Z-0137.1
HOUSE BILL 1064
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Abbarno, Tharinger, Steele, Pollet, Rude, Ryu, Waters, Hackney, Low, Springer, Callan, Leavitt, Timmons, Wylie, and Scott; by request of Public Works Board
Prefiled 12/13/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
AN ACT Relating to eliminating the expiration of the interagency, multijurisdictional system improvement team; reenacting and amending RCW 43.155.150 ; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that in the 2017 legislative session the public works board and the departments of commerce, ecology, and health were directed to facilitate meetings among state infrastructure programs to identify, implement, and report on system improvements to maximize state investments to benefit communities, minimize overall costs and disturbance to the community, and ensure long-term durability and resilience. The legislature finds that this directive led to an interagency team representing the public works board, the transportation improvement board, and the departments of commerce, ecology, health, and transportation, informally called SYNC, which meets monthly using existing resources to coordinate infrastructure projects and financing to increase efficiencies and reduce costs, helping local governments meet their infrastructure needs.
The legislature also recognizes that in the 2021 legislative session, the interagency team's work was extended through June 30, 2025. The legislature finds that SYNC's partner agencies are planning the next generation of infrastructure coordination, specifically reaching out to distressed and rural communities across the state that have not yet secured the full benefits of infrastructure assistance and working together on emerging environmental issues facing Washington's communities. The legislature further finds that to maximize the value of state investments across infrastructure programs, it is critical to maintain SYNC's coordination of infrastructure financing, policy, and projects. Therefore, the legislature intends to remove the sunset date of the interagency team and to request a progress report on the work of the team prior to the beginning of each fiscal biennium.