ByRepresentatives Lekanoff, DeBolt, Blake, Mead, Ramel, Shewmake, Ramos, Peterson, Thai, Fey, Tharinger, Fitzgibbon, Rude, Tarleton, Leavitt, Davis, and Doglio

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) A joint legislative salmon committee is established consisting of the chairs and ranking minority members of each committee from both the house of representatives and senate with jurisdiction over salmon recovery issues and local government operations, and the chairs and ranking members of the committees with jurisdiction over the operating budget, capital budget, and transportation budget. Committee chairs may designate the respective committee vice chair to serve in the chair's place, and ranking minority members may designate the respective assistant ranking minority member to serve in the ranking minority member's place.

(2) The joint legislative salmon committee shall elect cochairs from among its membership at the first meeting. The chair, or the chair's designee, of the house of representatives standing committee with jurisdiction over rural development, agriculture, and natural resources issues shall convene the initial meeting of the joint legislative salmon committee.

(3) The joint legislative salmon committee shall invite participation from the department of fish and wildlife, the department of natural resources, the department of ecology, and the department of agriculture.

(a) Review and develop potential legislative actions to enhance both salmon recovery efforts and effective coordination of statewide salmon recovery policy; and

(b) Meet during the first week of each legislative session to review potential legislative actions regarding salmon recovery, including review of introduced bills and budget items.

(2) The joint legislative salmon committee shall provide an annual report of its activities to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The annual report must include, if applicable, legislative recommendations. The annual report must be submitted no later than one month after agency budget requests are submitted to the office of financial management. The first report is due in 2020.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The office of program research and senate committee services shall provide staff support to the joint legislative salmon committee.

(2) Legislative members of the joint legislative salmon committee must be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120.

(3) The expenses of the joint legislative salmon committee must be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Joint legislative salmon committee expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees.

(4) The joint legislative salmon committee may contract with additional persons or organizations who have specific scientific and technical expertise to inform legislative committees about the best available science related to public policies that affect salmon, if such expertise is necessary. The joint legislative salmon committee may enter into such a contract only if an appropriation is specifically provided for this purpose.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, from the state general fund to the house of representatives, and is provided solely for administrative, research, and analytical activities required to carry out the joint legislative salmon committee objectives in sections 1 through 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, from the state general fund to the senate, and is provided solely for administrative, research, and analytical activities required to carry out the joint legislative salmon committee objectives in sections 1 through 3 of this act.