Support The Wire

Transportation Coalition Urges Special Session — Bridge, Reforms Remain Sticking Point

Signature element of this year's transportation proposal was a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase.

Signature element of this year’s transportation proposal was a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase.

OLYMPIA, Sept. 5.—As the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus rolls up its sleeves and contemplates a new push for a transportation package, the coalition of business and labor interests that sought a fuel-tax increase last session is urging lawmakers to step on the gas.

But while the Keep Washington Rolling coalition launches a call-your-legislator campaign, the possibility of a quick agreement and a November special session seems to be skidding on issues that sent the effort into the ditch this year. Transportation-reform proposals are the subject of a study that won’t be finished until December. And the Columbia River Crossing at Vancouver, initially pronounced dead by Washington’s governor and lawmakers alike at the end of the last legislative session, seems to be sputtering back to life south of the border, renewing one of last session’s biggest controversies.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is floating the possibility of an Oregon-only plan that would build the $3.4 billion bridge as currently designed – complete with the light-rail trackage that has raised the hackles of Republican lawmakers from Clark County. “I just don’t see a scenario where the CRC as currently designed is included,” says state Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, who with Republican Don Benton of Vancouver led opposition to the bridge project in the Senate. And now that Oregon is raising the possibility that the plan might be revived, Rivers says you can expect a redesign to become a central issue in any transportation debate. It is the sort of issue that might take months to settle – and that when lawmakers are at their desks. A quick special session? Not likely, Rivers says. Next year is more like it.

Coalition Presses Case

Steve Mullin, president and CEO of the Washington Roundtable.

Steve Mullin, president and CEO of the Washington Roundtable.

Talk of a November special session has been in the air for the past month, ever since the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus announced what it calls a “listening tour” on transportation issues – not just on taxes and spending but on reforms to the management of Washington-state transportation projects. The hearings are an outgrowth of a failed effort this year to pass a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase in this year’s Legislature. Exactly why it failed seems to be a matter of partisan finger-pointing, but it appears the measure enjoyed only mild support in the Democrat-controlled state House – leaders didn’t bring the matter to the floor until the final week of this year’s far-from busy session, and were unable to find the votes until two days before adjournment. In the Senate, controlled by the largely Republican majority coalition, leaders said a deal would require such extensive negotiation on transportation-policy reforms and the bridge that they were unwilling to remain at the Capitol through the middle of summer. Instead, the Senate floated the idea of statewide hearings on the issue – a plan that was finalized in August.

The special-session buzz was launched in an instant. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee threw fuel onto the fire Tuesday with a curious press conference in which he praised the Senate’s interest in reaching an agreement and said he would be willing to call a special session if a deal could be reached – but then proceeded to lambaste Senate leaders for what he called their “sins” and their “abject failure” to deal with the issue this year.

No such angry talk is coming from the coalition of business, labor and transit interests that have been pressing the case for a transportation package. But they say a special session is splendid idea. “We would like to see a special session as soon as possible,” said Steve Mullin, president and CEO of the Washington Roundtable, the association that represents the state’s largest employers. “Obviously the needs are substantial. The sooner we can do it, the sooner we can get moving on improving the transportation system.”

There’s no finger-pointing here. “I think the coalition is really focusing on encouraging the Legislature to put in the work and come up with a package that can pass both houses and get signed by the governor,” Mullin said.

Puts Out Call

Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council.

Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council.

The transportation coalition issued a call-to-action Wednesday urging lawmakers to convene a special session posthaste. It cites the project list from last session, including improvements to Highway 12 in Walla Walla County, safety projects in Snohomish County, the Highway 520 bridge over Lake Washington, and transit funding for cash-strapped local governments — not to mention the collapse of the I-5 Skagit River bridge last May in a catastrophic tractor-trailer accident.

“Fixing our transportation system is critical to the safety of our citizens and the health of our economy,” said Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council. “After the I-5 bridge went down, Washington state was an international poster child for what happens when transportation investment doesn’t keep up. We were lucky no one died, and we can’t afford another disruptive investment like it. Moreover, when you invest in transportation, we are creating the sort of family-wage jobs so important to our state.”

Mullin said the coalition isn’t wedded to the $10 billion proposal that emerged from the House – the big thing is to get the package passed. Members want a plan that would emphasize preservation and maintenance on major roadways, prevent cuts to transit systems, and complete major projects like I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass and the 520 bridge. Other goals include projects aimed at improving safety, easing chokepoints, funding for local road projects, biking and pedestrian improvements, stormwater drainage systems and other transportation improvements.

Another key player in Keep Washington Rolling is the Transportation Choices Coalition, an advocacy group reflecting the interests of transit, cyclists and pedestrians. “The issues that our transportation system faces with crumbling infrastructure and transit service being cut haven’t gone away,” said policy director Carrie Dolwick. “We feel the earlier, the better – we wish it was done yesterday. But there is momentum building for November; we’re all for it, and we’re hoping it can get done.”

Jumping the Gun?

State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee.

State Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee.

The special-session talk drives some members to distraction. There’s a good reason to wait until next year, says state Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee. The House and Senate transportation panels are jointly overseeing a study of the factors that drive up road-project costs in Washington, and the results won’t be ready until the end of this year. While costly transportation goofs have made headlines, anecdotal evidence suggests there also are systemic problems that drive Washington costs more than twice as high as other states. The study aims to offer numbers in the place of supposition. “The difference between addressing our transportation issues in November during a special session that costs taxpayers more money, or January, when the Legislature is scheduled to be in session, is negligible,” he says. “Knowing why transportation projects cost more in Washington and how much we could reduce those costs would ensure that our taxpayers get the most bang for their buck.”

Orcutt and other Republicans argue the reform effort isn’t just a matter of rhetoric: If the Legislature passes a tax increase without a public vote, a repeal effort can be expected, as occurred in 2002 and 2005. The study will fuel reform legislation that ought to be considered as any part of a transportation deal, Orcutt says, and might make taxpayers more comfortable they are getting their money’s worth. “That will give taxpayers confidence they are putting their hard-earned money into a system that is efficient, responsible and accountable. Anything else is a frivolous expenditure on the backs of hardworking taxpayers.”

Bridge Issue Back in Play

State Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center.

State Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center.

And then there’s the bridge. If the bridge was truly dead, that might be one thing. But as Oregon’s Kitzhaber promotes the go-it-alone proposal in his state, it adds a new wrinkle to the transportation issue here. A transportation package might provide a vehicle for Washington to force a design that does not include light rail, Rivers says – extension of the Portland-area system faces strong opposition in Clark County because it would obligate taxpayers on this side of the river to pick up part of the tab.

Rivers and others in the Vancouver area are contemplating calling for a design alternative that might leave the Columbia River Crossing “light-rail ready,” without trackage. Another plan might use a hump-backed design like the nearby I-205 bridge, with a liftspan that would not restrict rivergoing traffic. Though that design would preclude light rail, reconstruction of an aging railroad bridge a few blocks west, in partnership with the BNSF Railway, might provide light-rail access to Clark County when Vancouver population density warrants rail transit. A full debate on that issue might require a legislative session to resolve, but contrary to pronouncements from the governor’s office, Rivers says the bridge project remains in line for federal funding next year once a design is set.

The governor’s comments this week left lawmakers bristling, Rivers says. “We are at the point now where the governor can come in and drop some nasty words that don’t make anyone feel good about proceeding, or we can sit down across the table from one another where we are immediately responsible for the words we say.”

She says members were dismayed by one of the charges leveled by Inslee – that the majority coalition failed to make a transportation counteroffer. Although no transportation bill made it to the Senate floor, Rivers said members of the majority coalition urged Inslee privately and repeatedly to drop the bridge from the financing package in the interest of getting a bill passed. Inslee remained firm. Said Rivers, “I’m not saying he’s being disingenuous, but I’m saying maybe he needs to be taking ginkgo biloba to improve his memory.”


Your support matters.

Public service journalism is important today as ever. If you get something from our coverage, please consider making a donation to support our work. Thanks for reading our stuff.