AN ACT Relating to budget forecasts; amending RCW 82.01.120, 82.01.125, 82.01.130, 82.01.135, 41.06.087, 43.88.020, and 43.88.120; and reenacting and amending RCW 43.88.030.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 as amended by section 2, chapter 112, Laws of 1986 and RCW 82.01.120 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director shall employ an economic, budget, and revenue forecast supervisor to supervise the preparation of all economic, budget, and revenue forecasts. As used in this section and RCW 82.01.125 and 82.01.130, "supervisor" means the economic, budget, and revenue forecast supervisor. Approval by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council is required for any decisions regarding employment of the supervisor. Employment of the supervisor shall terminate after each term of three years, unless the supervisor is reappointed by the director and approved by the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council for another three years. The supervisor shall employ staff sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this section.

(2) Four times each year the supervisor shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council under RCW 82.01.130(2):

(a) An official state economic and revenue forecast;

(b) An unofficial state economic and revenue forecast based on optimistic economic and revenue projections; ((~~and~~))

(d) An official forecast of the following primary budget drivers, as defined in RCW 43.88.020:

(i) Full time equivalent enrollment in the common schools, including separate forecasts for the handicapped program, secondary schools, and vocational-technical institutes;

(ii) Full time equivalent enrollment in the state institutions of higher education, including the state community college system;

(iii) The population in state correctional institutions, work release programs, and adult felony cases under comprehensive management; and

(iv) Caseloads of the department of social and health services, including the medical assistance, aid to families with dependent children, general assistance, vocational rehabilitation, supplemental security income, juvenile rehabilitation, mental health, developmental disabilities, and nursing home programs.

(3) The supervisor shall submit forecasts prepared under this section, along with any unofficial forecasts provided under RCW 82.01.130(3), to the governor and the legislature on or before November 20th, February 20th in the even-numbered years, March 20th in the odd-numbered years, June 20th, and September 20th.

Sec. 2. Section 3, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 and RCW 82.01.125 are each amended to read as follows:

The administrator of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee may request, and the supervisor shall provide, alternative economic, budget, and revenue forecasts based on assumptions specified by the administrator.

Sec. 3. Section 4, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 and RCW 82.01.130 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The economic, budget, and revenue forecast council is hereby created. The council shall consist of two individuals appointed by the governor 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 economic, budget, and revenue forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least four members, the official, optimistic, and pessimistic state economic, budget, and revenue forecasts prepared under RCW 82.01.120. If the council is unable to approve a forecast before a date required in RCW 82.01.120, the supervisor shall submit the forecast without approval and the forecast shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.

(3) A council member who does not cast an affirmative vote for approval of the official economic, budget, and revenue forecast may request, and the supervisor shall provide, an alternative economic, budget, and revenue forecast based on assumptions specified by the member.

(4) Members of the economic, budget, 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. 4. Section 5, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 as amended by section 23, chapter 158, Laws of 1986 and RCW 82.01.135 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) To promote the free flow of information and to promote legislative input in the preparation of forecasts, immediate access to all information relating to economic, budget, and revenue forecasts shall be available to the economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group, hereby created. Revenue collection information shall be available to the economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group the first business day following the conclusion of each collection period. The economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group shall consist of one staff member selected by the executive head or chairperson of each of the following agencies or committees:

(a) Department of revenue;

(b) Office of financial management;

(d) Ways and means committee of the senate; ((~~and~~))

(e) Ways and means committee of the house of representatives;

(f) The department of corrections; and

(g) The department of social and health services.

(2) The economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group shall provide technical support to the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council. Meetings of the economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group may be called by any member of the group for the purpose of assisting the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council, reviewing the state economic, budget, and revenue forecasts, or reviewing monthly revenue collection data or for any other purpose which may assist the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council.

Sec. 5. Section 2, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 and RCW 41.06.087 are each amended to read as follows:

In addition to the exemptions set forth in RCW 41.06.070, this chapter does not apply to the economic, budget, and revenue forecast supervisor and staff employed under RCW 82.01.120.

Sec. 6. Section 1, chapter 36, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 215, Laws of 1986 and RCW 43.88.020 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) "Budget" shall mean a proposed plan of expenditures for a given period or purpose and the proposed means for financing these expenditures.

(2) "Budget document" shall mean a formal, written statement offered by the governor to the legislature, as provided in RCW 43.88.030.

(3) "Director of financial management" shall mean the official appointed by the governor to serve at the governor's pleasure and to whom the governor may delegate necessary authority to carry out the governor's duties as provided in this chapter. The director of financial management shall be head of the office of financial management which shall be in the office of the governor.

(4) "Agency" shall mean and include every state office, officer, each institution, whether educational, correctional or other, and every department, division, board and commission, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

(5) "Public funds", for purposes of this chapter, shall mean all moneys, including cash, checks, bills, notes, drafts, stocks and bonds, whether held in trust, for operating purposes, or for capital purposes, and collected or disbursed under law, whether or not such funds are otherwise subject to legislative appropriation, including funds maintained outside the state treasury.

(6) "Regulations" shall mean the policies, standards and requirements, stated in writing, designed to carry out the purposes of this chapter, as issued by the governor or his designated agent, and which shall have the force and effect of law.

(7) "Ensuing biennium" shall mean the fiscal biennium beginning on July 1st of the same year in which a regular session of the legislature is held during an odd-numbered year pursuant to Article II, section 12 of the Constitution and which biennium next succeeds the current biennium.

(8) "Dedicated fund" means a fund in the state treasury, or a separate account or fund in the general fund in the state treasury, that by law is dedicated, appropriated or set aside for a limited object or purpose; but "dedicated fund" shall not include a revolving fund or a trust fund.

(9) "Revolving fund" means a fund in the state treasury, established by law, from which is paid the cost of goods or services furnished to or by a state agency, and which is replenished through charges made for such goods or services or through transfers from other accounts or funds.

(10) "Trust fund" means a fund in the state treasury in which designated persons or classes of persons have a vested beneficial interest or equitable ownership, or which was created or established by a gift, grant, contribution, devise, or bequest that limits the use of the fund to designated objects or purposes.

(11) "Administrative expenses" means expenditures for: (a) Salaries, wages, and related costs of personnel and (b) operations and maintenance including but not limited to costs of supplies, materials, services, and equipment.

(12) "Fiscal year" means the year beginning July 1st and ending the following June 30th.

(13) "Lapse" means the termination of authority to expend an appropriation.

(14) "Legislative fiscal committees" means the legislative budget committee, the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, the ways and means committees of the senate and house of representatives, and, where appropriate, the legislative transportation committee.

(15) "Fiscal period" means the period for which an appropriation is made as specified within the act making the appropriation.

(16) "Primary budget driver" means the primary determinant of a budget level, other than a price variable, which causes or is associated with the major expenditure of an agency or budget unit within an agency, such as a caseload, enrollment, workload, or population statistic.

(17) "Stabilization account" means the budget stabilization account created under RCW 43.88.525 as an account in the general fund of the state treasury.

(18) "State tax revenue limit" means the limitation created by chapter 43.135 RCW.

(19) "General state revenues" means the revenues defined by Article VIII, section 1(c) of the state Constitution.

(20) "Annual growth rate in real personal income" means the estimated percentage growth in personal income for the state during the current fiscal year, expressed in constant value dollars, as published by the office of financial management or its successor agency.

(21) "Estimated revenues" means estimates of revenue in the most recent official economic, budget, and revenue forecast prepared under RCW 82.01.120.

(22) "State budgeting, accounting, and reporting system" means a system that gathers, maintains, and communicates fiscal information. The system links fiscal information beginning with development of agency budget requests through adoption of legislative appropriations to tracking actual receipts and expenditures against approved plans.

(23) "Allotment of appropriation" means the agency's statement of proposed expenditures, the director of financial management's review of that statement, and the placement of the approved statement into the state budgeting, accounting, and reporting system.

(24) "Statement of proposed expenditures" means a plan prepared by each agency that breaks each appropriation out into monthly detail representing the best estimate of how the appropriation will be expended.

Sec. 7. Section 43.88.030, chapter 8, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 1, chapter 112, Laws of 1986 and by section 3, chapter 215, Laws of 1986 and RCW 43.88.030 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) The director of financial management shall provide all agencies with a complete set of instructions for submitting biennial budget requests to the director at least three months before agency budget documents are due into the office of financial management. The budget document or documents shall consist of the governor's budget message which shall be explanatory of the budget and shall contain an outline of the proposed financial policies of the state for the ensuing fiscal period and shall describe in connection therewith the important features of the budget. The message shall set forth the reasons for salient changes from the previous fiscal period in expenditure and revenue items and shall explain any major changes in financial policy. Attached to the budget message shall be such supporting schedules, exhibits and other explanatory material in respect to both current operations and capital improvements as the governor shall deem to be useful to the legislature. The budget document or documents shall set forth a proposal for expenditures in the ensuing fiscal period based upon the estimated revenues as approved by the economic, budget, and revenue forecast council for such fiscal period from the source and at the rates existing by law at the time of submission of the budget document. However, the estimated revenues for use in the governor's budget document may be adjusted to reflect budgetary revenue transfers and revenue estimates dependent upon budgetary assumptions of enrollments, workloads, and caseloads. All adjustments to the approved estimated revenues must be set forth in the budget document. The governor may additionally submit, as an appendix to each agency budget or to the budget document or documents, a proposal for expenditures in the ensuing fiscal period from revenue sources derived from proposed changes in existing statutes.

The budget document or documents shall also contain:

(a) Revenues classified by fund and source for the immediately past fiscal period, those received or anticipated for the current fiscal period, and those anticipated for the ensuing biennium;

(b) Cash surplus or deficit, by fund, to the extent provided by RCW 43.88.040 and 43.88.050;

(c) Such additional information dealing with expenditures, revenues, workload, performance and personnel as the legislature may direct by law or concurrent resolution;

(d) Such additional information dealing with revenues and expenditures as the governor shall deem pertinent and useful to the legislature;

(e) Tabulations showing expenditures classified by fund, function, activity and object; and

(f) A delineation of each agency's activities, including those activities funded from nonbudgeted, nonappropriated sources, including funds maintained outside the state treasury.

(2) The budget document or documents shall include detailed estimates of all anticipated revenues applicable to proposed operating or capital expenditures and shall also include all proposed operating or capital expenditures. The total of anticipated revenues shall equal or exceed the total of proposed applicable expenditures. The budget document or documents shall further include:

(a) Interest, amortization and redemption charges on the state debt;

(b) Payments of all reliefs, judgments and claims;

(d) Expenditures incident to the operation for each agency;

(e) Revenues derived from agency operations;

(f) Expenditures and revenues shall be given in comparative form showing those incurred or received for the immediately past fiscal period and those anticipated for the current biennium and next ensuing biennium.

(3) A separate budget document or schedule may be submitted consisting of:

(a) Expenditures incident to current or pending capital projects and to proposed new capital projects, relating the respective amounts proposed to be raised therefor by appropriations in the budget and the respective amounts proposed to be raised therefor by the issuance of bonds during the fiscal period;

(b) A capital program consisting of proposed capital projects for at least the two fiscal periods succeeding the next fiscal period. The capital program shall include for each proposed project a statement of the reason or purpose for the project along with an estimate of its cost;

(d) Such other information relating to capital improvement projects as the legislature may direct by law or concurrent resolution.

(4) No change affecting the comparability of agency or program information relating to expenditures, revenues, workload, performance and personnel shall be made in the format of any budget document or report presented to the legislature under this section or RCW 43.88.160(1) relative to the format of the budget document or report which was presented to the previous regular session of the legislature during an odd-numbered year without prior legislative concurrence. Prior legislative concurrence shall consist of (a) a favorable majority vote on the proposal by the standing committees on ways and means of both houses if the legislature is in session or (b) a favorable majority vote on the proposal by members of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee if the legislature is not in session.

Sec. 8. Section 43.88.120, chapter 8, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 10, chapter 138, Laws of 1984 and RCW 43.88.120 are each amended to read as follows:

Each agency engaged in the collection of revenues shall prepare statements of revenue collections and estimates for the current and ensuing biennium and shall submit the statements and estimates to the director of revenue at times and in the form specified by the director, along with any other information which the director may request.

A copy of such collection reports and revenue estimates shall be simultaneously submitted to the economic, budget, and revenue forecast work group.