Official Text and Analysis.

Exempts the first $25,000 of family income for dependents of active duty military members from being used to determine a student's income eligibility for the Washington College Grant.

EFFECT: Removes physician's offices, outpatient care centers, medical and diagnostic laboratories, dentist's offices, offices of other health practitioners, and other ambulatory health care services from the list of primary activities that would qualify a business to pay the B&O surcharge. Exempts health care services from the B&O surcharge.

(1) Eliminates the 20% surcharge on select businesses.(2) Eliminates the 33.33% and 66.66% surcharges on advanced computing businesses.(3) Imposes a surcharge on service income of specified persons of the greater 66.66% or $300 million per year..

Removes information services, cable and other subscription programming, and newspaper and other publishing from the B&O surcharge.

Reduces spending at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges by $8,000,000 and by $2,000,000 at the University of Washington.

Changes eligibility requirements for a qualified borrower to include students currently enrolled in a postsecondary program and those who have completed a postsecondary program. Limits the types of student loans eligible for refinancing to federal direct PLUS loans and private student loans. Changes "individual" to "qualified borrower," which is the defined term under the Student Loan Refinancing Program.

Requires the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to study higher education cost drivers, including information on endowments and administration, and submit a report to the Legislature by November 1, 2020. Requires the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board to use the student-level data provided by the higher education institutions participating in the Washington College Grant program to make detailed statistical summaries on the Career Bridge website. Requires the Education Data Center to support the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board in evaluating and making public the performance of postsecondary education programs. Requires the institutions of higher education to report to the state accounting system for all public funds beginning in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. Requires the Office of Financial Management and the institutions of higher education to update the accounting procedures manual to allow the institutions of higher education to report to the state accounting system. Requires the State Auditor to audit the information reported by the institutions of higher education.

Removes the provisions requiring the cross agency work group to endorse career launch programs. Requires the grant program administrator to consult with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), as well as the Governor's office and the work group, when developing a formal request for proposals for regional networks and program intermediaries.

Excludes pharmacies and pharmacists working on a contract basis from the list of primary activities that would qualify a business to pay the B&O surcharge.

Removes language directing broad interpretation of application of the surcharge. Removes the Department of Revenue's authority to determine whether a business is subject to the surcharge via audit or other investigation, and the presumption that a determination that the surcharge applies is presumed to be correct absent clear evidence to the contrary.

Makes the Workforce Education Investment Account subject to the four-year outlook.

Replaces underline sections of bill and transfers revenue generated from the business and occupation tax to the institution of higher education operating fees account to reduce tuition by 25 percent for resident undergraduates.

Changes the maximum Washington College Grant for students attending private four-year nonprofit institutions to the lesser of either the grant for a student attending a four-year public institution or the private institution's tuition for 15 quarter credits or the equivalent.

Exempts physician’s offices, outpatient care centers, medical and diagnostic laboratories, dentist’s offices, offices of other health practitioners, and other ambulatory health care services from paying the B&O surcharge if those business activities are conducted in a rural underserved area.

Exempts businesses with at least 10% of revenue from payments from Medicare or Medicaid from paying the B&O surcharge.

Exempts architectural, engineering, and related services from paying the B&O surcharge if the business worked on at least one affordable housing project during the year.

Exempts architectural, engineering, and related services from paying the B&O surcharge if the business worked on at least one affordable housing project during the year.

Provides funding for the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board to contract with the Washington west sound stem network to develop and implement the controls programmer apprenticeship pilot program.

Removes persons engaged in offering legal services from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Medical and diagnostic laboratories, dentist's offices, offices of other health practitioners, and other ambulatory health care services from the list of primary activities that would qualify a business to pay the B&O surcharge. Exempts health care services from the B&O surcharge.

Establishes the nurse educator incentive grant program at the state board for community and technical colleges.

Removes persons engaged in providing advice and assistance to businesses and other organizations on management, environmental, scientific, and technical issues from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in providing expertise in the field of information technologies from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in providing telecommunications services to other establishments in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries by forwarding and receiving communication signals via a system of satellites or reselling satellite telecommunications from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in providing telecommunications services to other establishments in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries by forwarding and receiving communication signals via a system of satellites or reselling satellite telecommunications from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Replaces surcharge with an additional 0.3 percent B&O rate increase for service-related activities. Increases the small business B&O credit to a level that corresponds approximately to an exclusion of the first $250,000 of taxable income for taxpayers paying at the primary tax rates.

Exempts the first $25,000 of family income for dependents of active duty military members from being used to determine a student's income eligibility for the Washington College Grant.

Removes persons engaged in performing central banking functions from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Adds to the eligibility requirements for the Washington College Grant that a student must not have been convicted of a felony to qualify.

Strikes all appropriations and policy changes in the workforce education investment act. Requires OFM to appropriate business and occupation tax revenue from the workforce education investment account to the institutions of higher education in an amount at least equal to a twenty-five percent reduction in resident undergraduate operating fees. In 2019-20, institutions of higher education are required to reduce resident undergraduate tuition operating fees by 25%.

Removes persons engaged in acting as principals in buying or selling financial contracts, acting as agents or brokers in buying or selling financial contracts, and providing other investment services from the category of persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Sunsets the rule of construction in favor of the application of the surcharge on January 1, 2022.

Sunsets the heightened evidentiary standard on January 1, 2022.

Removes language directing broad interpretation of application of the surcharge. Removes the Department of Revenue's authority to determine whether a business is subject to the surcharge via audit or other investigation, and the presumption that a determination that the surcharge applies is presumed to be correct absent clear evidence to the contrary.

Removes persons engaged in publishing newspapers, magazines, other periodicals, books, directories, and mailing lists, and other works, such as calendars, greeting cards, and maps from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in computer software publishing or publishing and reproduction from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in providing various telecommunications services from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Modifies the computation of the surcharge to prevent increases to the surcharge if the general service rate of 1.5 percent is increased.

Exempts businesses with at least 20% of revenue from payments from Medicare and Medicaid from paying the B&O surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in conducting original investigation undertaken on a systematic basis to gain new knowledge or the application of research findings or other scientific knowledge for the creation of new or significantly improved products or processes from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in supplying information, such as news reports, articles, pictures, and features, to the news media from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in providing infrastructure for hosting or data processing services from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in putting capital at risk in the process of underwriting securities issues or in making markets for securities and commodities and those acting as agents or brokers between buyers and sellers of securities and commodities from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in architectural, engineering, building inspection, geophysical surveying, and surveying and mapping from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in facilitating credit intermediation by performing activities, such as arranging loans by bringing borrowers and lenders together and clearing checks and credit card transactions from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.

Removes persons engaged in retailing all types of merchandise using nonstore means from the category of specified persons subject to the workforce education investment surcharge.