BILL REQ. #: Z-0314.3
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/17/2003. Referred to Committee on Commerce & Trade.
AN ACT Relating to funding and expenditures for legislative trade hosting and mission activities; amending RCW 42.52.150; adding a new section to chapter 44.04 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 42.52 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 44.04 RCW
to read as follows:
The legislative international trade account is created in the
custody of the state treasurer. All moneys received from gifts,
grants, and endowments for international trade hosting and missions
activities must be deposited in the account. Only private, nonpublic
gifts, grants, and endowments may be deposited in the account.
Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes of
international trade hosting and trade mission activities in which the
president and members of the senate and members of the house of
representatives participate in an official capacity. Only the
president of the senate may authorize expenditures from the account.
An appropriation is not required for expenditures. All requests by
individual legislators for use of funds from this account must be first
approved by the secretary of the senate for members of the senate or
the chief clerk of the house of representatives for members of the
house of representatives prior to final approval by the president of
the senate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 42.52 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) When soliciting charitable gifts, grants, or donations solely
for the legislative international trade account created in section 1 of
this act, the president of the senate is exempt from the laws of this
chapter.
(2) When soliciting charitable gifts, grants, or donations solely
for the legislative international trade account created in section 1 of
this act, state officers and state employees are exempt from the laws
of this chapter.
Sec. 3 RCW 42.52.150 and 1998 c 7 s 2 are each amended to read as
follows:
(1) No state officer or state employee may accept gifts, other than
those specified in subsections (2) and (5) of this section, with an
aggregate value in excess of fifty dollars from a single source in a
calendar year or a single gift from multiple sources with a value in
excess of fifty dollars. For purposes of this section, "single source"
means any person, as defined in RCW 42.52.010, whether acting directly
or through any agent or other intermediary, and "single gift" includes
any event, item, or group of items used in conjunction with each other
or any trip including transportation, lodging, and attendant costs, not
excluded from the definition of gift under RCW 42.52.010. The value of
gifts given to an officer's or employee's family member or guest shall
be attributed to the official or employee for the purpose of
determining whether the limit has been exceeded, unless an independent
business, family, or social relationship exists between the donor and
the family member or guest.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the
following items are presumed not to influence under RCW 42.52.140, and
may be accepted without regard to the limit established by subsection
(1) of this section:
(a) Unsolicited flowers, plants, and floral arrangements;
(b) Unsolicited advertising or promotional items of nominal value,
such as pens and note pads;
(c) Unsolicited tokens or awards of appreciation in the form of a
plaque, trophy, desk item, wall memento, or similar item;
(d) Unsolicited items received by a state officer or state employee
for the purpose of evaluation or review, if the officer or employee has
no personal beneficial interest in the eventual use or acquisition of
the item by the officer's or employee's agency;
(e) Informational material, publications, or subscriptions related
to the recipient's performance of official duties;
(f) Food and beverages consumed at hosted receptions where
attendance is related to the state officer's or state employee's
official duties;
(g) Gifts, grants, conveyances, bequests, and devises of real or
personal property, or both, in trust or otherwise accepted and
solicited for deposit in the legislative international trade account
created in section 1 of this act;
(h) Admission to, and the cost of food and beverages consumed at,
events sponsored by or in conjunction with a civic, charitable,
governmental, or community organization; and
(((h))) (i) Unsolicited gifts from dignitaries from another state
or a foreign country that are intended to be personal in nature.
(3) The presumption in subsection (2) of this section is rebuttable
and may be overcome based on the circumstances surrounding the giving
and acceptance of the item.
(4) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (5) of this section, a
state officer or state employee of a regulatory agency or of an agency
that seeks to acquire goods or services who participates in those
regulatory or contractual matters may receive, accept, take, or seek,
directly or indirectly, only the following items from a person
regulated by the agency or from a person who seeks to provide goods or
services to the agency:
(a) Unsolicited advertising or promotional items of nominal value,
such as pens and note pads;
(b) Unsolicited tokens or awards of appreciation in the form of a
plaque, trophy, desk item, wall memento, or similar item;
(c) Unsolicited items received by a state officer or state employee
for the purpose of evaluation or review, if the officer or employee has
no personal beneficial interest in the eventual use or acquisition of
the item by the officer's or employee's agency;
(d) Informational material, publications, or subscriptions related
to the recipient's performance of official duties;
(e) Food and beverages consumed at hosted receptions where
attendance is related to the state officer's or state employee's
official duties;
(f) Admission to, and the cost of food and beverages consumed at,
events sponsored by or in conjunction with a civic, charitable,
governmental, or community organization; and
(g) Those items excluded from the definition of gift in RCW
42.52.010 except:
(i) Payments by a governmental or nongovernmental entity of
reasonable expenses incurred in connection with a speech, presentation,
appearance, or trade mission made in an official capacity;
(ii) Payments for seminars and educational programs sponsored by a
bona fide governmental or nonprofit professional, educational, trade,
or charitable association or institution; and
(iii) Flowers, plants, and floral arrangements.
(5) A state officer or state employee may accept gifts in the form
of food and beverage on infrequent occasions in the ordinary course of
meals where attendance by the officer or employee is related to the
performance of official duties. Gifts in the form of food and beverage
that exceed fifty dollars on a single occasion shall be reported as
provided in chapter 42.17 RCW.