5918-S3 AMH TR H4362.3

3SSB 5918 - H COMM AMD ADOPTED 3-3-94

By Committee on Transportation

    Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

    "NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  Transportation demand strategies that reduce the number of vehicles on Washington state's highways, roads, and streets, and provide attractive and effective alternatives to single-occupancy travel can improve ambient air quality, conserve fossil fuels, and forestall the need for capital improvements to the state's transportation system.  The legislature has required many public and private employers in the state's largest counties to implement transportation demand management programs to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicle travelers during the morning and evening rush hours.  The legislature finds that additional transportation demand management strategies are necessary to mitigate the adverse social, environmental, and economic effects of automobile dependency and traffic congestion.  While expensive capital improvements, including dedicated busways and commuter rail systems, may be necessary to improve the region's mobility, they are only part of the solution.  All public and private entities that attract single-occupant vehicle drivers must develop imaginative and cost-effective ways to encourage walking, bicycling, carpooling, vanpooling, bus riding, and telecommuting.  It is the intent of the legislature to revise those portions of state law that inhibit the application of imaginative solutions to the state's transportation mobility problems and to encourage many more public and private employers to adopt effective transportation demand management strategies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Major employers in the state's eight largest counties affected by the commute trip reduction programs required under RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551 who are taxable under this chapter and provide financial incentives to their employees for ride sharing before June 30, 1996, shall be allowed a credit for amounts paid to employees for ride sharing in vehicles carrying four or more persons, not to exceed sixty dollars per employee per year.  The credit shall be equal to the amount paid to each employee multiplied by fifty percent, but may not exceed sixty dollars per employee per year.  The credit may not exceed the amount of tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter.

    (2) Application for tax credit under this chapter may only be made by major employers as defined by RCW 70.94.524 and in the form and manner prescribed in rules adopted by the department and in consultation with the commute trip reduction task force.

    (3) The credit shall be taken against taxes due for the same calendar year in which the amounts for which credit is claimed were paid to employees for ride sharing.

    (4) The director shall on the 25th of February, May, August, and November of each year advise the state treasurer of the amount of credit taken during the preceding calendar quarter ending on the last day of December, March, June, and September, respectively.

    (5) On the first of April, July, October, and January of each year, the state treasurer based upon information provided by the department shall deposit a sum equal to the dollar amount of the credit provided under subsection (1) of this section from the air pollution control account to the general fund.

    (6) The commute trip reduction task force shall determine the effectiveness of this tax credit as part of its ongoing evaluation of the commute trip reduction law and report no later than December 1, 1996, to the legislative transportation committee.

    (7) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement of a material fact in the application for a credit under subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The department shall keep a running total of all credits granted under this chapter during each calendar year, and shall disallow any credits that would cause the tabulation for any calendar year to exceed two million dollars.

    (2) No employer shall be eligible for tax credits in excess of two hundred thousand dollars in any calendar year.

    (3) No employer shall be eligible for tax credits in excess of the amount of tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter.

    (4) No portion of an application for credit disallowed under this section may be carried back or carried forward.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 82.16 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Major employers in the state's eight largest counties affected by the commute trip reduction programs required under RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551 who are taxable under this chapter and provide financial incentives to their employees for ride sharing before June 30, 1996, shall be allowed a credit for amounts paid to employees for ride sharing in vehicles carrying four or more persons, not to exceed sixty dollars per employee per year.  The credit shall be equal to the amount paid to each employee multiplied by fifty percent, but may not exceed sixty dollars per employee per year.  The credit may not exceed the amount of tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter.

    (2) Application for tax credit under this chapter may only be made by major employers as defined by RCW 70.94.524 and in the form and manner prescribed in rules adopted by the department and in consultation with the commute trip reduction task force.

    (3) The credit shall be taken against taxes due for the same calendar year in which the amounts for which credit is claimed were paid to employees for ride sharing.

    (4) The director shall on the 25th of February, May, August, and November of each year advise the state treasurer of the amount of credit taken during the preceding calendar quarter ending on the last day of December, March, June, and September, respectively.

    (5) On the first of April, July, October, and January of each year, the state treasurer based upon information provided by the department shall deposit a sum equal to the dollar amount of the credit provided under subsection (1) of this section from the air pollution control account to the general fund.

    (6) The commute trip reduction task force shall determine the effectiveness of this tax credit as part of its ongoing evaluation of the commute trip reduction law and report no later than December 1, 1996, to the legislative transportation committee.

    (7) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement of a material fact in the application for a credit under subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 82.16 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) The department shall keep a running total of all credits granted under this chapter during each calendar year, and shall disallow any credits that would cause the tabulation for any calendar year to exceed two million dollars.

    (2) No employer shall be eligible for tax credits in excess of two hundred thousand dollars in any calendar year.

    (3) No employer shall be eligible for tax credits in excess of the amount of tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter.

    (4) No portion of an application for credit disallowed under this section may be carried back or carried forward.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.  This act shall expire December 31, 1996."

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