ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1420


State of Washington	64th Legislature	2015 Regular Session

By House Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Wilcox, Springer, Magendanz, G. Hunt, Muri, Kirby, Takko, Kilduff, and Hargrove)

READ FIRST TIME 02/20/15.

AN ACT Relating to school siting and aiding school districts in reducing overall school construction costs; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that school districts are responsible for siting, building, and maintaining school facilities that provide a learning environment supportive of student achievement, and that schools are integral to the communities they serve. The legislature intends in creating the legislative task force on school siting, as provided in subsection (2) of this section, to review school facility challenges created by enrollment increases and recent education reforms, including expansion of full-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes.

(2) A legislative task force on school siting is established, with members as provided in this subsection. All member appointments or selections must be made by July 1, 2015.

(b) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives.

(c) The governor shall appoint one member who represents environmental concerns related to school siting and one member who represents the building industry.

(iii) Two representatives of school districts, who represent school districts that serve students in urban areas and currently are experiencing difficulty finding suitable siting locations, selected by the Washington association of school administrators;

(iv) Two representatives of school districts, who represent school districts that serve students in rural areas and currently are experiencing difficulty finding suitable siting locations, selected by the Washington association of school administrators; and

(3) The task force shall choose its chair from among its legislative membership. The chair shall convene at least three meetings of the task force.

(4) The task force shall review the issue of siting schools inside and outside of urban growth areas. In reviewing this issue, the task force must balance the planning goals and requirements set forth in chapter 36.70A RCW with the needs of school districts facing capacity issues and the infrastructure needs of local governments.

(5) Staff from the office of superintendent of public instruction and from affected school districts, counties, and cities must support the task force by providing local information as needed. Support provided by staff from the office of superintendent of public instruction must be provided within existing resources.

(6) Staff support for the task force must be provided by senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research.

(7) Legislative members of the task force must be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(8) The expenses of the task force must be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee, or their successor committees.

(9) The task force shall provide a summary of the task force's discussions and any recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2015.