"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.88 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning in the 2013-2015 biennium, the legislature shall enact an omnibus operating appropriations bill that leaves, in total, a positive ending fund balance.
     (2) Beginning in the 2013-2015 biennium, the projected maintenance level of the omnibus appropriations bill enacted by the legislature shall not exceed by more than five percent the available fiscal resources for the next biennium.
     (3) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Available fiscal resources" means any general fund moneys to be transferred to the budget stabilization account pursuant to Article VII, section 12 of the state Constitution, the beginning general fund and related fund balances, any funds transferred into the general or related funds, and any fiscal resources estimated for the general fund and related funds;
     (b) "Projected maintenance level" means costs mandated by state or federal law, but does not include costs associated with court decisions issued during or within ninety days prior to the legislative session, and, in the 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 biennia, it does not include the costs related to the enhanced funding under the new definition of basic education as established in chapter 548, Laws of 2009, and affirmed by the decision in Mathew McCleary et al., v. The State of Washington, 173 Wn.2d 477, 269 P.3d 227, (2012);
     (c) "Related funds" means the Washington opportunity pathways account, the education legacy trust account, and such other funds and accounts as determined by the legislature.
     (4) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section do not apply to an appropriations bill that makes net reductions in general fund and related funds appropriations and is enacted between July 1st and February 15th of any fiscal year.
     (5) Subsection (2) of this section does not apply in a fiscal biennium in which money is appropriated from the budget stabilization account.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.33.010 and 1990 c 229 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The economic and revenue forecast council is hereby created. The council shall consist of two individuals appointed by the governor, the state treasurer or his or her designee, and four individuals, one of whom is appointed by the chairperson of each of the two largest political caucuses in the senate and house of representatives. The chair of the council shall be selected from among the four caucus appointees. The council may select such other officers as the members deem necessary.
     (2) The council shall employ an economic and revenue forecast supervisor to supervise the preparation of all economic and revenue forecasts and state budget outlooks. As used in this chapter, "supervisor" means the economic and revenue forecast supervisor. Approval by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the council is required for any decisions regarding employment of the supervisor. Employment of the supervisor shall terminate after each term of three years. At the end of the first year of each three-year term the council shall consider extension of the supervisor's term by one year. The council may fix the compensation of the supervisor. The supervisor shall employ staff sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this section.
     (3) The economic and revenue forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least ((four)) five members, the official, optimistic, and pessimistic state economic and revenue forecasts prepared under RCW 82.33.020. If the council is unable to approve a forecast before a date required in RCW 82.33.020, the supervisor shall submit the forecast without approval and the forecast shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
     (4) The state budget outlook work group shall prepare and the council shall approve, by an affirmative vote of at least five members, the state budget outlook prepared under section 4 of this act. If the council is unable to approve a state budget outlook before a date required in section 4 of this act, the supervisor shall submit the outlook without approval and the outlook shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
     (5) A councilmember who does not cast an affirmative vote for approval of the official economic and revenue forecast or the state budget outlook may request, and the supervisor shall provide, an alternative economic and revenue forecast or state budget outlook based on assumptions specified by the member.
     (((5))) (6) Members of the economic and revenue forecast council shall serve without additional compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 82.33 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By December 1, 2012, the state budget outlook work group established in section 5 of this act must develop and report on a proposed methodology for preparing the operating budget outlook required under section 4 of this act.
     (2) The report must include an illustrative application of the proposed methodology to fiscal data and forecasts from fiscal years 2000 through 2011, including analysis of the accuracy of the methodology as applied to projections of revenue, caseloads, and expenditures.
     (3) The work group must recommend the implementation of the provisions of section 1 of this act, including how to ensure that the omnibus operating budget is within projected revenues at the time of adoption and how often the outlook must be updated.
     (4) The work group must provide the proposed methodology and its report to the office of financial management and the appropriate fiscal committees of the legislature and must make the proposed methodology publicly available on its web site.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 82.33 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To facilitate compliance with, and subject to the terms of, section 1 of this act, the state budget outlook work group shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council under RCW 82.33.010, an official state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures for the general fund and related funds. In odd-numbered years, the period covered by the November state budget outlook shall be the current fiscal biennium and the next ensuing fiscal biennium. In even-numbered years, the period covered by the November budget outlook shall be the next two ensuing fiscal biennia. The revenue and caseload projections used in the outlook must reflect the most recent official forecasts adopted by the economic and revenue forecast council and the caseload forecast council for the years for which those forecasts are available. The outlook shall clearly state the assumptions used in the baseline expenditure estimates and any adjustments made to those estimates. The outlook shall clearly state the assumptions used in the baseline revenue estimates and any adjustments to those estimates. The outlook must include the impact of previously enacted legislation with a future implementation date.
     (2) The outlook must:
     (a) Estimate revenues to and expenditures from the state general fund and related funds. The estimate of ensuing biennium expenditures must focus on maintenance items including, but not limited to, continuation of current programs, forecasted growth of current entitlement programs, and actions required by law, including legislation with a future implementation date. Estimates of ensuing biennium expenditures must exclude policy items including, but not limited to, legislation not yet enacted by the legislature, court decisions enacted within ninety days of a legislative session, collective bargaining agreements not yet approved by the legislature, and changes to levels of funding for employee salaries and benefits unless those changes are required by statute;
     (b) Address major budget and revenue drivers, including trends and variability in these drivers;
     (c) Clearly state the assumptions used in the estimates of baseline and projected expenditures and any adjustments made to those estimates;
     (d) Clearly state the assumptions used in the baseline revenue estimates and any adjustments to those estimates;
     (e) Include the impact of previously enacted legislation with a future implementation date; and
     (f) Address other major fiscal factors, such as pension funding status and state general obligation debt.
     (3) The outlook must also separately include projections based on the revenues and expenditures proposed in the governor's budget documents submitted to the legislature under RCW 43.88.030.
     (4) The economic and revenue forecast council shall submit state budget outlooks prepared under this section to the governor and the members of the committees on ways and means of the senate and house of representatives, including one copy to the staff of each of the committees, as required by this section.
     (5) Each January, the state budget outlook work group shall also prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council, a state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures that reflects the governor's proposed budget document submitted to the legislature under chapter 43.88 RCW. Within thirty days following enactment of an operating budget by the legislature, the work group shall prepare, subject to the approval of the economic and revenue forecast council, a state budget outlook for state revenues and expenditures that reflects the enacted budget.
     (6) All agencies of state government shall provide to the supervisor immediate access to all information relating to state budget outlooks.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 82.33 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) To promote the free flow of information and to promote legislative input in the preparation of the state budget outlook, immediate access to all information relating to the state budget outlook shall be available to the state budget outlook work group, hereby created. The state budget outlook work group shall consist of staff members selected by the executive head or chairperson of each of the following agencies or committees:
     (a) Office of financial management, two members;
     (b) Legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, one member;
     (c) Office of the state treasurer, one member;
     (d) Office of the state actuary, one member;
     (e) Department of revenue, one member;
     (f) Economic and revenue forecast council, one member;
     (g) Caseload forecast council, one member;
     (h) Ways and means committee of the senate, two members; and
     (i) Ways and means committee of the house of representatives, two members.
     (2) For purposes of the state budget outlook, the state budget outlook work group shall provide technical support and staff to the economic and revenue forecast council. Meetings of the state budget outlook work group may be called by any member of the group for the purpose of preparing the state budget outlook, or of assisting the economic and revenue forecast council in reviewing the state budget outlook.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   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."