2007 POLICY HIGHLIGHTER

November 08, 2007

EFF Policy Highlighter: Prop 1 Transportation Vote

By Bob Williams

Congestion problems remain the number one issue in transportation in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. That is the reason the $17.8 billion roads and transit package failed yesterday. Taxpayers seem to have sent the message that they do not want more complicated, comprehensive, costly transportation projects. State, regional, and local governments must show taxpayers the results of one stage before asking for additional funds.

Quick and effective action by the Governor and Legislature is needed to resolve the problems congestion causes, including incredible costs in terms of time lost, fuel consumption, environmental costs and freight costs which drive up consumer prices.

Action steps to be taken by the governor and the legislature:

1. Accept that congestion is the biggest transportation problem and abandon primary efforts to get people out of their cars. I don't believe Governor Gregoire got the message of recent past elections, particularly when I read her comment, "How do we get people out of their vehicles?" That is not the solution the voters want. They want congestion reduced.

For more than ten years, our elected officials have promised us that they would make transportation more accountable and efficient. That is a broken promise. In 2000, we were promised that before the gas tax was raised, we would see the transportation efficiencies implemented. Another broken promise. The cost efficiencies recommended by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation more than seven years ago still are not implemented. These include improved project management, enhanced team planning and work schedule acceleration.

2. Implement the recommendations of the State Auditor's Office Performance Audit on the Department of Transportation regarding congestion and Sound Transit. The audit found that congestion in Puget Sound is a solvable problem and that many of the solutions could be addressed within the next five years and within DOT's existing resources.

3. Introduce legislation to: a) repeal the 2007 legislation which eliminated congestion relief from being a priority of DOT; b) streamline the governance process for transportation. There are 128 entities involved in the governance of Puget Sound area highways; and c) base DOT funding priorities on safety, maintenance and reducing congestion.

4. Governor Gregoire should convene a meeting of legislative leaders, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Reardon and Kemper Freeman, Jr. to discuss congestion solutions and review what Mayor Reardon did after the LA earthquakes.

5. Change the budget process for Transportation. As long as the Legislature allows a separate unaccountable fiefdom - the Senate and House Transportation Committees - to both set policy and the budget, solutions will not be obtained. The Legislature's transportation budget is written in loose language and comprehensive detail behind the budget is lacking. The recommendations of the 2000 Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation that transportation funding be tied to performance-based, clear goals and benchmarks, should be implemented.

6. The Legislature should: a) eliminate the sales tax on transportation construction projects; b) eliminate the one per cent levy for art requirements on transportation construction projects; and c) suspend the prevailing wage requirements for transportation construction projects.

Plan B requires Governor Gregoire and the Legislature to take action to reduce congestion - NOW.

Bob Williams is the Founder and Senior Fellow of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a public policy organization in Olympia, Washington, dedicated to the advancement of individual liberty. He is known as a national expert in the areas of fiscal and tax policies, election reform and disaster preparedness. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University. Bob worked as a GAO auditor of the Pentagon and Post Office before moving to Washington state where he served five terms in the Washington state legislature and was the 1988 Republican nominee for governor.

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