Read first time 01/24/08.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to transparency in state expenditures; adding a new section to chapter 44.48 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.88 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.150 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The intent of the legislature is to make state revenue and expenditure data as open, transparent, and publicly accessible as is feasible. Increasing the ease of public access to state budget data, particularly where the data are currently available from disparate internal government sources but are difficult for the public to collect and efficiently aggregate, significantly contributes to governmental accountability, public participation, agency efficiency, and open government.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 44.48 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2009, in collaboration with the office of financial management, using existing databases and structures currently shared, the office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee shall establish and make available to the public a searchable state expenditure information web site. The state expenditure information web site shall provide access to current budget data, access to current accounting data for budgeted expenditures and staff, and access to historical data. At a minimum, the web site will provide access or links to the following information as data are available:
     (a) State expenditures by fund or account;
     (b) State expenditures by agency, program, and subprogram;
     (c) State revenues by major source;
     (d) State expenditures by object and subobject;
     (e) State agency workloads, caseloads, and performance measures, and recent performance audits; and
     (f) State agency budget data by activity.
     (2) "State agency," as used in this section, includes every state agency, office, board, commission, or institution of the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, including institutions of higher education.
     (3) The state expenditure information web site shall be updated periodically as subsequent fiscal year data become available, and the prior year expenditure data shall be maintained by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee as part of its ten-year historical budget data.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.88 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The office of financial management shall make electronically available to the public a database of state agency contracts for personal services required to be filed with the office of financial management under chapter 39.29 RCW.
     (2) The state expenditure information web site described in section 2 of this act shall include a link to the office of financial management database described in subsection (1) of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.150 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Upon the release of each proposed omnibus appropriations act and final enacted budget, the legislative evaluation and accountability committee shall prepare and cause to be posted on a publicly accessible web site a presentation consisting of potential examples of the types and levels of educational programs and services supported by funding provided in the proposed or enacted omnibus appropriations act under specified allocations for the support of common schools.
     (2) The purpose of the presentation created in subsection (1) of this section is to make transparent to the public, using categories and terms that are readily understood, examples of the type and level of educational programs and services supported by funding appropriated in the omnibus appropriations act under specified programs for support of the common schools. Such transparency promotes better public understanding of the state resources provided to support the common schools. The information in the presentation is for illustrative purposes only. It is not intended, nor is it to be construed, to represent how state allocations are actually used by individual school districts, nor how school districts are expected or required to expend state allocations.
     (3) Each legislative evaluation and accountability program committee presentation prepared under this section shall provide estimates for the following items, based on the level of state funding appropriated in the budget bill for which the presentation is prepared and for the school year immediately following the legislative session in which the bill is considered:
     (a) For the general apportionment program:
     (i) Estimated state-funded class size in elementary, middle, and high school grade spans;
     (ii) Average state-funded teacher salary, total teacher compensation, administrator salary, and classified staff salary;
     (iii) Estimated number of state-funded staff of various classifications in a hypothetical average-sized school; and
     (iv) Estimated amount per pupil for nonemployee related costs, including a breakdown of the per pupil amount by selected major categories of expenditure;
     (b) For the learning assistance program, the transitional bilingual program, and the highly capable student program: Estimated hours of additional instruction per week in each program;
     (c) For the special education excess cost allocation: Estimated amount per eligible student;
     (d) For the promoting academic success program: Estimated hours of remediation for various types of students, hours of teacher planning time, and class size; and
     (e) For the student achievement fund: Estimated amount per pupil in each category of use of the funds under RCW 28A.505.210 and estimated staffing or additional instructional time supported by the funds in a hypothetical average-sized school.
     (4) Each document shall also contain a brief narrative description of how the estimates provided under subsection (3) of this section were calculated and the major assumptions behind the calculations. Estimates may be developed using documented expenditure patterns of school districts, best practices, or other sources of information.