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Panel hears bill to remove sunset for interagency SYNC team that coordinates infrastructure planning
Summary
Senate Bill 5034 would remove the expiration date for the interagency System Improvement Team (SYNC), require a biennial report beginning in 2026, and continue cross-agency coordination on transportation, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects.
Senate Bill 5034, a request bill to remove the statutory expiration for the interagency multijurisdictional System Improvement Team (known as SYNC), drew bipartisan support and agency testimony at the Jan. 21 hearing of the Washington State Senate Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee.
Danielle Creech, committee staff, summarized the bill as removing the SYNC team’s sunset and requiring a biennial report to the legislature starting in 2026. She said SYNC, created in 2017, brings together representatives from the Public Works Board and the departments of Commerce, Ecology and Health to coordinate planning, permitting and funding for projects that combine transportation, utilities and ecosystem restoration.
State Senator Matt Behnke, the prime sponsor, described SYNC as a productive collaboration that improves outcomes for communities, highlighting projects such as the I-5 Nisqually reconstruction and Highway 101 at the Duckabush estuary where design and permitting require cross-agency coordination. Behnke said continuation of SYNC would preserve the group’s ability to “maximize value, ensure long-term durability and resilience, and minimize costs and disturbance to communities.”
Don Gourley, representing the Puget Sound Partnership, told the committee SYNC helps align infrastructure projects with Puget Sound recovery goals and cited the Sound Safe Infrastructure initiative as an example of cross-sector work where transportation and ecosystem needs intersect. Justin Clary, board member of the Public Works Board and manager of the Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District, said SYNC’s dashboard and coordination ease the burden on smaller local governments and that he anticipates no fiscal impact because staff participation is performed within existing agency resources.
Committee members asked no substantive technical questions and the bill’s proponents emphasized accountability by adding the biennial reporting requirement. The public testimony record showed written support from local governments and stakeholders; the hearing closed with no committee vote recorded on Jan. 21.
The bill would allow SYNC to continue beyond its current June 30, 2025 sunset and create a standing reporting cadence to the legislature beginning in 2026.
