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2003 Session Wrap Up

In many ways, the Legislature was good to architects and the built environment. First of all, there were no new or increased business taxes levied against architectural firms in this tight budget year.

Secondly, most of the International Code Council’s codes have been authorized for adoption by all local governments in the state. The one exception is the continuation of the Uniform Plumbing Code—it will not change. The State Building Code Council is currently reviewing the International Codes to determine if they need to be amended for anything that might be unique to the State of Washington. That work will be finished by the end of 2003, but the codes can’t go into effect until after the Legislature meets next year.

The Legislature was successful this year in putting together a transportation funding package. This package will raise $4.2 billion in new revenue over the next ten years. The revenue is tied to a specific list of construction projects and comes from a 5 cent gas tax increase, a 15% increase in weight fees for commercial trucks and a 0.3 percent motor-vehicle sales tax.

A streamlined environmental permit processing system was adopted this session. The integrated permitting system is a single, stand-alone project document that will be posed on the Internet. Environmental review, design and permitting will all begin together and be documented in a single Web-based file that will be updated at specific times so all participants can see changes as they occur. A pilot project will be selected to test the system.

The state’s Qualifications Based Selection Law was challenged again this year. HB 1884 was heard by the House State Government Committee in February. The bill would have (1) expanded the final selection of firms from the “most highly qualified” to “qualified”, and (2) allowed state and local agencies to consider fee information in selecting architectural and engineering services. The Architects and Engineers Legislative Council took advantage of this opportunity to educate members of the Committee on the importance of maintaining the current law. The bill did come up for a vote.

Finally, the Legislature passed a law that requires cities that have a B&O tax to agree on and adopt a “model ordinance” so that all cities will have the same B&O tax regulations, definitions and penalties. Cities must comply with the model ordinance by January 1, 2005. The bill also allows cities to collect only their portion of the tax. For example, a business that does 90 percent of its business in Tacoma would be taxed on 90 percent of its gross receipts, while a business that does 5 percent of its business in Tacoma would be taxed on 5 percent of its gross receipts.

Thanks to all AIA members who worked hard on our issues and contacted their legislators in timely fashion. It truly was a great session!