BILL REQ. #:  H-2944.1 

Prefiled 01/06/12. Read first time 01/09/12.   Referred to Committee on Local Government.

     AN ACT Relating to the compensation of port district employees; and amending RCW 53.08.170.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 53.08.170 and 2002 c 362 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((The)) (1) Subject to the conditions stated in subsections (5) and (6) of this section, a port commission ((shall have)) has authority to create and fill positions, to fix wages, salaries and bonds thereof, to pay costs and assessments involved in securing or arranging to secure employees, and to establish such benefits for employees, including holiday pay, vacations or vacation pay, retirement and pension benefits, medical, surgical or hospital care, life, accident, or health disability insurance, and similar benefits, already established by other employers of similar employees, as the port commissioner shall by resolution provide((: PROVIDED, That)). However, any district providing insurance benefits for its employees in any manner whatsoever may provide health and accident insurance, life insurance with coverage not to exceed that provided district employees, and business related travel, liability, and errors and omissions insurance, for its commissioners, which insurance ((shall)) is not ((be)) considered to be compensation.
     (2) Subject to chapter 48.62 RCW, the port commission ((shall have)) has authority to provide or pay such benefits directly, or to provide for such benefits by the purchase of insurance policies or entering into contracts with and compensating any person, firm, agency or organization furnishing such benefits, or by making contributions to vacation plans or funds, or health and welfare plans and funds, or pension plans or funds, or similar plans or funds, already established by other employers of similar employees and in which the port district is permitted to participate for particular classifications of its employees by the trustees or other persons responsible for the administration of such established plans or funds((: PROVIDED FURTHER, That)). However, no port district employee ((shall be)) is allowed to apply for admission to or be accepted as a member of the state employees' retirement system after January 1, 1965, if admission to such system would result in coverage under both a private pension system and the state employees' retirement system, it being the purpose of this ((proviso)) provision that port districts ((shall)) may not at the same time contribute for any employee to both a private pension or retirement plan and to the state employees' retirement system. The port commission ((shall have)) has authority by resolution to utilize and compensate agents for the purpose of paying, in the name and by the check of such agent or agents or otherwise, wages, salaries and other benefits to employees, or particular classifications thereof, and for the purpose of withholding payroll taxes and paying over tax moneys so withheld to appropriate government agencies, on a combined basis with the wages, salaries, benefits, or taxes of other employers or otherwise; to enter into such contracts and arrangements with and to transfer by warrant such funds from time to time to any such agent or agents so appointed as are necessary to accomplish such salary, wage, benefit, or tax payments as though the port district were a private employer, notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary. The funds of a port district transferred to such an agent or agents for the payment of wages or salaries of its employees in the name or by the check of such agent or agents ((shall be)) are subject to garnishment with respect to salaries or wages so paid, notwithstanding any provision of the law relating to municipal corporations to the contrary.
     (3) Notwithstanding any provision in this section, the governing body of a port district may enter into an agreement in writing with one or more of its officers or employees or a group of such officers and employees, authorizing deductions from the officer's or employee's salary or wages of the amount of any premium specified in writing by the officer or employee, for contribution to any private pension plan, without loss of eligibility for membership in the state employees' retirement system, and may agree to remit that amount to the management of such private pension plan. However, no port district funds shall be contributed or paid to such private plan. When such authorized deductions are certified by the port commission to the port district's auditor, the auditor ((shall)) must draw and issue a proper warrant or warrants, or check or checks if that method of payment is authorized by statute, directly to and in favor of the person, firm, corporation, or organization named in the authorization, for the total amount authorized to be deducted from the payroll, together with a list identifying the officers and employees for whom the payment is made.
     (4) Nothing in this section may be invoked to invalidate any private pension plan or any public or private contributions or payments thereto, or exclude members of any such private pension plan from membership in the state employees' retirement system, if such private plan was in operation on December 31, 2001.
     (5) Prior to providing any existing or prospective employee with a salary or other compensation that equals or exceeds that of the governor of the state of Washington, a port commission must comply with the conditions provided in subsection (6) of this section.
     (6) If the circumstances in subsection (5) of this section apply, a port commission must comply with the following conditions:
     (a) The public must be provided with at least three months' advance notice of any such action through means reasonably calculated to provide actual notice of, and access to, detailed information regarding the compensation being offered and the circumstances leading to such an offer. At minimum, such notice must include:
     (i) The issuance by the port commission of official, written public notice to all local and regional newspapers of general circulation within the port district, and to local and regional television and radio stations broadcasting into the port district;
     (ii) The publication of a legal notice in each local or regional newspaper of general circulation within the port district. Such notice must be reasonably calculated to provide actual notice of, and access to, detailed information regarding the compensation being offered and the circumstances leading to the compensation offered, as well as notice of the public meetings required to be held under (b) of this subsection; and
     (iii) The conspicuous posting on the port district's official internet web site of detailed information regarding the compensation being offered, the circumstances leading to the compensation offered, and the notice of public meetings required under (b) of this subsection;
     (b) The holding of at least three public meetings of the port commission regarding the compensation offer, during which members of the public must be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The port commission must provide the public with at least three weeks' advance notice of each meeting in accordance with the requirements of this subsection (6). Such notice must include detailed information regarding the compensation being offered and the circumstances leading to such an offer. The meeting notice must also include the date, time, and location of all such meetings;
     (c) Any additional procedural and public notice requirements set forth in chapter 42.30 RCW and Title 53 RCW also apply to port commission decisions subject to subsection (5) of this section to the extent such requirements are not inconsistent with the requirements of this subsection (6); and
     (d) The port commission must provide a written report to the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives no later than December 31st of the year in which the compensation was first offered or provided. The report to the legislature must include the following:
     (i) A complete, detailed description of both the compensation being offered or provided to the current or prospective employee and the circumstances leading to the offer or provision of such compensation;
     (ii) A description of the criteria used in evaluating qualifications and experience of the current or prospective employee and in determining the appropriate compensation for the employee's services;
     (iii) A comprehensive explanation of why the compensation is warranted; and
     (iv) A description of the performance measures that have been, or will be, utilized in evaluating the performance of the current or prospective employee.
     (7) At such time as a port commission receives either formal or constructive notice of the intended retirement or resignation of a port employee, the port commission is prohibited from taking any action to increase the value of the compensation provided to that employee.
     (8) For the purposes of subsections (5) through (7) of this section, "compensation" must be broadly construed to mean wages, salaries, vacations or vacation pay, retirement and pension benefits, medical and other health or insurance-related benefits, and any other benefit offered or provided to the current or prospective port employee.