* HB 2079, which would do an end-run around the forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision and allow government employee unions to use mandatory fees for political activities without seeking permission, passed out of the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce, and Research & Development yesterday.
* A bipartisan group of legislators, led by Sen. Cheryl Pflug (R-Maple Valley), is holding a news conference this afternoon to discuss her plan to
to solve Puget Sound's largest transportation problems once and for all. The "Vision 21" Plan can fully fund the six-lane Seattle tunnel, 520 Bridge, 509 connection to I-5 and more ─ within budget and without tolls.Details in SB 6169. As far as I can tell, it would reshape the propose RTID/Sound Transit joint ballot proposal to kill light-rail across Lake Washington and redeploy the funds to the other projects. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at March 30, 2007 10:28 AM | Email This
First, the bill to circumvent the US Supreme Court. Ugh!! So, that means we have to go back to the Court will the illegalities of this new bill?
Second, what in the world is a R doing reinstituting a tunnel when the people of Seattle said no?
Posted by: swatter on March 30, 2007 10:27 AMCan you say Big Dig? I knew you could
Posted by: Jack Burton on March 30, 2007 03:10 PMCan someone explain to me what the emergency here is? Or is that just put on every bill out of habit, to make it not subject to referendum?
Posted by: Michael on March 30, 2007 03:15 PMI hope Rep. Pflug has some support. ST light rail needs to be quashed. Otherwise, this state will dig a hole deeper into Social engineering and a socialist, nanny state mentality.
HB #2079 is downright devious ! One big reason to vote out the Democrats in '08. Why don't the Repubs filibuster it to buy time until the US Supreme Court adopts it as law. If that doesn't work, then the WSRP needs to jump all over this issue for that to even be a possibility in the Blue State. Eventually, this HB needs to get repealed, but that won't be possible until the Dems are out of control. Get that ?
Posted by: KS on March 31, 2007 10:13 AMDetails from Senator Pflug at
http://src.wa.gov/media2007/2007Releases/Pflug/PflugVision21033007.htm
Plug's words:
"The Vision 21 Plan calls for fully funding and completing a six-lane tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, rebuilding SR-520 and bridge, connecting SR-167 to the Port of Tacoma, connecting SR-509 to I-5 and expanding the Cross-Base Highway. Funding comes from just one source: delaying Sound Transit's Light Rail to the Eastside."
What this bill does, by legislative fiat, is override the will of local elected officials and commands a decision from Olympia. It redirects dedicated transit tax revenues to fund highways. There was a time when the GOP respected local government and local voters' decisionmaking. Are those times gone?
Polling data show the East Link light rail line to be very popular with east side voters, so I suspect another agenda at work -- give voters one big reason to vote NO on the Roads+Transit package this fall.
Posted by: Roger Pence on March 31, 2007 07:05 PM