READ FIRST TIME 04/24/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to implementation of basic education expenditures; amending RCW 28A.150.220, 28A.180.030, 28A.180.040, 82.16.020, and 82.18.040; reenacting and amending RCW 43.135.045 and 82.45.060; creating a new section; providing effective dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature intends to fund a plan to carry out the reforms enacted in chapter 548, Laws of 2009, and chapter 236, Laws of 2010, and to make the statutory changes necessary to support this plan.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.150.220 and 2013 c 323 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In order for students to have the opportunity to develop the basic education knowledge and skills under RCW 28A.150.210, school districts must provide instruction of sufficient quantity and quality and give students the opportunity to complete graduation requirements that are intended to prepare them for postsecondary education, gainful employment, and citizenship. The program established under this section shall be the minimum instructional program of basic education offered by school districts.
     (2) Each school district shall make available to students the following minimum instructional offering each school year:
     (a) For students enrolled in grades one through twelve, at least a district-wide annual average of one thousand hours, which shall be increased to at least one thousand eighty instructional hours for students enrolled in each of grades seven through twelve and at least one thousand instructional hours for students in each of grades one through six according to an implementation schedule adopted by the legislature, but not before the 2014-15 school year; and
     (b) For students enrolled in kindergarten, at least four hundred fifty instructional hours, which shall be increased to at least one thousand instructional hours according to the implementation schedule under RCW 28A.150.315.
     (3) The instructional program of basic education provided by each school district shall include:
     (a) Instruction in the essential academic learning requirements under RCW 28A.655.070;
     (b) Instruction that provides students the opportunity to complete twenty-four credits for high school graduation, subject to a phased-in implementation of the twenty-four credits as established by the legislature. Course distribution requirements may be established by the state board of education under RCW 28A.230.090;
     (c) If the essential academic learning requirements include a requirement of languages other than English, the requirement may be met by students receiving instruction in one or more American Indian languages;
     (d) Supplemental instruction and services for underachieving students through the learning assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065;
     (e) Supplemental instruction and services for eligible and enrolled students and exited students whose primary language is other than English through the transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080;
     (f) The opportunity for an appropriate education at public expense as defined by RCW 28A.155.020 for all eligible students with disabilities as defined in RCW 28A.155.020; and
     (g) Programs for highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030.
     (4) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require individual students to attend school for any particular number of hours per day or to take any particular courses.
     (5) Each school district's kindergarten through twelfth grade basic educational program shall be accessible to all students who are five years of age, as provided by RCW 28A.225.160, and less than twenty-one years of age and shall consist of a minimum of one hundred eighty school days per school year in such grades as are conducted by a school district, and one hundred eighty half-days of instruction, or equivalent, in kindergarten, to be increased to a minimum of one hundred eighty school days per school year according to the implementation schedule under RCW 28A.150.315. However, schools administering the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills may use up to three school days at the beginning of the school year to meet with parents and families as required in the parent involvement component of the inventory. In addition, effective May 1, 1979, a school district may schedule the last five school days of the one hundred and eighty day school year for noninstructional purposes in the case of students who are graduating from high school, including, but not limited to, the observance of graduation and early release from school upon the request of a student, and all such students may be claimed as a full-time equivalent student to the extent they could otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260.
     (6) Nothing in this section precludes a school district from enriching the instructional program of basic education, such as offering additional instruction or providing additional services, programs, or activities that the school district determines to be appropriate for the education of the school district's students.
     (7) The state board of education shall adopt rules to implement and ensure compliance with the program requirements imposed by this section, RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260, and such related supplemental program approval requirements as the state board may establish.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.180.030 and 2001 1st sp.s. c 6 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used throughout this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
     (1) "Transitional bilingual instruction" means:
     (a) A system of instruction which uses two languages, one of which is English, as a means of instruction to build upon and expand language skills to enable the pupil to achieve competency in English. Concepts and information are introduced in the primary language and reinforced in the second language: PROVIDED, That the program shall include testing in the subject matter in English; or
     (b) In those cases in which the use of two languages is not practicable as established by the superintendent of public instruction and unless otherwise prohibited by law, an alternative system of instruction which may include English as a second language and is designed to enable the pupil to achieve competency in English.
     (2) "Primary language" means the language most often used by the student for communication in his/her home.
     (3) "Eligible pupil" means any enrollee of the school district whose primary language is other than English and whose English language skills are sufficiently deficient or absent to impair learning.
     (4) "Exited pupil" means a student previously enrolled in the transitional bilingual instruction program who is no longer eligible for the program based on his or her performance on an English proficiency assessment approved by the superintendent of public instruction.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.180.040 and 2009 c 380 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Every school district board of directors shall:
     (a) Make available to each eligible pupil transitional bilingual instruction to achieve competency in English, in accord with rules of the superintendent of public instruction;
     (b) Wherever feasible, ensure that communications to parents emanating from the schools shall be appropriately bilingual for those parents of pupils in the bilingual instruction program;
     (c) Determine, by administration of an English test approved by the superintendent of public instruction the number of eligible pupils enrolled in the school district at the beginning of a school year and thereafter during the year as necessary in individual cases;
     (d) Ensure that a student who is a child of a military family in transition and who has been assessed as in need of, or enrolled in, a bilingual instruction program, the receiving school shall initially honor placement of the student into a like program.
     (i) The receiving school shall determine whether the district's program is a like program when compared to the sending school's program; and
     (ii) The receiving school may conduct subsequent assessments pursuant to RCW 28A.180.090 to determine appropriate placement and continued enrollment in the program;
     (e) Before the conclusion of each school year, measure each eligible pupil's improvement in learning the English language by means of a test approved by the superintendent of public instruction; ((and))
     (f) Provide in-service training for teachers, counselors, and other staff, who are involved in the district's transitional bilingual program. Such training shall include appropriate instructional strategies for children of culturally different backgrounds, use of curriculum materials, and program models; and
     (g) Make available a program of instructional support for up to two years immediately after pupils exit from the program, for exited pupils who need assistance in reaching grade-level performance in academic subjects even though they have achieved English proficiency for purposes of the transitional bilingual instructional program.
     (2) The definitions in Article II of RCW 28A.705.010 apply to subsection (1)(d) of this section.

Sec. 5   RCW 43.135.045 and 2012 2nd sp.s. c 5 s 1 and 2012 1st sp.s. c 10 s 5 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The education construction fund is hereby created in the state treasury.
     (1) Funds may be appropriated from the education construction fund exclusively for common school construction or higher education construction. ((During the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, funds may also be used for higher education facilities preservation and maintenance. During the 2009-2011 and 2011-2013 fiscal biennia, the legislature may transfer from the education construction fund to the state general fund such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance of the fund.))
     (2) Funds may be appropriated for any other purpose only if approved by a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature and if approved by a vote of the people at the next general election. An appropriation approved by the people under this subsection must result in an adjustment to the state expenditure limit only for the fiscal period for which the appropriation is made and does not affect any subsequent fiscal period.
     (((3) After July 1, 2010, the state treasurer must transfer one hundred two million dollars from the general fund to the education construction fund by June 30th of each year. However, the transfers may not take place in the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 2015.))

Sec. 6   RCW 82.45.060 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 50 s 975 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 48 s 7035 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     There is imposed an excise tax upon each sale of real property at the rate of one and twenty-eight one-hundredths percent of the selling price. Beginning July 1, 2013, and ending June 30, 2019, an amount equal to two percent of the proceeds of this tax must be deposited in the public works assistance account created in RCW 43.155.050, and an amount equal to four and one-tenth percent must be deposited in the education legacy trust account created in RCW 83.100.230. Thereafter, an amount equal to six and one-tenth percent of the proceeds of this tax to the state treasurer must be deposited in the public works assistance account created in RCW 43.155.050((: PROVIDED, That during the fiscal year 2011, six and one-tenth percent of the proceeds of this tax must be deposited in the general fund for general purpose expenditures)). Except as otherwise provided in this section, an amount equal to one and six-tenths percent of the proceeds of this tax to the state treasurer must be deposited in the city-county assistance account created in RCW 43.08.290. ((During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, 1.546 percent of the proceeds of this tax to the state treasurer must be deposited in the city-county assistance account.))

Sec. 7   RCW 82.16.020 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 48 s 7033 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) There is levied and there shall be collected from every person a tax for the act or privilege of engaging within this state in any one or more of the businesses herein mentioned. The tax shall be equal to the gross income of the business, multiplied by the rate set out after the business, as follows:
     (a) Express, sewerage collection, and telegraph businesses: Three and six-tenths percent;
     (b) Light and power business: Three and sixty-two one-hundredths percent;
     (c) Gas distribution business: Three and six-tenths percent;
     (d) Urban transportation business: Six-tenths of one percent;
     (e) Vessels under sixty-five feet in length, except tugboats, operating upon the waters within the state: Six-tenths of one percent;
     (f) Motor transportation, railroad, railroad car, and tugboat businesses, and all public service businesses other than ones mentioned above: One and eight-tenths of one percent;
     (g) Water distribution business: Four and seven-tenths percent.
     (2) An additional tax is imposed equal to the rate specified in RCW 82.02.030 multiplied by the tax payable under subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) Twenty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (1) of this section on water distribution businesses and sixty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (1) of this section on sewerage collection businesses shall be deposited in the education legacy trust account created in RCW 83.100.230 from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2019, and thereafter in the public works assistance account created in RCW 43.155.050((: PROVIDED, That during the fiscal year 2011, twenty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (1) of this section on water distribution businesses and sixty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (1) of this section on sewerage collection businesses must be deposited in the general fund for general purpose expenditures)).

Sec. 8   RCW 82.18.040 and 2012 2nd sp.s. c 5 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Taxes collected under this chapter must be held in trust until paid to the state. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (1), taxes received by the state must be deposited in the public works assistance account created in RCW 43.155.050. For the period beginning July 1, 2011, and ending June 30, 2015, taxes received by the state under this chapter must be deposited in the general fund for general purpose expenditures. For fiscal years 2016, 2017, and 2018, one-half of the taxes received by the state under this chapter must be deposited in the general fund for general purpose expenditures and the remainder deposited in the ((public works assistance account)) education legacy trust account created in RCW 83.100.230. For fiscal year 2019, taxes received by the state under this chapter must be deposited in the education legacy trust account created in RCW 83.100.230. Any person collecting the tax who appropriates or converts the tax collected is guilty of a gross misdemeanor if the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the date payment is due. If a taxpayer fails to pay the tax imposed by this chapter to the person charged with collection of the tax and the person charged with collection fails to pay the tax to the department, the department may, in its discretion, proceed directly against the taxpayer for collection of the tax.
     (2) The tax is due from the taxpayer within twenty-five days from the date the taxpayer is billed by the person collecting the tax.
     (3) The tax is due from the person collecting the tax at the end of the tax period in which the tax is received from the taxpayer. If the taxpayer remits only a portion of the total amount billed for taxes, consideration, and related charges, the amount remitted must be applied first to payment of the solid waste collection tax and this tax has priority over all other claims to the amount remitted.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   (1) Sections 2 through 4 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect September 1, 2013.
     (2) Section 7 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect June 30, 2013.
     (3) Sections 5, 6, and 8 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect immediately.