Time to get rid of Transportation
Commission November 3, 2003 | Bob Williams
Now would be a good time to abolish the state Transportation Commission.
A careful review of the commission’s activities and functions shows
it is little more than a rubber stamp for the projects and agencies it is
supposed to direct and evaluate...
DOT confirms gas tax
around for 35 years, not ten Commentary | May 22, 2003 The new "temporary" five-cent per gallon gas tax increase
recently passed by legislators will not be lifted in ten years as promised—a
fact confirmed by Department of Transportation...
Transportation relief:
Will it work this time? Commentary | May 20, 2003 Governor Locke’s ink is drying on the state’s new transportation
spending plan, but the questions remain: Will this one live up to expectations
and promises? Will the state see congestion relief at last...
Facts about the new
state transportation plan Commentary | May 2, 2003 You’ve heard the old adage: "The devil is in the details."
This is too often true of legislation, and the new state transportation
plan is no exception...
Curing Seattle's Portland
envy August 2, 2002 | Wendell Cox, Adjunct Scholar It's time for Seattle to get over its Portland envy. For more than
15 years Seattle officials have trekked south to Portland to admire its
light rail system and attend seminars on its anti-sprawl, "smart growth"
policies...
Transportation reform by
blackmail February 11, 2002 | Jason Mercier Governor Locke recently warned, "If we want to reinforce faith in government
by our citizens, we must deliver." He’s exactly right. In an attempt to
earn back the trust of voters, a transportation efficiencies bill was enacted
that claims to deliver the reforms necessary to alleviate concern that current
transportation tax dollars are being wasted...
P-L-A spells bad news January 27, 2002 (Reprinted in Washington
Post) | Jason Mercier
Is anyone really surprised by the lone, high bid for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project? It can be explained in three little words: project labor agreement (PLA). PLAs require that contractors use union labor and comply with onerous union rules...
An "accountable" DOT? January 11, 2002 | Jason Mercier
It seems advocating for an efficient, accountable Department of Transportation (DOT) is a good way to get labeled a "nay-sayer." In a recent column supporting Governor Locke’s proposed nine cent gas tax increase, Connie Niva of the Washington State Transportation Commission described those who oppose the increase as "nay-sayers and radio jockeys" who are "railing against the idea of more taxes." She tried to make the case that the DOT is already as efficient as it can be...
Public works project or congestion relief package? December 14, 2001 | Lynn Harsh
I’m trying to figure out whether Governor Locke’s recently released transportation proposal is a public works project, a congestion relief package, or neither. It will cost at least $8.5 billion new dollars, whatever it is...
Where is the money, Governor? July 13, 2001 | Bob Williams
To hear Governor Locke tell it, citizens have two options when it comes to transportation: increase taxes . . . or face unending gridlock...
Unlocking gridlock without new taxes April 13, 2001 | Jay Balasbas
Transportation is arguably the biggest and most expensive problem facing our state. Years of neglect in infrastructure improvements and poor mismanagement of available state resources have made the Puget Sound region one of the most congested areas in the country...
There is another way out of gridlock January 29, 2001 | Bob Williams
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...
Good intentions don't build
roads December 20, 2000 | Bob Williams Governor Locke has announced that the days of "creep-and-beep, crawl-and-stall"
traffic are "on their way out." Pleasant words for those of us who spend
hours every day staring at someone else’s bumper...
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]?"
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