BILL REQ. #:  S-1068.4 

Read first time 02/13/13.   Referred to Committee on Trade & Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to data collection and operational cost funding for the Washington state economic development commission; amending RCW 43.330.250; and adding a new section to chapter 43.162 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.330.250 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 50 s 956 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The economic development strategic reserve account is created in the state treasury to be used only for the purposes of this section.
     (2) A minimum of five hundred thousand dollars from the account must be extended annually to cover the operational costs of the Washington state economic development commission. Of the remaining funds, only the governor, with the recommendation of the director of the department of commerce and the economic development commission, may authorize expenditures from the account.
     (3) ((Expenditures from the account shall be made in an amount sufficient to fund a minimum of one staff position for the economic development commission and to cover any other operational costs of the commission.
     (4) During the 2009-2011 and 2011-2013 fiscal biennia, moneys in the account may also be transferred into the state general fund.
     (5))) Expenditures from the account may be made to prevent closure of a business or facility, to prevent relocation of a business or facility in the state to a location outside the state, or to recruit a business or facility to the state. Expenditures may be authorized for:
     (a) Workforce development;
     (b) Public infrastructure needed to support or sustain the operations of the business or facility; and
     (c) Other lawfully provided assistance((,)) including, but not limited to, technical assistance, environmental analysis, relocation assistance, and planning assistance. Funding may be provided for such assistance only when it is in the public interest and may only be provided under a contractual arrangement ensuring that the state will receive appropriate consideration, such as an assurance of job creation or retention. Any contract with a private firm must specify that funds received must be returned to the state if the terms of the contract are not met.
     (((6))) (4) The funds ((shall)) may not be expended from the account unless:
     (a) The circumstances are such that time does not permit the director of the department of commerce or the business or facility to secure funding from other state sources;
     (b) The business or facility produces or will produce significant long-term economic benefits to the state, a region of the state, or a particular community in the state;
     (c) The business or facility does not require continuing state support;
     (d) The expenditure will result in new jobs, job retention, or higher incomes for citizens of the state;
     (e) The expenditure will not supplant private investment; and
     (f) The expenditure is accompanied by private investment.
     (((7))) (5) No more than three million dollars per year may be expended from the account for the purpose of assisting an individual business or facility pursuant to the authority specified in this section.
     (((8))) (6) If the account balance in the economic development strategic reserve account exceeds fifteen million dollars at any time, the amount in excess of fifteen million dollars ((shall)) must be transferred to the education construction account.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.162 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Every agency operating a program identified by the commission as a state-funded program providing significant economic development services must develop a data collection plan for the program that includes, but need not be limited to:
     (i) A logic model to be used for evaluation, explicating how resources are deployed to achieve an economic development outcome;
     (ii) A process for collection of data and other evidence; and
     (iii) An explanation of how the data is validated and standardized.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection, "logic model" means an articulation of the logical relationships between the resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes of a program.
     (2) The plan must be submitted to the commission for approval by September 1, 2013. The agencies submitting the data collection plan must articulate the time it takes to arrive at an economic development outcome and demonstrate how the agency will work with the employment security department, the department of revenue, the department of labor and industries, as appropriate, to match their data with administrative third-party data to ensure a high level of validity. The commission must approve the plans by December 31, 2013.
     (3) Beginning January 1, 2014, the agencies must begin collecting data consistent with their approved plan. Agencies must, at a minimum, collect and display data in spread sheet form. Agencies must make the data available to the commission by July 1st and January 1st of each year.