READ FIRST TIME 02/09/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to extending a sales and use tax exemption to the construction of facilities to be used for the conditioning of vegetable seeds; amending RCW 82.60.020; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 82.60.020 and 2004 c 25 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Applicant" means a person applying for a tax deferral under this chapter.
     (2) "Department" means the department of revenue.
     (3) "Eligible area" means a rural county as defined in RCW 82.14.370.
     (4)(a) "Eligible investment project" means an investment project in an eligible area as defined in subsection (3) of this section.
     (b) The lessor or owner of a qualified building is not eligible for a deferral unless:
     (i) The underlying ownership of the buildings, machinery, and equipment vests exclusively in the same person; or
     (ii)(A) The lessor by written contract agrees to pass the economic benefit of the deferral to the lessee;
     (B) The lessee that receives the economic benefit of the deferral agrees in writing with the department to complete the annual survey required under RCW 82.60.070; and
     (C) The economic benefit of the deferral passed to the lessee is no less than the amount of tax deferred by the lessor and is evidenced by written documentation of any type of payment, credit, or other financial arrangement between the lessor or owner of the qualified building and the lessee.
     (c) "Eligible investment project" does not include any portion of an investment project undertaken by a light and power business as defined in RCW 82.16.010(5), other than that portion of a cogeneration project that is used to generate power for consumption within the manufacturing site of which the cogeneration project is an integral part, or investment projects which have already received deferrals under this chapter.
     (5) "Investment project" means an investment in qualified buildings or qualified machinery and equipment, including labor and services rendered in the planning, installation, and construction of the project.
     (6) "Manufacturing" means the same as defined in RCW 82.04.120. "Manufacturing" also includes computer programming, the production of computer software, and other computer-related services, ((and)) the activities performed by research and development laboratories and commercial testing laboratories, and the conditioning of vegetable seeds.
     (7) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030.
     (8) "Qualified buildings" means construction of new structures, and expansion or renovation of existing structures for the purpose of increasing floor space or production capacity used for manufacturing and research and development activities, including plant offices and warehouses or other facilities for the storage of raw material or finished goods if such facilities are an essential or an integral part of a factory, mill, plant, or laboratory used for manufacturing or research and development. If a building is used partly for manufacturing or research and development and partly for other purposes, the applicable tax deferral shall be determined by apportionment of the costs of construction under rules adopted by the department.
     (9) "Qualified employment position" means a permanent full-time employee employed in the eligible investment project during the entire tax year. The term "entire tax year" means a full-time position that is filled for a period of twelve consecutive months. The term "full-time" means at least thirty-five hours a week, four hundred fifty-five hours a quarter, or one thousand eight hundred twenty hours a year.
     (10) "Qualified machinery and equipment" means all new industrial and research fixtures, equipment, and support facilities that are an integral and necessary part of a manufacturing or research and development operation. "Qualified machinery and equipment" includes: Computers; software; data processing equipment; laboratory equipment; manufacturing components such as belts, pulleys, shafts, and moving parts; molds, tools, and dies; operating structures; and all equipment used to control or operate the machinery.
     (11) "Recipient" means a person receiving a tax deferral under this chapter.
     (12) "Research and development" means the development, refinement, testing, marketing, and commercialization of a product, service, or process before commercial sales have begun. As used in this subsection, "commercial sales" excludes sales of prototypes or sales for market testing if the total gross receipts from such sales of the product, service, or process do not exceed one million dollars.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   This act takes effect July 1, 2006.