S-4313               _______________________________________________

                                   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 8427

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Senators Lee, Smitherman, Conner, Anderson, Cantu, Warnke, Saling, West and Bailey

Read first time 1/22/88 and referred to Committee on Economic Development & Labor.

WHEREAS, The private sector business community is of vital importance to the State of Washington to ensure that employment opportunities are available to the citizens of the state, to provide adequate government revenue to fund public programs, and to ensure a high standard of living and quality of life for Washington citizens; and

          WHEREAS, It is in the interest of the State of Washington to preserve a competitive economy dedicated to providing quality goods and services at fair and reasonable prices; and

          WHEREAS, The legislature recognizes the vital importance of public and nonprofit organizations in  providing community and charitable services that have not traditionally been commercially viable; and

          WHEREAS, The Governor's Small Business Conference and the Small Business Improvement Council have identified that an issue exists as to competition between profit and nonprofit organizations; and

          WHEREAS, It is necessary to study the impact of tax and regulatory exemptions on profit and nonprofit organizations;

          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the State of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That a joint select committee on nonprofit competition with the private business sector shall be established; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall be composed of the following members:  Four members of the Senate, two appointed by each caucus; four members of the House of Representatives, two appointed by each caucus; four members of the private sector business community, appointed by the governor; four members of the nonprofit organization community, appointed by the governor; and four members from state government agencies, appointed by the governor; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall review the following areas:

          (1) The tax and regulatory advantages that accrue to nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations;

          (2) The extent to which nonprofit organizations engage in unrelated business activities;

          (3) The major areas in which competition exists between nonprofit organizations and the private sector business community, together with the historical perspectives on such major areas of competition;

          (4) The manner in which both nonprofit and for-profit organizations can cooperate to mitigate the problems generated by such competition; and

          (5) What action, if any, should be taken by the legislature to reduce such competition; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall be constituted not later than May 1, 1988, and shall convene its first meeting not later than June 1, 1988; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall report its findings to the governor and the legislature not later than January 1, 1989; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the legislative members receive an allowance in accordance with RCW 44.04.120; and that nonlegislative members shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That all executive branch agencies having expertise in the area of nonprofit and private sector competition, or which are impacted by the issue of such competition, shall provide such services as requested by the committee.