Title: An act relating to the urban arterial program.

Brief Description: Harmonizing and updating various aspects of the urban arterial program.

Sponsors: Senator Haugen; by request of Transportation Improvement Board.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Transportation: 1/17/06 [DP]

Passed Senate: 2/11/06, 44-0.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators Haugen, Chair; Jacobsen, Vice Chair; Poulsen, Vice Chair; Benson, Ranking Minority Member; Benton, Berkey, Eide, Esser, Finkbeiner, Kastama, Mulliken, Sheldon, Spanel, Swecker and Weinstein.

Staff: David Ward (786-7341)

Background: In 2005, the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) requested and received approval from the Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee (LEAP) to rename their five funding programs. The changes were intended to more clearly identify the purpose of the program and help local jurisdictions more easily identify which programs they may apply to for funding.

Currently, the TIB is comprised of twenty-one members including the Executive Director of the County Road Administration Board (CRAB) and two representatives of public transit systems. Appointments to the TIB are made by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Summary of Bill: LEAP authorized funding program name changes are amended and re-codified in relevant statutes.

The number of TIB members is reduced from twenty-one to twenty by eliminating one of the public transit system appointments. The Executive Director of the CRAB is also removed from the TIB and replaced by a county engineer or public works director from a county with a population of less than 125,000.

Appointments to the TIB are made by the Governor instead of the Secretary of the DOT.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: The name changes eliminate potential confusion around the small city and transportation partnership programs. Reducing board membership by one transit position was agreed to by the Washington State Transit Association and is in response to the loss of funding for TIB's transit program after passage of the provisions of Initiative 695. Inclusion of the County Road Administration Board position on the TIB was intended to provide existing expertise for what was then a new agency. Replacing that position with a small county engineer better reflects the current stakeholder interests of the board. Lastly, with the DOT now a cabinet level agency, it makes more sense to have the Governor making appointments to the TIB.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Steve Gorchester, TIB; Ashley Probart, Association of Washington Cities.