BILL REQ. #:  S-3936.2 

Read first time 01/13/2006.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to department of transportation organization; amending RCW 47.01.101; and creating a new section.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 47.01.101 and 2005 c 319 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     The secretary shall ((have the authority and it shall be his or her duty)):
     (1) ((To)) Serve as chief executive officer of the department with full administrative authority to direct all its activities;
     (2) ((To)) Organize the department as he or she may deem necessary to carry out the work and responsibilities of the department effectively;
     (3) ((To)) Designate and establish such transportation district or branch offices as may be necessary or convenient, and ((to)) appoint assistants and delegate any powers, duties, and functions to them or any officer or employee of the department as deemed necessary to administer the department efficiently. Every ten years, beginning December 1, 2006, the secretary shall present to the legislative transportation committees of the house of representatives and senate a proposed reorganization of the department's regions. If appropriate, the reorganization proposal shall recommend new regional boundaries, determined geographically, accounting for projects and other workload funded in the next sixteen years. Where appropriate, projects along the same corridor shall be kept within a single region;
     (4) ((To)) Direct and coordinate the programs of the various divisions of the department to assure that they achieve the greatest possible mutual benefit, produce a balanced overall effort, and eliminate unnecessary duplication of activity;
     (5) ((To)) Adopt all department rules that are subject to the adoption procedures contained in the state administrative procedure act, except rules subject to adoption by the commission pursuant to statute;
     (6) ((To)) Maintain and safeguard the official records of the department, including the commission's recorded resolutions and orders;
     (7) ((To)) Provide, under contract or interagency agreement, full staff support to the commission to assist it in carrying out its functions, powers, and duties;
     (8) ((To)) Execute and implement the biennial operating budget for the operation of the department in accordance with chapter 43.88 RCW and with legislative appropriation;
     (9) ((To)) Advise the governor and the legislature with respect to matters under the jurisdiction of the department; and
     (10) ((To)) Exercise all other powers and perform all other duties as are now or hereafter provided by law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The legislature intends that this act will result in periodic reviews of the department of transportation's regional boundaries. The department should review resources and outputs (such as projects and maintenance work) within each region and determine if changes to regional boundaries would benefit the department and, therefore, the public. As growth and other economic changes occur in Washington state, it may be appropriate to change the size and/or number of departmental regions.