S-1603.1

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5761


State of Washington	65th Legislature	2017 Regular Session

By Senate Natural Resources & Parks (originally sponsored by Senators McCoy, Hunt, and Hasegawa)

READ FIRST TIME 02/17/17.

AN ACT Relating to establishing a joint legislative task force on certain fish and shellfish enforcement issues; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1)(a) A joint legislative task force on fish and shellfish enforcement issues is established, with members as provided in this subsection.

(i) The president of the senate must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.

(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives must appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives.

(iii) The legislative members must appoint additional members including, but not limited to, a member representing recreational fishing, commercial fishing, shellfish growers, and request representation from six tribal governments.

(v) The chief of the department of fish and wildlife's enforcement program, or the chief's designee, must serve as a member.

(b) The task force must choose cochairs from among its legislative membership. The legislative members must convene the initial meeting of the task force.

(2) The task force must review issues relating to fish and shellfish enforcement, recordkeeping, and public records issues, as deemed appropriate by the task force.

(3) Staff support for the task force must be provided by senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research. The department of fish and wildlife must cooperate with the task force and provide information as the task force may reasonably request.

(4) Legislative members of the task force are reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.

(5) The expenses of the task force must be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees.

(6) The task force must provide a brief summary of its work and any recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by October 1, 2017.