Transp. district boards

AN ACT Relating to representation within transportation benefit 1
districts; amending RCW 36.57A.050; creating a new section; repealing 2
RCW 47.66.170; and declaring an emergency. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A 2025 change to state law started a 5
kerfuffle related to the composition of a transportation benefit 6
board that remains unresolved. State law fails to provide flexibility 7
for a community to choose a more equitable distribution of board 8
representation in accordance with community recommendations.9
Sec. 2. RCW 36.57A.050 and 2025 c 230 s 1 are each amended to 10
read as follows: 11
(1)(a) Within 60 days of the establishment of the boundaries of 12
the public transportation benefit area the members of the county 13
legislative authority and the elected representative of each city 14
within the area shall provide for the selection of the governing body 15
of such area, the public transportation benefit area authority, which 16
shall consist of elected officials selected by and serving at the 17
pleasure of the governing bodies of component cities within the area 18
and the county legislative authority of each county within the area. 19
H-2560.1
HOUSE BILL 2143
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Ley and Graham
Prefiled 12/15/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Local Government.
p. 1 HB 2143
Two other transit-using members may be appointed to the governing 1
body of such area, pursuant to subsection (3)(b) of this section.2
(b) ((The)) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, 3
the elected official members of the governing body of the public 4
transportation benefit area, if the population of the county in which 5
the public transportation benefit area is located is more than 6
400,000 and the county does not also contain a city with a population 7
of 75,000 or more operating a transit system pursuant to chapter 8
35.95 RCW, must be selected to assure proportional representation, 9
based on population, of each of the component cities located within 10
the public transportation benefit area and the unincorporated areas 11
of the county located within the public transportation benefit area, 12
to the extent possible within the restrictions placed on the size of 13
the governing body of a public transportation benefit area. If 14
necessary to assure such proportional representation, multiple cities 15
may be represented by a single elected official from one of the 16
cities. A majority of the governing board may not be selected to 17
represent a single component city. 18
(c) If at the time a public transportation benefit area authority 19
assumes the public transportation functions previously provided under 20
the interlocal cooperation act ( chapter 39.34 RCW) there are citizen 21
positions on the governing board of the transit system, those 22
positions may be retained as positions on the governing board of the 23
public transportation benefit area authority. 24
(2) Within such 60-day period, any city may by resolution of its 25
legislative body withdraw from participation in the public 26
transportation benefit area. The county legislative authority and 27
each city remaining in the public transportation benefit area may 28
disapprove and prevent the establishment of any governing body of a 29
public transportation benefit area if the composition thereof does 30
not meet its approval. 31
(3)(a) In no case shall the governing body of a single county 32
public transportation benefit area be greater than 11 voting members 33
and in the case of a multicounty area, 17 voting members. Those 34
cities within the public transportation benefit area and excluded 35
from direct membership on the authority are hereby authorized to 36
designate a member of the authority who shall be entitled to 37
represent the interests of such city which is excluded from direct 38
membership on the authority. The legislative body of such city shall 39
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notify the authority as to the determination of its authorized 1
representative on the authority. 2
(b)(i) In addition to the maximum of nine elected official voting 3
members of the governing body of a single county public 4
transportation benefit area or 15 elected official voting members of 5
the governing body, in the case of a multicounty area, there may be 6
two transit-using voting members appointed to each governing body by 7
the elected official voting members. Transit-using voting members may 8
not be employees of the transit agency operating under the public 9
transportation benefit area authority. 10
(ii) One transit-using voting member must primarily rely on 11
public transportation systems for transportation. 12
(iii) One transit-using voting member must represent a community-13
based organization and at least occasionally use public 14
transportation systems for transportation. If no such representative 15
in the public transportation benefit area's service area is available 16
to serve, the governing body must appoint a second transit-using 17
voting member who meets the requirements of (b)(ii) of this 18
subsection. 19
(iv) If transit-using voting members are appointed to a governing 20
body, meetings of the governing body must occur at a time and a place 21
that are reasonably accessible by transit, in order to facilitate the 22
participation of the transit-using voting members.23
(v) Transit-using voting members must be provided comprehensive 24
training regarding the open public meetings act established in 25
chapter 42.30 RCW, the public records act established in chapter 26
42.56 RCW, and chapter 42.23 RCW regarding ethics for municipal 27
officers, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the member's 28
appointment. 29
(vi) This subsection (3)(b) does not apply to any public 30
transportation benefit area authority where there are retained 31
citizen positions on the governing body, pursuant to subsection 32
(1)(c) of this section. 33
(c) There is one nonvoting member of the public transportation 34
benefit area authority. The nonvoting member is recommended by the 35
labor organization representing the public transportation employees 36
within the local public transportation system. If the public 37
transportation employees are represented by more than one labor 38
organization, all such labor organizations shall select the nonvoting 39
member by majority vote. The nonvoting member shall comply with all 40
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governing bylaws and policies of the authority. The chair or cochairs 1
of the authority shall exclude the nonvoting member from attending 2
any executive session held for the purpose of discussing negotiations 3
with labor organizations. The chair or cochairs may exclude the 4
nonvoting member from attending any other executive session. The 5
requirement that a nonvoting member be appointed to the governing 6
body of a public transportation benefit area authority does not apply 7
to an authority that has no employees represented by a labor union.8
(4)(a) Each member of the authority is eligible to be reimbursed 9
for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 10
and to receive compensation, as set by the authority, in an amount 11
not to exceed $44 for each day during which the member attends 12
official meetings of the authority or performs prescribed duties 13
approved by the chair of the authority. Except that the authority 14
may, by resolution, increase the payment of per diem compensation to 15
each member from $44 up to $90 per day or portion of a day for actual 16
attendance at board meetings or for performance of other official 17
services or duties on behalf of the authority. In no event may a 18
member be compensated in any year for more than 75 days, except the 19
chair who may be paid compensation for not more than 100 days: 20
PROVIDED, That compensation shall not be paid to an elected official 21
or employee of federal, state, or local government who is receiving 22
regular full-time compensation from such government for attending 23
meetings and performing prescribed duties of the authority.24
(b) The dollar thresholds established in this section must be 25
adjusted for inflation by the office of financial management every 26
five years, beginning January 1, 2024, based upon changes in the 27
consumer price index during that time period. "Consumer price index" 28
means, for any calendar year, that year's annual average consumer 29
price index, for Washington state, for wage earners and clerical 30
workers, all items, compiled by the bureau of labor and statistics, 31
United States department of labor. If the bureau of labor and 32
statistics develops more than one consumer price index for areas 33
within the state, the index covering the greatest number of people, 34
covering areas exclusively within the boundaries of the state, and 35
including all items shall be used for the adjustments for inflation 36
in this section. The office of financial management must calculate 37
the new dollar threshold and transmit it to the office of the code 38
reviser for publication in the Washington State Register at least one 39
month before the new dollar threshold is to take effect.40
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(c) A person holding office as commissioner for two or more 1
special purpose districts shall receive only that per diem 2
compensation authorized for one of his or her commissioner positions 3
as compensation for attending an official meeting or conducting 4
official services or duties while representing more than one of his 5
or her districts. However, such commissioner may receive additional 6
per diem compensation if approved by resolution of all boards of the 7
affected commissions. 8
(5) The elected official members of the governing body of the 9
public transportation benefit area in a county located to the west of 10
the crest of the Cascade mountains that has both a population of at 11
least 400,000 and a border that touches another state must be 12
selected based loosely on proportional population with the caveat 13
that no county or city may have more than three representatives on 14
the governing body. Each of the component cities located within the 15
public transportation benefit area and the unincorporated areas of 16
the county located within the public transportation benefit area, to 17
the extent possible within the restrictions placed on the size of the 18
governing body of a public transportation benefit area, must be 19
represented. If necessary to assure representation, multiple cities 20
may be represented by a single elected official from one of the 21
cities.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. RCW 47.66.170 (Public transportation 23
benefit area grant program eligibility) and 2025 c 417 s 1002 are 24
each repealed.25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act is necessary for the immediate 26
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 27
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 28
effect immediately.29
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