The department must document and distribute the streamlined laws, rules, processes, and other potentially replicable information, derived from the projects to the association of Washington cities and Washington state association of counties for distribution to their membership.
     (9) The department must brief the economic development committees of the legislature by January 15, 2014, on the status of the initial pilot project, and must submit a report on the outcomes of the projects to the economic development committees of the legislature by January 15th of each calendar year, from 2015 through 2020. The department must include in the reports any streamlining recommendations identified in the projects that require statutory changes for implementation and any potentially replicable models, approaches, and tools that could be applied to other sectors and geographical areas.