The legislature hereby recognizes the necessity of developing a uniform and coordinated procedure for determining the expected fiscal impact of bills and resolutions on state government. The legislature also recognizes that developing such statements of fiscal impact, which shall be known as fiscal notes, requires the designation of a state agency to be principally responsible therefor.
The legislature also recognizes the value of considering the impact of bills and resolutions on working families. A working families fiscal impact statement must be included in fiscal notes when required under section 2 of this act.
The office of financial management shall, in cooperation with appropriate legislative committees and legislative staff, establish a procedure for the provision of fiscal notes on the expected impact of bills and resolutions which increase or decrease or tend to increase or decrease state government revenues or expenditures. Such fiscal notes shall indicate by fiscal year the impact for the remainder of the biennium in which the bill or resolution will first take effect as well as a cumulative forecast of the fiscal impact for the succeeding four fiscal years. Fiscal notes shall separately identify the fiscal impacts on the operating and capital budgets. Estimates of fiscal impacts shall be calculated using the procedures contained in the fiscal note instructions issued by the office of financial management.
In establishing the fiscal impact called for pursuant to this chapter, the office of financial management shall coordinate the development of fiscal notes with all state agencies affected.
The preparation and dissemination of the ongoing cost projections and other requirements of RCW 43.135.031 for bills increasing taxes or fees shall take precedence over fiscal notes.
For proposed legislation that uniquely affects school districts, in addition to any fiscal note prepared under this chapter, a school district fiscal note must be prepared under the process established in RCW 28A.300.0401.
[ 2011 c 140 § 1; 2008 c 1 § 3 (Initiative Measure No. 960, approved November 6, 2007); 1994 c 219 § 3; 1979 c 151 § 146; 1977 ex.s. c 25 § 2; ]
When a fiscal note is prepared and approved as to form, accuracy, and completeness by the office of financial management, which depicts the expected fiscal impact of a bill or resolution, copies shall be filed immediately with:
The chairperson of the committee to which the bill or resolution was referred upon introduction in the house of origin;
The senate committee on ways and means, or its successor; and
The house committees on revenue and appropriations, or their successors.
Whenever possible, such fiscal note and, in the case of a bill increasing taxes or fees, the cost projection and other information required under RCW 43.135.031 shall be provided prior to or at the time the bill or resolution is first heard by the committee of reference in the house of origin.
When a fiscal note has been prepared for a bill or resolution, a copy of the fiscal note shall be placed in the bill books or otherwise attached to the bill or resolution and shall remain with the bill or resolution throughout the legislative process insofar as possible. For bills increasing taxes or fees, the cost projection and other information required by RCW 43.135.031 shall be placed in the bill books or otherwise attached to the bill or resolution and shall remain with the bill or resolution throughout the legislative process insofar as possible.
[ 2008 c 1 § 4 (Initiative Measure No. 960, approved November 6, 2007); 1986 c 158 § 16; 1979 ex.s. c 112 § 1; 1979 c 151 § 147; 1977 ex.s. c 25 § 3; ]
The office of financial management shall also provide a fiscal note on any legislative proposal at the request of any legislator. Such fiscal note shall be returned to the requesting legislator, and copies shall be filed with the appropriate legislative committees pursuant to RCW 43.88A.030 at the time such proposed legislation is introduced in either house.
[ 1979 c 151 § 148; 1977 ex.s. c 25 § 4; ]
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent either house of the legislature from acting on any bill or resolution before it as otherwise provided by the state Constitution, by law, and by the rules and joint rules of the senate and house of representatives, nor shall the lack of any fiscal note as provided in this chapter or any error in the accuracy thereof affect the validity of any measure otherwise duly passed by the legislature.
[ 1977 ex.s. c 25 § 5; ]
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For purposes of this chapter, a working families fiscal impact statement is: (i) A written supplemental statement in a fiscal note that includes an estimate of the impact that proposed legislation has on a working family; and (ii) contained only in the narrative explanation of the fiscal note and not reflected in the fiscal impact calculation required by RCW 43.88A.020.
"Working families" are households that have a total annual income of $150,000 or less per year. The office of financial management must adjust this amount for inflation according to the implicit price deflator at least every five years. The working families fiscal impact is the annual total of applicable costs or savings to working families, as determined according to the methodology established in subsection (2) of this section, divided by the estimated number of working families in this state.
A working families fiscal impact statement must include a narrative and data to explain the assumptions that were used in computing the working families fiscal impact statement.
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For fiscal notes prepared for the 2023 legislative session, working families fiscal impact statements must analyze how the fiscal impact calculation for revenue and fee provisions in the proposed legislation impact working families.
For fiscal notes prepared for the 2024 session and thereafter, working families fiscal impact statements must also include the estimated impacts on working families from proposed legislation estimated to affect prices charged to consumers by businesses because of revenue and fee provisions that affect businesses or because of the regulatory effects of the legislation on business or labor.
By September 1, 2022, the office of financial management, in consultation with the economic and revenue forecast council, the department of revenue, and the caseload forecast council, must establish the process and methodology for working family impact statements under subsection (1)(d)(i) of this section. By September 1, 2023, the office of financial management, in consultation with the economic and revenue forecast council, the department of revenue, and the caseload forecast council, must establish the process and methodology for working family impact statements to add impacts under subsection (1)(d)(ii) of this section. The methodology must address impacts on working families including, but not limited to, state taxes and other government-established charges, such as utility fees, industrial insurance, and other payroll withholding, and user fees.
A fiscal note is not required to include a working families fiscal impact statement unless: (a) The fiscal note reflects a total positive or negative state revenue impact of more than $10,000,000 per fiscal year; or (b) the proposed legislation is broad-based business or labor regulatory legislation likely to exceed $10,000,000 per year in impact on business.
Working family fiscal impact statements are not required to be updated when a bill or resolution is substantively amended and there is insufficient time to revise the working families fiscal impact estimate without delaying the new fiscal note on the amended legislation. If the office of financial management determines that a substantive amendment to a bill or resolution would likely affect the working families fiscal impact statement and there is insufficient time to revise the estimate, the working families fiscal impact statement must be removed from any fiscal note that reflects the amendment.
The office of financial management must develop an electronic means for persons to identify all fiscal notes that have working family fiscal impact statements and provide an electronic link to those fiscal notes. Beginning in 2024, the office of financial management will enable persons to identify and access working family fiscal impact statements from previous years.
[ 2021 c XXX § 2; ]**