HB 1037 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Concerning public facilities district formation.

HB 1037 amends Washington state law to expand how cities, towns, and counties can form public facilities districts (PFDs) for projects like regional centers. It allows single cities/towns in counties under 1 million population to create PFDs, and adds new options for joint operations between contiguous cities/towns and counties (or school districts), with a deadline of July 1, 2026, for certain new districts. The bill details governance rules, requiring boards with appointed members (including representation from local organizations like chambers of commerce) serving four-year terms. It directly affects local governments in smaller-county areas seeking to collaborate on public infrastructure projects.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute Bill → Second Substitute Bill · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered and moved from the Local Government committee to the Finance committee, with a slight adjustment to the effective date. The most significant change is the addition of a temporary provision allowing a specific type of public facilities district to be created in small, mountainous counties with populations under 50,000 until 2060. Additionally, the rules for appointing board members were updated to include specific requirements for counties with populations over 1.5 million that are building convention centers or baseball stadiums, involving appointments by the governor and county executive.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include a new, temporary category of public facilities districts for small counties along the eastern crest of the Cascade mountains.

TECHNICAL

The bill number changed from H-0890.1 to H-1654.4, and the title changed from 'Substitute House Bill' to 'Second Substitute House Bill'.

TIMELINE

The date the bill was read for the first time was updated from January 29, 2025, to February 28, 2025.

SCOPE

The bill was transferred from the House Local Government committee to the House Finance committee, indicating a shift in legislative focus or jurisdiction.

A new temporary provision allows one public facilities district to be created by an agreement between towns/cities and a county with a population under 50,000 located along the eastern crest of the Cascade mountains, effective until December 31, 2060.

REQUIREMENT

Board composition rules were updated for counties with populations of 1,500,000 or more creating districts for convention centers or baseball stadiums, requiring appointments by the governor and county executive.

Specific board member requirements were added for large counties (1.5M+ population) building convention centers, mandating representation for the lodging industry and organized labor.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to Finance.

lower

Jan 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Local Government at 10:30 AM.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Local Government at 10:30 AM.

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor