EFF's Election Report ·
Gonzales Letter ·
Welfare Reform ·
Boeing Contract ·
Budget & Taxes ·
Business Climate ·
K-12 Fact Sheet ·
EFF Health Study ·
Paycheck Protection ·
Transportation ·
Unemployment Ins. ·
Receive Updates ·
Bookmark EFF ·
Contribute ·
EFF in the News ·
How Can I Help? ·
Join EFF ·
Media Center ·
|
OPINION-EDITORIAL November 3, 2003 Time to get rid of Transportation Commission Bob Williams | Evergreen
Freedom Foundation
The Transportation Commission was established in 1977 to act as an oversight committee (essentially a board of directors) for all state transportation policy. This includes overseeing the Department of Transportation (DOT). All told, commissioners are responsible for more than $4.7 billion in transportation spending this budget cycle.
Unfortunately, the Commission has a habit of simply approving whatever DOT proposes. The most recent example is the unanimous approval of the Department’s supplemental budget request, granted in September without any independent review to determine if additional funding for some programs is justified.
And it was just last year that the Legislature authorized the Transportation Commission to “establish performance measures to ensure system performance at local, regional, and state government levels . . .” Instead of advancing to meet this important challenge, Commissioners turned it over to DOT, then rubber-stamped the results.
Hardly what you'd call a good watchdog.
Now consider the Commission’s mission statement: “The Washington State Transportation Commission reflects the public interest in long-term planning, financing and delivery of state-wide transportation systems and services.” Incredibly, commissioners measure their success in achieving this mission based on the “number of meetings sponsored or attended by individual Commissioners where the public or transportation stakeholders are in attendance.” Counting meetings? Is that the measure of a Commission determined to accomplish results?
Legislators should eliminate the Transportation Commission and restructure DOT as a cabinet level agency, giving the governor direct oversight to establish more meaningful accountability for transportation funds and programs.
Bob Williams is president of the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit public policy research organization dedicated to individual liberty, free enterprise and accountable government. Contact: Marsha Richards | Communications Director | 360.956.3482
|
1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
