H-1026.1

HOUSE BILL 2219


State of Washington	64th Legislature	2015 Regular Session

By Representatives Hunter, Sullivan, Carlyle, and Santos

Read first time 03/30/15. Referred to Committee on Appropriations.

AN ACT Relating to removing the exception for expenditures related to legislatively enacted basic education enhancements from the four-year balanced budget requirement; amending RCW 43.88.055; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that in 2012, when the four-year balanced budget and budget outlook process were first enacted, exclusion of expenditures related to the legislative definition of basic education in chapter 548, Laws of 2009 was necessary. The exclusion was based on the amount of time until the 2018 statutory completion date and the discretion given to the legislature in chapter 548, Laws of 2009 and chapter 236, Laws of 2010 over intermediate implementation steps. As the 2018 deadline for complete implementation draws near, investments in the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium will be crucial to completing the scheduled basic education enhancements. For these reasons, the legislature finds fulfilling the purposes of the budget outlook and four-year balanced budget statutes requires inclusion, rather than exclusion, of these projected basic education expenditures in these budgeting processes.

(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.

(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));

(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.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.