Infrastructure, Transportation & Economic Development

The list of bills continues to dwindle. Bills AWC is continuing to monitor, oppose, or support:

Supplemental Capital Budget (ESHB 2765)

The House has already passed its version of the Capital Budget and Senate Ways and Means has placed its spin on the House version. (The Senate is expected to take floor action at or near the time of this publication.) Although a few projects have been added (or deleted), it is a very lean supplemental budget.

The Senate version of the Capital Budget retained the two House provisos relating to infrastructure:

• Section 1004 - appropriates up to $10M from the Public Works Assistance Account to do a pilot program on grants to local governments to "demonstrate options for the most efficient use of the states investment in local infrastructure by funding more projects at an accelerated rate."

The $10M will come from pre-construction funds within the Public Works Assistance Account and does not affect current projects identified in the public works loan list. The proviso directs the pilot project to use projects that were identified in the 2008 Public Works Board legislative report (i.e. one’s that missed the cut on the current PWB list), but then adds in 2 categories to target areas that are economically distressed, and jurisdictions with unused debt capacity.

• Section 1017 - "Infrastructure Investment Systems" - would require the Office of Financial Management, in consultation with the Legislature, loan and grant recipients, and other stakeholders to develop an infrastructure implementation plan. Affected agencies are the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, the Department of Ecology, the Department of Health, the Transportation Improvement Board, and the Office of the State Treasurer. The Infrastructure Implementation Plan is due December 1, 2008.

Transportation Budget (ESHB 2878)

Both the House and Senate have passed their respective versions of the transportation budget and will begin the process of harmonizing the budget.

The 2008 supplemental budget provides a total of $7.5 billion for the biennium, and reflects changes for emergency needs (i.e. flooding, extraordinary snowfall), workload increases, and technical adjustments. This budget will allow the legislature to "go home" without major dislocations to projects that are underway, or that are scheduled to be underway.

However, it does make adjustments to reflect projects that are not ready to proceed and balances the budget over sixteen years. Absent additional funding or a dramatic decrease in construction costs, this will probably be the last year the transportation can be balanced and maintain the project lists identified in the 2003 and 2005 revenue proposals.

Authorizing Public Works Board Projects (HB 2437)

This bill passed out of the Senate and is still waiting for concurrence in the House. A notable amendment to the legislation is that it directs the Public Works Board to charge a uniform rate of ½ percent interest on all loans identified in HB 2437.

As recommended by the Board, 52 project loans totaling $278 million are authorized for the 2008 loan cycle. All of the appropriation available for construction loans in the 2007-09 biennium is being used for the 2008 loan list. Cities represent 32 projects totaling $182 million. Please see www.pwb.wa.gov for more detailed project information.

Regarding State Economic Development Programs (2SSB 6855)

This bill streamlines CERB functions and provides an urban element to CERB, subject to new funding. 2SSB 6855 was amended in the House Community Economic Development and Trade Committee. AWC is in support of the bill.

Imposition of Tolls (E2SHB 1773)

This legislation establishes the statewide framework for imposing tolls. The bill is awaiting executive action in the Senate Transportation Committee.

Eliminating Regional Transportation Investment Districts (RTID) (SB 6771)

As the title indicates, this would repeal RTID. This bill retains RTID, but places a moratorium on the use of this authority until November 1, 2009. The bill has been heard in the House Transportation Committee and has not been scheduled for executive action.

Exempting Park Maintenance Equipment Operated by Certain Local Jurisdictions from Vehicle License and License Plate Requirements (SHB 3183)

This bill has already passed in the Senate Transportation Committee. It will allow cities to operate and move park maintenance equipment on city streets and no longer have the current law requirement of needing a police escort. The bill was amended in the Committee and requires park maintenance equipment to have a slow moving vehicle emblem, an escort vehicle and a travel limitation of one mile.

Relating to Alternative Public Works (HB 2780)

This bill passed the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee on February 28. The bill as proposed would:

• Allow for 10 demonstration projects using design-build for projects costing between $2 and $10 million.
• Allow for two demonstration projects using design-build with provisions for operations and maintenance for a period of longer than three years.
• Clarify procedures for certifying public bodies - public bodies seeking certification for the design-build procedure must demonstrate successful management of at least one design-build project within the previous five years, and those seeking certification for the GCCM process must demonstrate successful management of at least one GCCM project within the previous five years.

Providing a Framework for Reducing Green House Gas Emissions (E2SHB 2815)

This bill has passed the Water, Energy, and Telecommunications Committee in the Senate and now resides in Ways and Means. Section 8 establishes an estimated Year 2020 baseline of Vehicle Miles Traveled and then targets a fixed reduction of vehicle miles traveled.

The notable exceptions in the substitute bill are that it exempts vehicles over 10,000 pounds and has a considerable process involving the public and private sector on how to achieve the goals. A report is due December 1, 2008 on how to accomplish the goals in the section.

The goals are:

• Decrease the annual per capita vehicle miles traveled by 18% by 2020;
• Decrease the annual per capita vehicle miles traveled by 30% by 2035; and
• Decrease the annual per capita vehicle miles traveled by 50% by 2050.

An overall description of the entire bill can be found in the Energy & Telecommunications section of this Bulletin.

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