H-1015              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 604

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representative Grimm

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

AN ACT Relating to the debt limit; amending RCW 39.42.060; and providing an effective date.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 6, chapter 184, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 36, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 39.42.060 are each amended to read as follows:

          No bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness for borrowed money shall be issued by the state which will cause the aggregate debt contracted by the state to exceed that amount for which payments of principal and interest in any fiscal year would require the state to expend more than ((seven))  .....  percent of the arithmetic mean of its general state revenue, as defined in section 1 of Article VIII of the Washington state Constitution for the three immediately preceding fiscal years as certified by the  treasurer in accordance with RCW 39.42.070.  It shall be the duty of the state finance committee to compute annually the amount required to pay principal of and interest on outstanding debt.  In making such computation, the state finance committee shall include all borrowed money represented by bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness ((which are secured by the full faith and credit of the state or are required to be paid, directly or indirectly, from general state revenues and which are incurred by the state, any department, authority, public corporation or quasi public corporation of the state, any state university or college, or any other public agency created by the state but not by counties, cities, towns, school districts, or other municipal corporations, and shall include debt incurred pursuant to section 3 of Article VIII of the Washington state Constitution, but shall exclude the following:

           (1) Obligations for the payment of current expenses of state government;

          (2) Indebtedness incurred pursuant to RCW 39.42.080 or 39.42.090;

          (3) Principal of and interest on bond anticipation notes;

          (4) Any indebtedness which has been refunded; and

          (5) Indebtedness incurred pursuant to statute heretofore or hereafter enacted which requires that the state treasury be reimbursed, in the amount of the principal of and the interest on such indebtedness, from money other than general state revenues or from the special excise tax imposed pursuant to chapter 67.40 RCW)) included as debt under Article VIII, section 1(d) of the state Constitution.

          To the extent necessary because of the constitutional or statutory debt limitation, priorities with respect to the issuance or guaranteeing of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness by the state shall be determined by the state finance committee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     This act shall take effect on July 1, 1987, if the proposed amendment to Article XXX of the state Constitution providing for the funding of retirement system benefits is validly submitted to and is approved and ratified by the voters at a general election held in November 1985.  If the proposed amendment is not so approved and ratified, this act shall be null and void in its entirety.