The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Ben Huxen.
DIGEST
SB 187 Original 2017 Regular Session Hewitt
Proposed law provides that, beginning with the Fiscal Year 2019 budget cycle, the Legislative Fiscal
Office shall require all agencies with responsibilities to deliver services in the areas of child welfare,
mental health, and substance abuse (including local entities that receive state funding for these
areas), to comply with certain requirements with respect to the inventorying of agency programs and
the computation of benefit-cost ratios for use in the budgeting process.
Proposed law provides that the Legislative Fiscal Office, office of planning and budget in the
division of administration, and personnel of appropriate agencies, including the local entities, shall
review the programs of each agency and shall:
(1)Establish an inventory of programs.
(2)Categorize all agency programs and activities as evidence-based, research-based, promising
practices, or other programs and activities with no evidence of effectiveness, and compile
them into an agency program inventory. In categorizing programs, the staffs may consult the
Washington State Institute for Public Policy's Evidence-Based Practices Institute's program
catalogue, the Results First Clearinghouse Database, or any other comparable catalogue of
evidence-based programs.
(3)Determine benefit-cost ratios for all evidence-based programs in the selected policy areas.
Proposed law also requires the Legislative Fiscal Office to report to the Joint Legislative Committee
on the Budget the results of all activities, with recommendations for further evaluation of research-
based or promising practices programs, the elimination or replacement of ineffective programs, and
the funding of effective programs, based on benefit-cost ratios and the learnings gained. Proposed
law further specifies that the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget may incorporate such
recommendations into the Fiscal Year 2019 budget and appropriations bills, or delay such
incorporation until the committee is satisfied that the information collected and inventoried will
enhance accountability and performance measurement for the programs and activities of state
agencies.
Proposed law also requires the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget to, no later than the 2020
Regular Session of the Legislature, make a recommendation to the legislature regarding the
application of the processes and requirements of this Section to other policy areas with evidenced-
based programs.
Effective July 1, 2017. (Adds R.S. 39:2(13.1), (33.1), (36.1), (36.2), (37.1), (37.2), (37.3), (40.1), and 87.7; repeals R.S.
39:2(38) and (39))