The Everett Herald, the News Tribune, and now the Seattle Times all agree: while completing an operating budget may be the most important task for the Legislature, they should not adjourn without also acting on a transportation package.

As the Seattle Times editorialized yesterday:

The state Legislature appears to be nearing the end of a double-overtime session. In the frenzy to pass a budget before the drop-dead deadline of June 30, lawmakers should remember the startling image of Interstate 5 sinking to the bottom of the Skagit River.

To ensure that the May 23 bridge collapse was a rare, freak accident, lawmakers should move swiftly and pass a transportation funding package...

A transportation funding package is a pro-business reform, as much as the much-debated changes to the state’s workers’ compensation system.

Man y legislators have spoken about the need for infrastructure investments. The question now is whether our state lawmakers will heed the call by newspapers across the state and act.

The full editorial may be found here.