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Infrastructure, Transportation & Economic Development
AWC Priority
Transportation Benefit Districts (TBDs) (SHB 1858)
SHB 1858 passed the Senate Transportation Committee. This is a local tool for local transportation purposes. Please go to www.awcnet.org/documents/TBDFactSheet0307.pdf for a fact sheet on this bill.
The substitute bill will
- Allow cities or counties to impose the first $20 of the vehicle fee if a TBD is jurisdiction-wide (the balance remains voter approved), and;
- Allow cities or counties to impose limited transportation impact fees, but prohibit "double-dipping" of existing impact fees and residential property.
The bill is now in Senate Rules. Please contact your state senator in support of this important bill.
AWC Priority
Changing Alternative Public Works Provisions (SHB 1506)
SHB 1506 passed out of the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee. This is the renewal and modification of the current General Contractor-Construction Manager and Design Build public works authority. Please see the February 2 edition of the Bulletin for a detailed description on the substitute bill.
AWC Priority
Local Infrastructure Finance Tool (LIFT) (2SHB 1277/E2SSB 5115)
2SHB 1277 passed out of the Senate Economic Development, Trade & Management Committee and has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee. E2SSB 5115 passed out of the House Community & Economic Development & Trade Committee on March 29 and will be referred to the Finance Committee.
E2SSB 5115 will:
- Increase the limit of the annual state contribution to LIFT projects in the state from $5 million per year to $10 million per year;
- Allow one project per county with two exceptions: 1) a county with an identified pilot project may have an additional project, and 2) a city that is in more than one county does not "trump" either county and prevent either county from receiving an additional project;
- Require evidence and findings that projects and local improvement financing will not contribute to sprawl (this is expected to be clarified in a forthcoming substitute);
- Retain an assessed value of $70 per square foot requirement; and
- Provide several technical changes that will make the authority more flexible.
At this point, the House and Senate bills are moving together very closely. It is unlikely we will see additional compromises between the two chambers at this point.
Regional Transportation Commissions (RTC) (2SSB 5803)
The House Transportation Committee held a hearing on a striking amendment to 2SSB 5803, the Regional Transportation Commission proposal. As noted in previous Bulletins, this is the most far reaching transportation policy bill this session. The objective of the bill is to create a single point of accountability for transportation investments in Puget Sound and create clear integration of transportation modal investments. Because the striking amendment has been available for 24 hours at the time of this printing, AWC and all stakeholders are still reviewing this bill. The bill has several provisions and has raised several questions, which are highlighted on AWC's website at www.awcnet.org/documents/5083Comments.doc.
Changing Provisions Concerning Limitation of Claims Under a Construction Contract (SHB 1765)
SHB 1765, the Associated General Contractors top priority in response to the Michael M Johnson Supreme Court ruling, has been removed from the Judiciary Committee agenda and is considered dead for the session.
The Senate striker version of HB 1092 was heard on Wednesday, March 28 and is scheduled to pass out this Saturday, March 31.
AWC supports the following sections:
- Section 1028: Community Economic Revitalization Board funding for $20 million. We strongly support this funding level. CERB is vital partnering funding for local governments in their pursuit of economic growth and retention.
- Section 1032: Job Development Fund Grants. We appreciate that the Senate is honoring the CERB identified Job Development Fund list.
- Sections 3041/3042: Puget Sound Stormwater Projects/Stormwater Projects. We strongly support the $27.17 million for these programs. Addressing stormwater run-off is rapidly becoming one or our most costly infrastructure investments; we appreciate the state’s commitment to partnering with local governments on cleaning up Puget Sound. This is a $10M increase over the House budget proposal.
- Section 6024: Study Committee on Public Infrastructure Programs.We support the legislators' commitment to making recommendations regarding a comprehensive funding structure and systematic approach to support the integration, consolidation, and standardization of processes, procedures, and infrastructure programs.
AWC has concerns with the following sections:
- Section 1034: Public Works Trust Fund. We strongly support the appropriation, but have concerns on the proviso language. Our primary concern is that AWC has actively pursued increased infrastructure funding this legislative session. Our proposal was not supported under the auspices that state grant and loan programs should be re-evaluated before providing additional funding or changes to existing state programs. This is reflected in Section 6024 of the budget. It is our view that Section 1034 pre-supposes the findings of how the Public Works Trust Fund should be managed before legislative review occurs under Section 6024.
- The proviso requires a minimum interest rate of 1% for Public Works Trust Fund (PWTF) loans. The PWTF currently allows an interest rate of 0.5% for projects that provide the maximum match, and for emergency loans. In addition, the proviso would prohibit other state grants and loans from being used as part of the match for a PWTF loan. Please contact your Senator and express these concerns.
The Senate Transportation Budget (striking amendment to HB 1094) was unveiled on Tuesday of this week and has already passed out of committee. Although we are in a "budget year," the budget was largely treated as a supplemental exercise due to the challenge of funding escalating project costs with fixed revenue streams. Consequently, there were not any new investment initiatives. Budget Highlights include the following:
- $8.1 billion vs. $7.3 billion in the House Budget. The key difference here is that the Senate simply appropriated funding to select projects while the House uses the same funding as a reserve account.
- No new projects were included in the budget at the state or local level
- Some of the projects that were deferred in the Governor’s original proposal were restored to their original timelines.
- Existing bonding authority is used. This includes bonding for Transportation Improvement Board projects that are ready to go.
City Hardship Assistance Funds for Street Maintenance (SSB 5483)
This measure will move any remaining City Hardship Assistance Program funding to the Small City Pavement Preservation and Sidewalk Account. The bill was heard in the House Transportation Committee this week and is expected to pass out by the time this Bulletin is printed.
Concerning Small Works Roster Contracting Procedures (SHB 1328)
This bill has been amended in the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee to incorporate the provision from HB 1782 (which died with the first cut-off). Under current law, there are reporting requirements for notification of contract completion, performance/payment bond requirements, and retainage release requirements. All three of these are at a different dollar amounts and have not been updated since 1982. SHB 1328 would simply replace the existing notification and retainage requirements with a uniform $35,000 instead of the current $20,000, $25,000, and $35,000 requirements. This bill is revenue-neutral and will make accounting and contract management simpler.
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