Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 47

issue area reports | taxation
HB 1025
prioritizing legislative
appropriations
Failed/AWB Supported
House Bill 1025, sponsored by Rep. David
Taylor, R-Moxee, is one of a handful of bills
attempting to set additional parameters
on the expenditure side of the budget
discussion. It did this by establishing a
priority order by subject, prohibiting the
Legislature from raising taxes until it has
enacted appropriations for the maximum
number of priority budget areas, and by
requiring the Legislature to pass a fully
developed budget no later than 30 days
before the beginning of the fiscal year.
HB 1025 received a hearing in the House
Appropriations Committee, but didn’t
make it out of committee. House Bill
1817, sponsored by Rep. Drew Stokesbary,
R-Auburn, and companion bill SB 5066
(Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way), were
offered in the same spirit, proposing a zero-
based approach to budgeting. Neither bill
made it out of the House.
and require the joint legislative audit and
review committee to review new statutory
state spending programs according to a
schedule developed by the committee. This
bill highlights the importance of oversight
on the expenditure side of the budget,
while also drawing attention to the rigorous
review process of tax expenditures under
current law. HB 1818 did not receive a
hearing in the House.
SB 5443
dynamic fiscal impact
statements
Failed/AWB Supported
Sen. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, and
Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, continued
what has been an ongoing effort to improve
our state’s fiscal note program by allowing
for targeted use of dynamic fiscal impact
statements. Senate Bill 5443, and its
near companion House Bill 1960, would
have established dynamic fiscal impact
statements as part of the fiscal note process.
A fiscal note can make or break a legislative
bill; for this reason it is extremely important
they provide an adequate and accurate
picture of fiscal impacts — unfortunately
this is often not the case. Requiring the
use of dynamic fiscal notes in appropriate
circumstances is an important tool that can
be used to make sure legislators have a fuller
picture of a particular bill’s impacts, which
will ultimately lead to better information
and better public policy. Neither bill made
it out of the House.
HB 1818
state spending program
reviews
Failed/AWB Supported
In House Bill 1818 Rep. Drew Stokesbary,
R-Auburn, argues that the same sort of
automatic review and scrutiny that ’s
applied to differential tax rates such as
credits, exemptions and deductions should
be applied to state spending. HB 1818 would
have enacted a new statutory state spending
program to include a state spending
performance statement, to include an
expiration date no more than 10 years from
the effective date of the spending program,
Bill considered as part of
AWB’s voting record
Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, at AWB’s Rural Jobs Summit in Moses Lake.
Favorable outcome for
Washington businesses
Missed Opportunities
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