AN ACT Relating to interests of school district officers in contracts; amending RCW 42.23.030; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 44, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. as amended by section 1, chapter 263, Laws of 1989 and RCW 42.23.030 are each amended to read as follows:

No municipal officer shall be beneficially interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract which may be made by, through or under the supervision of such officer, in whole or in part, or which may be made for the benefit of his office, or accept, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity or reward in connection with such contract from any other person beneficially interested therein. This section shall not apply in the following cases:

(1) The furnishing of electrical, water or other utility services by a municipality engaged in the business of furnishing such services, at the same rates and on the same terms as are available to the public generally;

(2) The designation of public depositaries for municipal funds;

(3) The publication of legal notices required by law to be published by any municipality, upon competitive bidding or at rates not higher than prescribed by law for members of the general public;

(4) The designation of a school director as clerk or as both clerk and purchasing agent of a school district;

(5) The employment of any person by a municipality, other than a county of the first class or higher, a city of the first or second class, an irrigation district encompassing in excess of fifty thousand acres, or a first class school district, for unskilled day labor at wages not exceeding one hundred dollars in any calendar month;

(6) The letting of any other contract (except a sale or lease as seller or lessor) by a municipality, other than a county of the first class or higher, a city of the first or second class, an irrigation district encompassing in excess of fifty thousand acres, or a first class school district: PROVIDED, That the total volume of business represented by such contract or contracts in which a particular officer is interested, singly or in the aggregate, as measured by the dollar amount of the municipality's liability thereunder, shall not exceed seven hundred fifty dollars in any calendar month: PROVIDED FURTHER, That in the case of a particular officer of a city or town of the third, or fourth class, or a noncharter optional code city, or a member of any county fair board in a county which has not established a county purchasing department pursuant to RCW 36.32.240, the total volume of such contract or contracts authorized in this subsection may exceed seven hundred fifty dollars in any calendar month but shall not exceed nine thousand dollars in any calendar year: PROVIDED FURTHER, That there shall be public disclosure by having an available list of such purchases or contracts, and if the supplier or contractor is an official of the municipality, he or she shall not vote on the authorization;

(7) The leasing by a port district as lessor of port district property to a municipal officer or to a contracting party in which a municipal officer may be beneficially interested, if in addition to all other legal requirements, a board of three disinterested appraisers, who shall be appointed from members of the American institute of real estate appraisers by the presiding judge of the superior court in the county where the property is situated, shall find and the court finds that all terms and conditions of such lease are fair to the port district and are in the public interest;

(8) The letting of any contract for the driving of a school bus in a second class school district: PROVIDED, That the terms of such contract shall be commensurate with the pay plan or collective bargaining agreement operating in the district;

(9) The letting of any contract to the spouse of an officer of a second class school district in which less than two hundred full time equivalent students are enrolled at the start of the school year as defined in RCW 28A.01.020, when such contract is solely for employment as a certificated or classified employee of the school district, or the letting of any contract to the spouse of an officer of a second class district in which less than five hundred full time equivalent students are enrolled at the start of the school year as defined in RCW 28A.01.020, when such contract is solely for employment as a substitute teacher for the school district: PROVIDED, That the terms of such contract shall be commensurate with the pay plan or collective bargaining agreement applicable to all district employees and the board of directors has found, consistent with the written policy under RCW 28A.60.360, that there is a shortage of substitute teachers in the school district;

(10) The letting of a contract by competitive bid by any school district or by the associated students of any school district in which contract a member of the district's board of directors has a beneficial interest. This subsection applies only to contracts for goods and only if: The member discloses the interest by filing a statement regarding that interest with the county auditor; the member does not participate in any decision of the district regarding the letting of the contract; and the member does not personally contact, either orally or in writing, any official or employee of the district in order to facilitate the preparation of the contract, promote the awarding of the contract, or influence the manner in which the contract is performed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. 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 shall take effect immediately.