[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to airport security; adding new sections to chapter 53.08 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 42.17 RCW; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Since September 11, 2001, Americans have come to understand that challenges to airport security require responsible employers and a high-quality, stable airport work force. High turnover and irresponsible actions by contractors have only partially been addressed by federal legislation.

The legislature finds that homeland security, as well as the safety and security of passengers and employees at large airports could be compromised by high turnover rates among airport workers, and by the presence of contractors and tenants at large airports who do not observe minimum standards of legal and ethical behavior. The legislature further finds that the 2001 federal aviation and transportation security act addressed this problem for airport security screening contractors and personnel only, and does not sufficiently protect Washington state citizens and visitors. Workers throughout the airport have job responsibilities that affect aircraft security, and all airport employees need to be alert and committed to airport safety. All businesses operating at large airports should have satisfactory records of legal compliance and business integrity.

The legislature finds that it is important, for the millions of passengers and thousands of employees at Sea-Tac airport, to protect against high job turnover, and to provide conditions that encourage a stable, well-trained work force, and responsibility on the part of contractors and others doing business with large airports such as Sea-Tac airport. The legislature further finds that the economic well-being of Sea-Tac has an impact on the economic health of Washington state as a whole.

The legislature intends to mandate that port districts operating large airports have the responsibility and the statutory authority to enhance security through the enforcement and adoption of minimum standards of employment, and standards of business responsibility for lessees, tenants, and contractors.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 53.08 RCW to read as follows:

A port district with a population of one million or more operating an airport serving more than twenty scheduled jet aircraft flights per day must undertake a program to reduce work force turnover, and establish high employment standards among all businesses operating at the airport.

(1) The port district may formulate minimum labor standards applicable to lessees, tenants, sublessees, service contractors, and subcontractors of any properties or facilities owned or operated by it.

(2) The port district must monitor, on an ongoing basis, employment conditions, employee training, and worker retention rates among all businesses operating at the airport. Employers with businesses at the airport will provide the port district, upon request, with full access to all employment records, as a condition of doing business at the airport.

(3) The port district will evaluate the impact on airport work force stability of all current and prospective decisions regarding leasing, tenancy or contracting at the airport, and must incorporate turnover mitigation measures into all such decisions insofar as possible. For each decision on leasing, tenancy, and contracting at the airport, the port must issue a written finding on the decision's probable effect on airport work force turnover.

(4) At least twice each year, beginning within one hundred twenty days from the effective date of this act, the port district must issue a public report on employment conditions and work force turnover at the airport. The report will include, at a minimum, a comprehensive summary of the information from subsection (2) of this section on employment conditions and turnover rates among all private employers at the airport, and the written findings from subsection (3) of this section. No more than thirty days after issuing the report, the port must hold a public hearing on employment conditions and work force turnover at the airport.

(5) The port district must develop a comprehensive plan for promotion of employment stability in all sectors of the airport work force. The plan must address all aspects of airport work force stabilization, including recruitment, training, security training, employment standards, and performance standards. The port district will include a preliminary plan in the second report on employment conditions and work force turnover at the airport. At least thirty, and no more than forty-five days after the first public hearing following issuance of the preliminary plan, the port district must approve a final version of the plan, also in public session. The plan must be updated on an annual basis following the procedure and schedule outlined in this subsection.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 53.08 RCW to read as follows:

A port district with a population of one million or more operating an airport serving more than twenty scheduled jet aircraft flights per day must ensure that contractors and tenants operating businesses at the airport have a satisfactory record of compliance with applicable statutes and rules and a satisfactory record of business integrity.

(1) Before entering into any lease or a service contract for services to be performed at an airport, the port district must certify that the prospective lessee or contractor has the necessary ability and business integrity to justify allowing the lessee or contractor to do business at the airport. Factors that must be considered in making this determination are: (a) Financial resources; (b) technical qualifications; (c) experience; (d) organization, material, equipment, facilities, and expertise necessary to carry out the work; (e) a satisfactory record of performance; (f) a satisfactory record of compliance with applicable statutes and rules, federal, state, and local laws regarding health and safety, environmental laws, labor and employment laws, and licensing laws; and (g) a satisfactory record of business integrity.

(2) The port district must require lessees and service contractors to seek certification from the port according to the procedures outlined in subsection (1) of this section before entering into a sublease, service contract, or subcontract for services to be performed at the airport. Such certification is required before lessees or service contractors enter into any agreement to amend, modify, or extend any existing sublease, service contract, or subcontract.

(3) The port district must require every prospective lessee, sublessee, service contractor, or subcontractor for services to be performed at the airport to complete and submit a questionnaire developed by the port that will provide the information the port needs to determine whether the lessee, sublessee, or contractor meets the standards set forth in subsection (1) of this section, and the probable effect of its operations on the airport's comprehensive plan for promotion of employment stability, described in section 2 of this act. A prospective lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must submit the questionnaire even if no bid is required. The lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must submit its response to the questionnaire under penalty of perjury, and must disclose any finding including a preliminary finding subject to appeal by a government agency or court of competent jurisdiction that it has not complied with an applicable federal, state, or local law in any location in which it operates. The lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must update its responses to the questionnaire during the term of the sublease or contract within thirty days after any material change to the responses previously provided. The port may revoke the lessee's, sublessee's, contractor's, or subcontractor's certification for failure to update the questionnaire.

(4) A prospective lessee, sublessee, service contractor, or subcontractor must submit the questionnaire no fewer than fourteen calendar days before execution of the sublease or contract in order to allow full review of the questionnaire. Questionnaires are public records as defined in RCW 42.17.020. Within one business day of receiving a request for any questionnaires, the port district must provide the questionnaires to the requestor.

(5) Based upon review of the information contained in the questionnaire, information obtained from other governmental agencies, information received from the public, and on its own independent investigation the port district must either certify the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor or make a determination of nonresponsibility. Before being declared nonresponsible, a prospective lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must be notified of the proposed determination, provided with a summary of the information upon which the port is relying, and given an opportunity to be heard. At the responsibility hearing, the prospective lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor is allowed to rebut adverse information and to present evidence that it has the necessary quality, fitness, capacity, and integrity. The prospective lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must request a hearing within five calendar days after the port provides notice of its preliminary determination. Failure to submit a written request for a hearing within the five-day period waives the right to such a hearing.

(6) Lessees and service contractors may not enter into any sublease or service contract for services to be performed at the airport, or amend, modify, or extend any existing sublease or service contract unless the prospective sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor has been certified by the port district in accordance with this section.

(7) Any lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor performing services at the airport must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws in the performance of the contract, including but not limited to laws regarding health and safety, environmental laws, labor and employment laws, and licensing laws. Lessees and contractors must incorporate all the provisions of this section in any sublease or covered subcontract.

(8) Lessees, service contractors, their sublessees, and covered subcontractors must notify the port district within fourteen days upon receiving notification that a government agency has initiated an investigation of the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor which may result in a finding that the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor is not in compliance with subsection (1) of this section.

(9) Lessees, contractors, sublessees, and covered subcontractors must notify the port district within fourteen days upon receiving any finding, including a preliminary finding subject to appeal, by a government agency or court of competent jurisdiction that lessees, contractors, sublessees, or subcontractors have not complied with an applicable federal, state, or local law.

(10) Upon award of any lease, sublease, contract, or subcontract, the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor must complete a pledge of compliance attesting under penalty of perjury to compliance with subsection (1) of this section. Lessees and contractors must ensure that their sublessees and subcontractors are in compliance with this section.

(11) Where the port district has received information indicating that a lessee, contractor, or one of its subcontractors or sublessees is not in compliance with this section, the port district must issue a written notice to the lessee or contractor regarding the alleged noncompliance, and it must provide the lessee or contractor with ten days to demonstrate either that there was no violation, or that the violation has been cured. In the event that the employer has not demonstrated to the port district within such period that it has cured such violation, the port district may then declare a material breach of the service contract, except where such violation involves a failure to comply with the provisions of federal labor laws (the national labor relations act or the railway labor act). Where the violation involves a failure to comply with federal labor law, the port district may hold a public hearing regarding the nature and extent of the violation, and whether the violation implicates the proprietary interests of the port district. In the event the port district determines that such violation does implicate its proprietary interests, it may seek an appropriate remedy.

(12) If, after issuing the certification, the port district determines that the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor has provided false information, the port may revoke the certification.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:

Questionnaires submitted under section 3 of this act are not subject to RCW 42.17.320.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.