This bill amends RCW 67.28.1816 to change allowable uses and application and reporting procedures for municipal lodging tax revenues. It specifies that municipalities, or convention and visitors bureaus or destination marketing organizations acting on their behalf, may use lodging tax money for tourism marketing; marketing and operations of special events and festivals designed to attract tourists; and to support operations and capital expenditures of tourism-related facilities owned or operated by a municipality, a public facilities district (chapters 35.57 and 36.100 RCW), or nonprofit organizations described in 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) and §501(c)(6). The amendment creates new procedural requirements for applicants and recipients. Applicants must provide municipalities with estimates showing how funds will increase travel under three trip definitions (overnight paid accommodations; travel 50 miles or more one way for a day or overnight; and travel from another state or country). In municipalities with population 5,000 or more, applicants must submit applications and estimates to the local lodging tax advisory committee; that committee must select candidates, recommend funding amounts, and provide a list from which the municipality may choose recipients. All recipients must report actual traveler counts using the same three trip definitions; municipalities must make those reports public and provide copies to the local advisory committee and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC). JLARC is directed to report biennially to the legislature’s economic development committees on municipal use of lodging tax revenues, with the text stating reporting must begin in calendar year 2015. The section expressly does not apply to lodging taxes imposed by counties with population 1,500,000 or more. The document is an amendment to existing law (RCW 67.28.1816) and implements procedural changes; it does not create a new crime or alter penalties. Important context is missing from the extracted material: no effective date is provided, the full chapter or prior text of RCW 67.28.1816 is not included, definitions or statutory authority for “municipality” and local lodging tax advisory committees are not shown, procedural details (forms, deadlines, enforcement) are not provided, and it is unclear whether the JLARC reporting start date of calendar year 2015 is anachronistic relative to the bill.

If enacted, organizations that seek or receive lodging tax money—like convention and visitors bureaus, event promoters, nonprofit venue operators, and public facilities districts—will have to estimate and later report how many extra visitors their work brings using three specific trip measures, and in cities of 5,000 or more the local lodging tax advisory committee will vet applicants and give the municipality a short list the city must use when awarding funds. That makes local advisory committees the gatekeepers for funding in most municipalities and likely imposes new administrative costs and responsibilities on applicants and recipients to produce estimates and track actual visitor counts. Municipalities must publish recipient reports and share them with the local advisory committee and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, which will report to the legislature every two years; this raises transparency and legislative oversight that could influence future funding decisions. The bill excludes counties with populations of 1.5 million or more, and important implementation details—such as exact forms, deadlines, how advisory committees are formed, and the effective date (and the apparent 2015 reporting start date)—are not provided in the extracted text.