2601 AAS 2/28/94

2601 AAS 2/28/94 S5360.2

HB 2601 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Energy & Utilities

ADOPTED AS AMENDED 2/28/94

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Emergency services communication systems, including enhanced 911 telephone systems, are currently funded with revenues from state and local excise taxes imposed on the use of switched access lines;

(b) Users of cellular communication systems and other similar wireless telecommunications systems do not use switched access lines and are not currently subject to these excise taxes;

(c) The volume of 911 calls by users of cellular communications systems and other similar wireless telecommunications systems has increased in recent years; and

(d) The integrity of 911 systems, including their long-term financial health and ability to meet revenue requirements, is dependent upon the maintenance of confidentiality of information collected by enhanced 911 systems.

(2) The intent of this act is to acknowledge the recommendations regarding 911 emergency communication system funding as detailed in the report to the legislature dated November 1993, entitled "Taxation of Cellular Communications in Washington State," to authorize imposition and collection of the twenty-five cent county tax discussed in chapter 6 of that report, and to require the department of revenue to continue the study of such funding as detailed in the report.

Sec. 2. RCW 82.14B.020 and 1991 c 54 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Emergency services communication system" means a multicounty, county-wide, or district-wide radio or landline communications network, including an enhanced 911 telephone system, which provides rapid public access for coordinated dispatching of services, personnel, equipment, and facilities for police, fire, medical, or other emergency services.

(2) "Enhanced 911 telephone system" means a public telephone system consisting of a network, data base, and on-premises equipment that is accessed by dialing 911 and that enables reporting police, fire, medical, or other emergency situations to a public safety answering point. The system includes the capability to selectively route incoming 911 calls to the appropriate public safety answering point that operates in a defined 911 service area and the capability to automatically display the name, address, and telephone number of incoming 911 calls at the appropriate public safety answering point.

(3) "Switched access line" means the telephone service line which connects a subscriber's main telephone(s) or equivalent main telephone(s) to the local exchange company's switching office.

(4) "Local exchange company" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW 80.04.010.

(5) "Radio access line" means the telephone number assigned to or used by an end user for two-way local wireless voice service available to the public for hire from a radio communications service company. Radio access lines include, but are not limited to, radio-telephone communications lines used in cellular telephone service, personal communications services, and network radio access lines, or their functional and competitive equivalent. Radio access lines do not include lines that provide access to one-way signalling service, such as paging service, or to communications channels suitable only for data transmission, or to nonlocal radio access line service, such as wireless roaming service, or to a private telecommunications system.

(6) "Radio communications service company" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW 80.04.010.

(7) "Private telecommunications system" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW 80.04.010.

Sec. 3. RCW 82.14B.030 and 1991 c 54 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The legislative authority of a county may impose a county enhanced 911 excise tax on the use of switched access lines in an amount not exceeding fifty cents per month for each switched access line. The amount of tax shall be uniform for each switched access line. Each county shall provide notice of such tax to all local exchange companies serving in the county at least sixty days in advance of the date on which the first payment is due.

(2) The legislative authority of a county may also impose a county 911 excise tax on the use of radio access lines located within the county in an amount not exceeding twenty-five cents per month for each radio access line. The amount of tax shall be uniform for each radio access line. The county shall provide notice of such tax to all radio communications service companies serving in the county at least sixty days in advance of the date on which the first payment is due. Any county imposing this tax shall include in its ordinance a refund mechanism whereby the amount of any tax ordered to be refunded by the judgment of a court of record, or as a result of the resolution of any appeal therefrom, shall be refunded to the radio communications service company or local exchange company that collected the tax, and those companies shall reimburse the users who paid the tax. The ordinance shall further provide that to the extent the users who paid the tax cannot be identified or located, the tax paid by those users shall be returned to the county.

(3) Beginning January 1, 1992, a state enhanced 911 excise tax is imposed on all switched access lines in the state. For 1992, the tax shall be set at a rate of twenty cents per month for each switched access line. Until December 31, 1998, the amount of tax shall not exceed twenty cents per month for each switched access line and thereafter shall not exceed ten cents per month for each switched access line. The tax shall be uniform for each switched access line. Tax proceeds shall be deposited by the treasurer in the enhanced 911 account created in RCW 38.52.540.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) By August 31st of each year the state enhanced 911 coordinator shall recommend the level for the next year of the state enhanced 911 excise tax to the utilities and transportation commission. The commission shall by the following October 31st determine the level of the state enhanced 911 excise tax for the following year.

Sec. 4. RCW 82.14B.040 and 1991 c 54 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

The state enhanced 911 tax and the county enhanced 911 tax ((~~created in this chapter~~)) on switched access lines shall be collected from the user by the local exchange company providing the switched access line. The ((~~local exchange company shall state~~)) county 911 tax on radio access lines shall be collected from the end user by the radio communications service company providing the radio access line to the end user. The amount of the ((~~taxes~~)) tax shall be stated separately on the billing statement which is sent to the user.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

Any person as defined in RCW 82.04.030 owning, operating, or managing any facilities used to provide wireless two-way telecommunications services for hire, sale, or resale which allow access to 911 emergency services shall provide a system of automatic number identification which allows the 911 operator to automatically identify the number of the caller.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The department of revenue shall conduct a study of base and rate for the 911 excise tax. The study shall address but not be limited to the following questions:

(a) What is the current tax base for enhanced 911 excise tax? Who is included in the current tax base? Who is not included in the current tax base?

(b) What have been and what are projected to be the 911 tax revenues, expenditures, and funding sources?

(d) What would be an appropriate tax base and tax rate for a 911 tax?

(e) What are the fiscal impacts of changing the tax base or tax rate, or both?

(f) Does the proposed tax base cover all current and projected future technologies?

(2) To perform this study, the department of revenue shall form an advisory study committee with balanced representation which must include, but need not be limited to, representatives from county government, representatives of both wireline and wireless telecommunications companies, large and small businesses that use wireline and wireless telecommunications services, the department of community, trade, and economic development, and county 911 coordinators. The committee shall also include two members from the house of representatives, one from each caucus, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, and two members from the senate, one from each caucus, appointed by the president of the senate.

(3) The department of revenue shall provide staff for the purpose of the study.

(4) The department of revenue shall present a final report of the findings of the study to the committees of the legislature that deal with revenue matters no later than July 1, 1995.

Sec. 7. RCW 38.52.540 and 1991 c 54 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

The enhanced 911 account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from the state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by RCW 82.14B.030 shall be deposited into the account. Moneys in the account shall be used only to help implement and operate enhanced 911 state-wide, and to conduct a study of the tax base and rate for the 911 excise tax. The state enhanced 911 coordinator, with the advice and assistance of the enhanced 911 advisory committee, shall specify by rule the purposes for which moneys may be expended from this account.

Sec. 8. RCW 42.17.310 and 1993 c 360 s 2, 1993 c 320 s 9, and 1993 c 280 s 35 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) The following are exempt from public inspection and copying:

(a) Personal information in any files maintained for students in public schools, patients or clients of public institutions or public health agencies, or welfare recipients.

(b) Personal information in files maintained for employees, appointees, or elected officials of any public agency to the extent that disclosure would violate their right to privacy.

(c) Information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or collection of any tax if the disclosure of the information to other persons would (i) be prohibited to such persons by RCW 82.32.330 or (ii) violate the taxpayer's right to privacy or result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the taxpayer.

(d) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy.

(e) Information revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the public disclosure commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the complainant, victim or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints filed with the public disclosure commission about any elected official or candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath.

(f) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a license, employment, or academic examination.

(g) Except as provided by chapter 8.26 RCW, the contents of real estate appraisals, made for or by any agency relative to the acquisition or sale of property, until the project or prospective sale is abandoned or until such time as all of the property has been acquired or the property to which the sale appraisal relates is sold, but in no event shall disclosure be denied for more than three years after the appraisal.

(h) Valuable formulae, designs, drawings, and research data obtained by any agency within five years of the request for disclosure when disclosure would produce private gain and public loss.

(i) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memorandums in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended except that a specific record shall not be exempt when publicly cited by an agency in connection with any agency action.

(j) Records which are relevant to a controversy to which an agency is a party but which records would not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts.

(k) Records, maps, or other information identifying the location of archaeological sites in order to avoid the looting or depredation of such sites.

(l) Any library record, the primary purpose of which is to maintain control of library materials, or to gain access to information, which discloses or could be used to disclose the identity of a library user.

(m) Financial information supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of qualifying to submit a bid or proposal for (i) a ferry system construction or repair contract as required by RCW 47.60.680 through 47.60.750 or (ii) highway construction or improvement as required by RCW 47.28.070.

(n) Railroad company contracts filed prior to July 28, 1991, with the utilities and transportation commission under RCW 81.34.070, except that the summaries of the contracts are open to public inspection and copying as otherwise provided by this chapter.

(o) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by private persons pertaining to export services provided pursuant to chapter 43.163 RCW and chapter 53.31 RCW.

(p) Financial disclosures filed by private vocational schools under chapter 28C.10 RCW.

(q) Records filed with the utilities and transportation commission or attorney general under RCW 80.04.095 that a court has determined are confidential under RCW 80.04.095.

(r) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by businesses during application for loans or program services provided by chapters 43.163, 43.160, 43.330, and 43.168 RCW.

(s) Membership lists or lists of members or owners of interests of units in timeshare projects, subdivisions, camping resorts, condominiums, land developments, or common-interest communities affiliated with such projects, regulated by the department of licensing, in the files or possession of the department.

(t) All applications for public employment, including the names of applicants, resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an applicant.

(u) The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of employees or volunteers of a public agency which are held by the agency in personnel records, employment or volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees or volunteers.

(v) The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of the customers of a public utility contained in the records or lists held by the public utility of which they are customers.

(w)(i) The federal social security number of individuals governed under chapter 18.130 RCW maintained in the files of the department of health, except this exemption does not apply to requests made directly to the department from federal, state, and local agencies of government, and national and state licensing, credentialing, investigatory, disciplinary, and examination organizations; (ii) the current residential address and current residential telephone number of a health care provider governed under chapter 18.130 RCW maintained in the files of the department, if the provider requests that this information be withheld from public inspection and copying, and provides to the department an accurate alternate or business address and business telephone number. On or after January 1, 1995, the current residential address and residential telephone number of a health care provider governed under RCW 18.130.140 maintained in the files of the department shall automatically be withheld from public inspection and copying if the provider has provided the department with an accurate alternative or business address and telephone number.

(x) Information obtained by the board of pharmacy as provided in RCW 69.45.090.

(y) Information obtained by the board of pharmacy or the department of health and its representatives as provided in RCW 69.41.044, 69.41.280, and 18.64.420.

(z) Financial information, business plans, examination reports, and any information produced or obtained in evaluating or examining a business and industrial development corporation organized or seeking certification under chapter 31.24 RCW.

(aa) Financial and commercial information supplied to the state investment board by any person when the information relates to the investment of public trust or retirement funds and when disclosure would result in loss to such funds or in private loss to the providers of this information.

(bb) Financial and valuable trade information under RCW 51.36.120.

(cc) Client records maintained by an agency that is a domestic violence program as defined in RCW 70.123.020 or a rape crisis center as defined in RCW 70.125.030.

(dd) Information that identifies a person who, while an agency employee: (i) Seeks advice, under an informal process established by the employing agency, in order to ascertain his or her rights in connection with a possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60 RCW against the person; and (ii) requests his or her identity or any identifying information not be disclosed.

(ee) Business related information protected from public inspection and copying under RCW 15.86.110.

(ff) Personally identifiable information collected by a 911 telephone system (i) for the specific purpose of developing or updating the data base associated with such a system, or (ii) during an emergency call to such a system. For purposes of this paragraph, personally identifiable information does not include any record of aggregate data which does not identify particular persons.

(2) Except for information described in subsection (1)(c)(i) of this section and confidential income data exempted from public inspection pursuant to RCW 84.40.020, the exemptions of this section are inapplicable to the extent that information, the disclosure of which would violate personal privacy or vital governmental interests, can be deleted from the specific records sought. No exemption may be construed to permit the nondisclosure of statistical information not descriptive of any readily identifiable person or persons.

(3) Inspection or copying of any specific records exempt under the provisions of this section may be permitted if the superior court in the county in which the record is maintained finds, after a hearing with notice thereof to every person in interest and the agency, that the exemption of such records is clearly unnecessary to protect any individual's right of privacy or any vital governmental function.

(4) Agency responses refusing, in whole or in part, inspection of any public record shall include a statement of the specific exemption authorizing the withholding of the record (or part) and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the record withheld.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. 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, except section 5 of this act shall take effect January 1, 1995, and section 8 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1994."

HB 2601 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Energy & Utilities

ADOPTED 2/28/94

On page 1, line 3 of the title, after "funding;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 82.14B.020, 82.14B.030, 82.14B.040, and 38.52.540; reenacting and amending RCW 42.17.310; adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW; creating new sections; providing effective dates; and declaring an emergency."