Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record

2017 legislative review estimated $300,000 per biennium. HB 1400 passed the House 94-4 and the Senate 46-0. HB 1018 aviation grants Passed/AWB Supported Peter King, CEO of the Association of Washington Cities, along with Eric D. Johnson, Washington Public Ports Association executive director; Eric Johnson, executive director of the Washington State Association of Counties; and AWB Government Affairs Director Mike Ennis discuss infrastructure during a work session of the Senate Transportation Committee. SSB 5806 columbia river bridge Passed/AWB Supported AWB supported Substitute Senate Bill 5806, sponsored by Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, which allows preliminary work to develop a process for planning for a new Interstate 5 bridge spanning the Columbia River. The bill allows the Legislature to designate a project as a “project of statewide significance,” which streamlines some of the permitting and application requirements. The bill also creates a joint committee of Washington and Oregon legislators, and requires the Washington State Department of Transportation to inventory all planning material. SSB 5806 passed the House 59-37 and the Senate 44-4. SSB 5289 distracted driving Passed/AWB Neutral Lawmakers also passed an enhanced distracted driving bill, Substitute Senate 42 association of washington business Bill 5289, sponsored by Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center. The bill makes it illegal to hold a personal electronic device in either hand, watch a video, or use a hand or finger to compose, send, read, view, access, browse, transmit, save, or retrieve email, text messages, instant messages, photographs, or other electronic data. The bill does allow the minimal use of a finger to activate, deactivate, or initiate a function on the device. The governor vetoed Section 5 of the bill, which contained the effective date of January 2019, which made the law take effect in July of this year. The bill passed the House 61-36 and the Senate 39-10. HB 1400 aviation license plates Passed/AWB Supported AWB supported House Bill 1400, sponsored by Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, which provides funding for infrastructure improvements at public use airports in Washington by creating special license plates. The plates would be available for purchase by the public and raise an AWB supported House Bill 1018, sponsored by Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, which increases the maximum grant amount that the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) can provide through its Airport Aid Grant Program from $250,000 to $750,000. The current cap has been in place for over 35 years and not kept pace with inflation. This limits the WSDOT’s ability to match larger, federally funded projects and forces smaller airports to complete projects in phases, stretching multiple years, which increases costs. HB 1018 passed the House 97-0 and the Senate 49-0. ESSB 5620 transportation network companies Failed/AWB Supported AWB supported Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5620, sponsored by Sen. Curtis King R-Yakima, which would have created a statewide regulatory framework for transportation network companies (TNCs). The bill would have defined how TNCs operate in Washington state, declared drivers are independent contractors, established enforcement criteria, created a permit fee to operate, and required state preemption over all local ordinances governing TNCs. ESSB 5620 passed the Senate 34-15, but did not come up for a vote in the House.

Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 44