State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/31/11. Referred to Committee on Education Appropriations & Oversight.
AN ACT Relating to fiscal notes for legislation that uniquely affects school districts; amending RCW 43.88A.020 and 43.132.020; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 43.88A.020 and 2008 c 1 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
The office of financial management shall, in cooperation with
appropriate legislative committees and legislative staff, establish a
procedure for the provision of fiscal notes on the expected impact of
bills and resolutions which increase or decrease or tend to increase or
decrease state government revenues or expenditures. Such fiscal notes
shall indicate by fiscal year the impact for the remainder of the
biennium in which the bill or resolution will first take effect as well
as a cumulative forecast of the fiscal impact for the succeeding four
fiscal years. Fiscal notes shall separately identify the fiscal
impacts on the operating and capital budgets. Estimates of fiscal
impacts shall be calculated using the procedures contained in the
fiscal note instructions issued by the office of financial management.
In establishing the fiscal impact called for pursuant to this
chapter, the office of financial management shall coordinate the
development of fiscal notes with all state agencies affected.
The preparation and dissemination of the ongoing cost projections
and other requirements of RCW 43.135.031 for bills increasing taxes or
fees shall take precedence over fiscal notes.
For proposed legislation that uniquely affects school districts, in
addition to any fiscal note prepared under this chapter, a school
district fiscal note must be prepared under the process established in
section 3 of this act.
Sec. 2 RCW 43.132.020 and 2000 c 182 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
The director of financial management or the director's designee
shall, in cooperation with appropriate legislative committees and
legislative staff, establish a mechanism for the determination of the
fiscal impact of proposed legislation which if enacted into law would
directly or indirectly increase or decrease revenues received or
expenditures incurred by counties, cities, towns, or any other units of
local government. For purposes of this section, "unit of local
government" includes school districts to the extent that the proposed
legislation affects school districts in the same manner as it affects
other units of local government. Where proposed legislation uniquely
affects school districts, a school district fiscal note must be
prepared under the process established in section 3 of this act. The
office of financial management shall, when requested by a member of the
state legislature, report in writing as to such fiscal impact and said
report shall be known as a "fiscal note".
Such fiscal notes shall indicate by fiscal year the total impact on
the local governments involved for the first two years the legislation
would be in effect and also a cumulative six year forecast of the
fiscal impact. Where feasible and applicable, the fiscal note also
shall indicate the fiscal impact on each individual county or on a
representative sampling of cities, towns, or other units of local
government.
A fiscal note as defined in this section shall be provided only
upon request of any member of the state legislature. A request for a
fiscal note on legislation shall be considered to be a continuing
request for a fiscal note on any formal alteration of the legislation
in the form of amendments to the legislation that are adopted by a
committee or a house of the legislature or a substitute version of such
legislation that is adopted by a committee and preparation of the
fiscal note on the prior version of the legislation shall stop, unless
the legislator requesting the fiscal note specifies otherwise or the
altered version is first adopted or enacted in the last week of a
legislative session.
Fiscal notes shall be completed within one week of the request
unless a longer time period is allowed by the requesting legislator.
In the event a fiscal note has not been completed within one week of a
request, a daily report shall be prepared for the requesting legislator
by the director of financial management which report summarizes the
progress in preparing the fiscal note. If the request is referred to
the director of ((community, trade, and economic development))
commerce, the daily report shall also include the date and time such
referral was made.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 28A.300
RCW to read as follows:
(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall,
where it is practicable to do so within available resources, prepare
school district fiscal notes on proposed legislation that increases or
decreases, or tends to increase or decrease, school district revenues
or expenditures in a manner that uniquely affects school districts.
Proposed legislation that uniquely affects school districts includes,
but is not limited to, legislation that affects school districts'
responsibilities as providers of educational services under this title,
as employers under chapter 41.59 RCW, or as excess levy taxing
authorities under RCW 84.52.053 and 84.52.0531, but excludes proposed
legislation that affects school districts only in the same manner that
it affects other units of local government.
(2) Where practicable, the school district fiscal note shall show
the fiscal impact of the proposed legislation on each school district.
Where it is not practicable to do so, the school district fiscal note
shall show the effect of the legislation on a range of representative
school districts. The fiscal note must set forth any assumptions that
were used in selecting the representative districts, along with any
other assumptions made about the fiscal impact.
(3) School district fiscal notes prepared under this section are
subject to coordination by the office of financial management under RCW
43.88A.020 and are otherwise subject to the requirements and procedures
of chapter 43.88A RCW.