AWC Legislative Bulletin - Volume 30, No. 14
April 6, 2007  (Plain Text Version)

Return to Graphical Version | Search back issues

In this issue:
What You Need to Know Now
From the Director: Legislative Activity Shifts to Floor Action
Energy & Telecommunications
Environment & Water
General Local Government
Infrastructure, Transportation & Economic Development
Land Use & Housing
Law & Justice
Municipal Finance
Personnel & Labor Relations
Online Legislative Advocacy Tools
AWC Legislative Contacts & Officers

Infrastructure, Transportation & Economic Development

AWC Priority
Transportation Benefit Districts (TBDs) (SHB 1858)

SHB 1858 has been pulled to the Senate floor and is waiting for order of consideration scheduling. This is an important local tool for local transportation purposes. Please go to www.awcnet.org/documents/TBDFactSheet0407.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).
  • Allow cities or counties to impose limited transportation impact fees, but prohibit "double-dipping" of existing impact fees and residential property.

Please contact your senators in support of this important bill.

AWC Priority
Changing Alternative Public Works Provisions (SHB 1506)

SHB 1506 has passed the Senate and is now waiting for concurrence from the House. This is the renewal and modification of the current General Contractor-Construction Manager (GC-CM) and Design Build (DB) public works authority. Please see the February 2 edition of the Bulletin for a detailed description of the substitute bill.

AWC Priority
Local Infrastructure Finance Tool (LIFT) (E2SHB 1277)

E2SHB 1277 has passed the Senate and is now waiting for concurrence from the House.

E2SHB 1277 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 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 from receiving an additional project.
  • Retain an assessed value of $70 per square foot requirement; and
  • Provide several technical changes that will make the authority more flexible.

Regional Transportation Commissions (RTC) (2SSB 5803)

The House Transportation Committee passed in "intent only" 2SSB 5803, the Regional Transportation Commission proposal. At this point, the House, Senate, and Governor’s office have met throughout the week on different regional governance proposals. AWC has communicated that any regional bill that withholds Transportation Improvement Board funding or other local revenue streams as an "incentive" for locals to engage in a regional transportation governance is a non-starter. This has resonated with both chambers, but we have yet to see a new bill proposal.

Capital Budget (HB 1092)

The Senate striker of HB 1092, SHB 1092, has passed the Senate. Chairs from both chambers are in preliminary review of differences between the budgets.

AWC supports the following sections in SHB 1092:

  • 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. The Senate and House are funding 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 $10 million 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 of SHB 1092:

  • 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 Representative expressing these concerns.

Transportation Budget (HB 1094/SB 5136)

The Senate Transportation Budget (striking amendment to HB 1094) has passed the Senate. 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:

  • $8.1 billion level 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 streams as a reserve account. Ironing out these different approaches to the budget is the most significant work remaining to be done.
  • 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.

Concerning Small Works Roster Contracting Procedures (SHB 1328)

This bill passed the Senate and now requires concurrence from the House. SHB 1328 provides an optional authority for a state agency or authorized local government to adopt procedures to award small works roster contracts to small businesses with gross revenues under $1 million annually. It has lso been amended to include 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 amount 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.

Encouraging the Use of Cleaner Energy (E2SHB 1303)

E2SHB 1303 proposes a variety of incentives and mandates to use clean energy in vehicles. The bill has been amended and no longer contains the provision that requires all local fleets to satisfy their fuel needs with bio-fuels by the year 2015. AWC is now neutral on the bill.