At the November 2005 election, Washington’s voters approved Initiative 900, (Chapter 1, Laws of 2006, Regular Session). This legislation mandated that "the state auditor shall conduct independent, comprehensive performance audits of state government and each of its agencies, accounts, and programs; …." This mandate was accompanied in the initiative by a redirection of a small portion of the state sales tax to defray the added costs of state and local performance audits.

As part of the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) implementation of Initiative 900, the State Auditor is conducting performance audits of local government on the following:

• Take-Home Vehicle Practices (completed by Fall 2007) – The first entities to be audited are Kitsap, Whatcom, Snohomish and Pierce Counties, Tacoma and Spokane. Each entity will have its own report and the reports will be issued consecutively.
• Overtime Practices (completed by Fall 07) – The first entities to be audited are Pierce County Corrections, Snohomish County Corrections and Sheriff’s Office, Spokane County Corrections and Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police and Fire Departments, Tacoma Police Department, Kirkland Fire Department, Vancouver Fire Department, Seattle Police and Fire Departments and Yakima Police and Fire Departments. Each entity will have its own report and the reports will be issued consecutively.
• Open Public Records (completed by Fall 07) – This audit will focus heavily on those laws discussed in Chapters 8 and 9 of the July 2006 MRSC Publication, "Public Records Act for Washington Cities and Counties" (www.mrsc.org/Publications/pra06.pdf). The audit involves 30 state and local entities. Initially, the ten largest cities, 10 largest counties and 10 largest state agencies. The 10 largest cities are Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Spokane Valley, Kent and Yakima This audit could be expanded to ports, PUDs and hospital districts in the future, but it's "unlikely" that it will include smaller cities, counties and state agencies or other local governments.
• Use of Impact Fees (Field work will begin in November 2007 and the audits are expected to concluded in Spring 2008) – Eventually all cities with populations exceeding 40,000 along with King, Pierce and Clark counties.

A complete list of performance audits in progress can be found on the SAO website at www.sao.wa.gov/PerformanceAudit/WeeklyUpdates/Auditsinprogress_June07.pdf.

AWC will continue to have on-going discussions with the Auditor and his staff regarding the implementation of I-900. As part of our efforts to keep our members informed, please look for regular updates in our Bulletin and on our website.

Taping Executive Sessions

As reported in a previous Bulletin, Attorney General Rob McKenna has announced he will advance a bill to require local governments to tape all executive sessions. In addition, there may be at least one legislator interested in sponsoring a bill requiring a taped record of every executive session. The concern for cities is these meetings are designed to be private discussions on a limited number of issues such as personnel or legal matters. Once there are taped copies, cities will be spending legal and staff resources defending the privacy of these tapes in court and under public records requests. Having taped copies will, no doubt, create a new issue for dispute. Should the opportunity arise, city officials will want to describe their concerns with this proposal to their local legislators.

Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care

On August 7, the Department of Health and the Heath Care Authority officially kicked-off the implementation of two health care-related bills passed in the 2007 session. E2SSB 5930, dealing with the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care, and E2SHB 1569, the Health Insurance Partnership, were two key bills passed last session intended to increase access to healthcare for all citizens in Washington. The Health Insurance Partnership establishes a pool from which small employers, defined as those having between 2 and 50 employees with at least one employee who is low income, may purchase health insurance. It also requires small employers to set up cafeteria plans for eligible employees. A corresponding study of how to improve access is also underway.

During the 2007 session, there were proposals that would have swept association plans, such as that administered by AWC, into a larger state-run pool. While this did not pass, AWC will continue to monitor the study to ensure it respects the interests of the cities.

In addition, the agenda for the day included discussions of several components of the bills including HCA and DSHS five year plans; the Quality Forum; Patient Decision Aides; ER Utilization Study; and the Health Insurance Partnership.