AWC Legislative Bulletin - Final Bulletin
|
|
|
Current Law |
Substitute Bill Proposal |
|
Eligibility |
|
|
|
General Contractor-Construction Manager |
Projects over $10 million |
No threshold |
|
Design Build |
Projects over $10 million |
Projects over $10 million, except for parking garages |
|
Design Build Operate Maintain |
No provisions |
Except for utility projects, no projects involving operations and maintenance services longer than 3 years. |
|
Collective Bargaining |
No provisions |
No public body can disqualify/rate a proposal for GC-CM services on the basis of terms of a collective bargaining agreement. |
|
Maximum Allowable Construction Cost |
70% |
90% |
[C 494 L 07 Partial Veto; Effective Date July 1, 2007]
This is 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 also includes 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 simply replaces the existing notification and retainage requirements with a uniform $35,000 instead of the current $20,000, $25,000, and $35,000 requirements.
[C 210 L 07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
This measure will move any remaining City Hardship Assistance Program funding to the Small City Pavement Preservation and Sidewalk Account.
[C 148 L 07; Effective Date: March 12, 2007]
New City Requirement: E2SHB 1303 proposes a variety of incentives and mandates to use clean energy in vehicles. Effective June 1, 2015, all state agencies and local government subdivisions of the state, to the extent determined practicable by the rules adopted by the department of community, trade, and economic development (DCTED), are required to satisfy 100% of their fuel usage for operating publicly owned vessels, vehicles, and construction equipment from electricity or bio-fuel. Previous bill versions vested this authority with an Energy Freedom Coordinator within CTED and had definitions of bio-fuel that were inconsistent with current bio-fuel use.
[C 148 L 07; Effective Date: March 12, 2007]
This bill requires that a public works contract cannot be awarded until a bidder meets defined responsibility criteria. The Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) developed this criteria and it is consistent with state law. CPARB is also required to develop suggested guidelines to assist the state and municipalities in developing supplemental bidder responsibility criteria.
[C 133 L 07; Effective Date: March 12, 2007]
This bill streamlines antiquated transportation commission statutes and requires the transportation commission to consider the input gathered at regional forums as it establishes the statewide transportation plan. In addition, it requires the Office of Financial Management to propose a comprehensive ten-year investment program for preservation and improvement programs.
[C 516 L 07; Effective Date: March 12, 2007]
This bill abolishes the current Tourism Development Advisory Committee and creates the Washington Tourism Commission (Commission). The bill creates a competitive grant program to enhance local efforts that support tourism-related activities. The grant criteria will include: the return on investment of state funding; the availability of other financial resources to the applicant; and the level of community support. Eligible applicants include local governments, nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes.
[C 228 L07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
Cities, towns, counties, public corporations, and port districts are now authorized to create partnerships and limited liability companies, and enter into public or private agreements, to implement the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC). This will allow local governments increased control over Washington State access to the federal tax credits for private businesses offered by the NMTC program.
[C 230 L 07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
SHB 1566 modifies the state’s rural county tax credit given to businesses that engage in manufacturing or research and development activities in specific rural counties or community empowerment zones. Currently, community empowerment zones exist in Bremerton, Seattle/King County, Spokane, Tacoma and Yakima.
A business and occupation tax credit will be given to businesses adding 15% or more qualified employment positions. The credit will equal $4,000 for each qualified employment position with wages and benefits greater than $40,000 annually and $2,000 for each qualified employment position with wages and benefits less than or equal to $40,000.
[C 485 L 07; Effective Date: January 1, 2008]
This bill allows funds collected through the rural county 0.08% sales and use tax to be used to finance economic development officers in addition to public facilities used for economic development purposes. An economic development officer is defined as a person employed by a county or an associate development organization who promotes economic development purposes within the county. Please see write-up on ESSB 5557, which also modifies the rural county sales tax.
[C 250 L 07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
This bill increases the 0.08% rural county sales and use tax used for economic development to 0.09%. Counties collecting the tax are required to provide yearly reports to the State Auditor that include information on expenditures made on projects begun in prior years. Monies from the credit may not be used to fund judicial system facilities. Please see write-up on HB 1543, which also modifies the rural county sales tax.
[C 478 L 07; Effective Date: August 1, 2007]
This bill clarifies and expands the definition of city voting membership on the Puget Sound Regional Council’s executive board. Under current populations, this now includes Bellevue, Renton, Kent, Bremerton, and Federal Way. This codifies existing language enacted in prior transportation budgets.
[C 511 L 07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
When the Legislature concluded in 2006, it required that a regional vote in King, Pierce, and Snohomish County to include and pass both a roads element (Regional Transportation Investment District or RTID) and a transit element (Sound Transit Phase II). However, because RTID and Sound Transit do not share the same boundaries, it appeared that two votes would need to be taken at the polls. This bill will allow a single ballot provision and will eliminate voter confusion.
[C 509 L 07; Effective Date: May 15, 2007]
The intent section of the bill is eliminated and the Freight Congestion Relief Account is created in the State Treasury. The Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) is directed to study funding mechanisms as a means to fund freight infrastructure improvements. The study received a $500,000 appropriation and is due to the Legislative Transportation Committees prior to the start of the 2008 Legislative Session.
[C 514 L 07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
This bill adds new sections to the motor fuel and special fuel tax chapters authorizing the Governor (or the Department of Licensing as their designee) to enter into fuel tax compact agreements with federally recognized tribes operating or licensing retail stations on reservation or trust lands. Existing state/tribal fuel tax agreements are unaffected by the legislation. Any future compact agreement requires the tribal entity to:
The Department of Licensing is required to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature on the status of existing compact agreements and ongoing negotiations with the tribes. New sections are also added to the motor fuel and special fuel tax chapters requiring tribal licensees and retailers pass the tax through to end users as part of the selling price.
[C 515 L 07; Effective Date: May 15, 2007]
This bill requires the director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) to designate innovation partnership zones. Development of innovation partnership zones is a strategy to promote research-based firms and industries in specific areas of Washington State that become globally-recognized as hubs of innovation and expertise. Their creation would be based on specific criteria. Additional sales and use tax would be imposed to finance public facilities serving innovation partnership zones.
[C 227 L07; Effective Date: July 22, 2007]
SHB 1441 would have created the Community Development Fund in the state treasury to make competitive grant awards to local governments and nonprofits for qualifying capacity-building, technical assistance and capital projects.
This bill would have prohibited local jurisdictions that impose transportation impact fees from denying development approvals based on failure to achieve applicable level of service standards adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan.
This bill would have provided $125M in bonds for state parks and $125M in bonds for municipal parks.
Both bills passed their respective policy committees, but died in the fiscal committees.
Effective, July 1, 2009, these substitute bills will accomplish the following:
The funding source is 3.3% of the state Real Estate Excise Tax (REET), beginning July 1, 2009.
This bill reflected another proposal to change contracting law in a post Michael M. Johnson v. Spokane County environment.
In short, this bill would have allowed enforcement of a contractor's claim right under certain circumstances when the contractor has not complied with time or form requirements for submitting the claim.
This bill would have directed the locally-imposed sales tax on materials, labor, equipment, contracts, and components of transportation projects over $1 billion into a contingency account.
This bill would have created Community Preservation and Development Authorities. The purpose would be to restore or enhance the health, safety, and well-being of communities adversely impacted by the construction of, or ongoing operation of, multiple major public facilities, public works, and capital projects with significant public funding.
This proposal, in response to the Puget Sound Regional Transportation Commission recommendations, would have authorized the joint transportation commission to create a regional governance task force to consider the impacts of a new governance structure on other aspects of state and local laws and affected organizations and programs. In addition, the task force was to develop a statutory framework and draft legislation for implementing recommendations to the commission. The bill passed the House Transportation Committee with an “intent” section. Several proposed striking amendments were floated during the final days of session, but ultimately, no bill passed. The legislature did include $400,000 for an analysis of implementation options regarding governance in central Puget Sound in the Transportation Budget.
This bill would have established a new Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) program entitled the City Planning and Growth Program. Additional criteria would have been established for the TIB to consider when evaluating grant proposals for this new program.
If passed, this bill would have:
This bill would have placed a $2 surcharge per insured motor vehicle to pay for emphasis patrols in high-accident county road corridors.
This bill requires jurisdictions planning under GMA to prohibit approval of new development if it causes the level of service on state-owned transportation facilities to fall below congestion standards adopted by the state or by a regional transportation planning organization, unless transportation improvements or strategies to accommodate the impacts are made concurrent with the development.
Although the bill did not pass, the transportation budget included a proviso requiring the Washington State Department of Transportation to review current highway access management practices.
This bill would have prohibited local jurisdictions that impose transportation impact fees from denying development approvals based on failure to achieve applicable level of service standards adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan. AWC testified in opposition of the bill.
SB 5722 and HB 1400 would have allowed moles and gophers to be trapped. Cities that manage golf courses and other recreational facilities have been pursuing this legislation for several sessions. HB 1606 would have allowed moles, gophers, eastern grey squirrels, and California ground squirrels to be trapped. SHB 1128, the operating budget, also included similar provisions. However, the Governor vetoed this section in the operating budget.
This bill would have made findings related to the need to establish a single regional transportation governance entity in the central Puget Sound area that has authority over the planning, funding, and prioritization of roads and transit systems. Although the bill passed the Senate, significant concerns were raised among members of the legislature and stakeholders on the sweeping approach of this legislation.
This bill would have allowed the state to issue bonds for up to 40 years on transportation structures instead of the current restriction of 30 years, thereby providing more flexibility in funding bridges and, consequently, free up revenue for other transportation projects.