wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2120 > Original Bill
Lodging tax revenues under this chapter may be used, directly by any municipality or indirectly through a convention and visitors bureau or destination marketing organization for:
Tourism marketing;
The marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists;
Supporting the operations and capital expenditures of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by a municipality or a public facilities district created under chapters 35.57 and 36.100 RCW; or
Supporting the operations of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by nonprofit organizations described under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) and 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(6) of the internal revenue code of 1986, as amended.
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Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, applicants applying for use of revenues in this chapter must provide the municipality to which they are applying estimates of how any moneys received will result in increases in the number of people traveling for business or pleasure on a trip:
Away from their place of residence or business and staying overnight in paid accommodations;
To a place 50 miles or more one way from their place of residence or business for the day or staying overnight; or
From another country or state outside of their place of residence or their business.
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In a municipality with a population of 5,000 or more, applicants applying for use of revenues in this chapter must submit their applications and estimates described under (a) of this subsection to the local lodging tax advisory committee.
The local lodging tax advisory committee must select the candidates from amongst the applicants applying for use of revenues in this chapter and provide a list of such candidates and recommended amounts of funding to the municipality for final determination. The municipality may choose only recipients from the list of candidates and recommended amounts provided by the local lodging tax advisory committee.
All recipients must submit a report to the municipality describing the actual number of people traveling for business or pleasure on a trip:
Away from their place of residence or business and staying overnight in paid accommodations;
To a place 50 miles or more one way from their place of residence or business for the day or staying overnight; or
From another country or state outside of their place of residence or their business. A municipality receiving a report must: Make such report available to the local legislative body and the public; and furnish copies of the report to the joint legislative audit and review committee and members of the local lodging tax advisory committee.
This section does not apply to the revenues of any lodging tax authorized under this chapter imposed by a county with a population of 1,500,000 or more.
The employment security department shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2016, and every five years thereafter, on the status of the training benefits program and the resulting outcomes. The report shall include a survey based assessment of the employment outcomes for program participants within the previous three years. The department shall also include in its report:
A demographic analysis of participants in the training benefits program under this section including the number of claimants per North American industry classification system code and the gender, race, age, and geographic representation of participants;
The duration of training benefits claimed per claimant;
An analysis of the training provided to participants including the occupational category supported by the training, whether the training received would lead to employment in a high-demand occupation, whether a degree or certificate is required in that occupational category to obtain employment, those participants who complete training in relationship to those that do not, the number of participants who take courses in basic language, reading, or writing skills to improve their employability, and the reasons for noncompletion of approved training programs;
The employment and wage history of participants, including the pretraining and posttraining wage, the type of work participants were engaged in prior to unemployment, and whether those participating in training return to their previous employer within two years of receiving training, or are employed in a field for which they were retrained;
An identification and analysis of administrative costs at both the local and state level for administering this program;
A projection of program costs for the next fiscal year; and
The total funds obligated for training benefits, and the net balance remaining to be obligated subject to the restrictions of RCW 50.22.140.