Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Transportation Committee
HB 2191
Brief Description: Adding two voting members that are transit users to the governing body of public transportation benefit areas.
Sponsors: Representatives Timmons, Duerr, Reed, Ramel and Reeves.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Allows for the appointment of two transit-using members to the governing body of public transportation benefit areas (PTBAs) as voting members.
  • Requires one of the transit-using members to represent an organization that serves transit-dependent individuals, if possible.
  • Requires meetings of the governing body of a PTBA to be reasonably accessible by transit.
Hearing Date: 1/22/24
Staff: David Munnecke (786-7315).
Background:

Public Transportation Benefit Area.

A public transportation benefit area (PTBA) is a type of municipal corporation created to provide regional transportation service to all or a portion of a county or multiple counties.  It is authorized to construct, own, and operate a regional transportation system within its jurisdictional boundaries in accordance with specified statutory requirements.  The creation of a PTBA requires the convening of a public transportation improvement conference attended by an elected official from each city and county falling within the jurisdiction of the proposed PTBA.

 

Governance.

The governance of a PTBA is provided by a governing body consisting of not more than nine (or 15 if the PTBA is multi-county) elected officials from the governments of the cities and counties participating in the PTBA.  A PTBA must also include in its governing body a nonvoting member recommended by the labor organization or organizations representing its employees, if the authority has employees represented by a labor union.
Summary of Bill:

The requirements for the governing body of a PTBA are modified to allow for the appointment of two transit-using members to the governing body of public transportation benefit areas (PTBAs) as voting members.  One of the transit-using members must represent an organization that serves primarily transit-dependent individuals, if possible, and the other must primarily rely on public transportation.  If no organizational representative available to serve resides within the PTBA's service area, a second member who is primarily reliant on public transportation must be appointed instead.

 

The meetings of the governing body of a PTBA must occur at a time and place that is reasonably accessible by transit.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect on January 1, 2025.