System Improvement Team.  In 2017, the Legislature established an Interagency, Multijurisdictional System Improvement Team (Team) until June 30, 2021.  The membership of the Team includes representatives from state infrastructure programs and other entities including the associations representing cities, counties, public utility districts, water and sewer districts, general contractors, and building trades.  The Team is tasked with identifying, implementing, and reporting on system improvements, including:

• projects that maximize value, minimize overall costs and disturbance to the community, and ensure long-term durability and resilience;
• projects designed to meet the unique needs of each community, rather than the needs of particular funding programs;
• project designs that maximize long-term value by fully considering and responding to anticipated long-term environmental, technological, economic and population changes;
• the flexibility to innovate, including using natural systems, addressing multiple regulatory drivers, and forming regional partnerships;
• the ability to plan and collaborate across programs and jurisdictions so different investments are packaged to be complementary, timely, and responsive to economic and community opportunities;
• the needed capacity for communities, appropriate to their unique financial, planning, and management capacities, so they can design, finance, and build projects that best meet their long-term needs and minimize costs;
• optimal use and leveraging of federal and private infrastructure dollars; and
• mechanisms to ensure periodic, system-wide review and ongoing achievement of the designated outcomes.

 
The Public Works Board (Board), and a representative from the Department of Ecology, Department of Health, and Department of Commerce facilitate the work of the Team.
 
The Team must provide briefings as requested to the Board on the current state of infrastructure programs to build an understanding of the infrastructure investment program landscape and the interplay of its component parts.
 
Public Works Board.  The Board is staffed by the Department of Commerce and includes the following 13 voting members:  two elected officials and one public works manager representing cities; two elected officials and one public works manager representing counties; three members representing public utility and water-sewer districts; and four members representing the general public.  The Board administers the Public Works Assistance Account to provide loans and grants and to give financial guarantees to local governments for public works projects and help local governments improve their ability to plan for, finance, acquire, construct, repair, replace, rehabilitate, and maintain public facilities.

The expiration of the Team is extended, allowing it to continue identifying, implementing, and reporting on system improvements until June 30, 2025.