There is Another Way Out of Gridlock

By Bob Williams, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

The Legislature is only three weeks into its new session and already lawmakers are talking about a "revenue package" (a nicer way of saying tax increases) to fund transportation projects.

The House and Senate Transportation Committees recently heard presentations by Governor Locke’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Unfortunately, there’s nothing new or innovative about their response to the problem: squeeze more money out of taxpayers. With this in mind, the Blue Ribbon Commission has proposed eleven new tax and fee increases. In testimony before the legislature, commissioners cautioned lawmakers that only after long deliberations was a consensus reached on the proposed new revenue sources. Any attempt to pick and choose parts of the Commission’s report would undermine their work (and any hope for a workable solution), they said.

These guys just don’t get it. It’s only been a year since voters overwhelmingly approved I-695 with a loud and clear "We’re sick of throwing money at a broken system."

There are far more serious problems with the DOT than funding, and no one should be talking about tax increases until they are addressed.

Right now Washington has 468 government entities with their fingers in transportation planning, funding, management, and construction. Is it any wonder there’s mass confusion? Unless a fundamental change is made and accountability and responsibility for various transportation needs are clearly defined, no amount of money will solve the problem.

The DOT doesn’t even have a clear mission statement. Without defining the department’s core purpose, it is impossible to accurately document and prioritize the state’s transportation needs. And where does new road construction fit into the DOT’s priorities? Considering only 70 new lane miles have been added to the state highway system in the last eleven years, while miles traveled increased by 21,619,000, the importance of new construction seems to fall somewhere below operating kiosks, rest areas, and 1-800 numbers.

The Blue Ribbon Commission ignored significant problems in the current budget process. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation has pointed out before that the legislature’s budgeting for transportation is written in loose language, and that comprehensive detail behind legislative appropriations is lacking. The Commission’s report calls for "tying transportation funding to performance" based on clear goals and benchmarks. Sounds great, but those good intentions have been state law since 1996 and have been included in the governor’s budget instructions for the past few years. And still the DOT ignores them!

The Legislature should require the Office of Financial Management to provide quarterly reviews of transportation goals and reduce the allotment for any entity under DOT that fails to meet them.

Commissioners also ignored their responsibility to find savings opportunities before proposing across-the-board cuts in administration. Last January, Doug Bieghle (Commission Chair) and Skip Rowley (Revenue Subcommittee Chair) stated that "the commission’s first task is to explore ideas for increasing efficiency and stretching dollars as far as possible. We’re looking at ways for government to streamline permitting processes, make smarter decisions, reduce maintenance costs, broaden contracting choices, and create an all-around simpler system."

None of those recommendations found their way into the Commission’s final report. Making cuts across-the-board without thorough review penalizes good managers and does nothing to reduce inefficiency.

In a January 10th press release, Governor Locke promised DOT will become as lean and efficient as possible, yet he identified no plan of action to reach this goal. Moreover, Locke has no constitutional or legal authority to carry out his ultimatum. The DOT reports to the Transportation Commission, not the governor. If Locke wants the authority, he needs to ask the legislature for it. So far, legislators have been cautious about publicly calling for the DOT to report to the governor and the Transportation Commission is wary of relinquishing its authority.

No one should be discussing a "revenue package" or looking at new tax proposals until the issues above have been addressed. Otherwise, while we’re stuck in traffic, we’ll continue throwing money at a department that is unresponsive and unwilling to do the work necessary to fix our transportation system.

In his State of the State Address, Governor Locke asked the people of Washington to "hold...us...accountable."

All right then, let’s see some action.

Bob Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based policy research organization

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org