It seems fairly certain that Governor Inslee's challenge to the state Legislature that it act on a transportation revenue package before the Apple Cup will likely go unmet. As Washington State Wire reports: "Transportation deal close, chairs say-- but not much prospect for Thursday special session." Although lawmakers will be in Olympia later this week for Committee Days, compromise bill language has yet to be agreed upon and made public. This is important because members of the Senate Majority Caucus Coalition have reportedly objected to the notion of waving the "Five Day Rule"-- a rule that requires public notice of committee hearings at least five days in advance. If lawmakers are unwilling to waive the rule, then the Governor would have needed to make his announcement for a special session over the weekend.
With that said, reports out of Olympia are that negotiations between transportation leaders continue and remain positive. Some insiders indicate that the two sides are "very close" raising the possibility of a special session after the Apple Cup. Challenges do exists in terms of the calendar-- working around the holidays and members' personal work schedules (remember, the Legislature is, in theory, a part-time job; many lawmakers have spent a long time away from home already this year with the multiple special sessions this spring). However, there does appear to be a real chance.
In this vein, the Senate Transportation Committee has scheduled a hearing this Thursday on its transportation package proposal (full copies of which may be found here). [Advocacy groups like Keep Washington Rolling and the SR-167 Completion Coalition are calling on their members to either testify at the hearing or e-mail their senators this week asking for their support of a revenue package]. The hearing is viewed by many as a positive step forward. The News Tribune describes the package as "a welcome highway plan from the Majority Coalition."
The Seattle Times agrees:
In an era of fractured partisanship, transportation infrastructure could be a great uniter. The Republican-dominated state Senate Majority Coalition reminded Olympia of that this week in proposing a $12.3 billion package that is strikingly similar to a package passed by House Democrats earlier this year, but with thoughtful improvements. Lawmakers from both parties should compromise and come up with a bipartisan deal to be approved in a special legislative session in the coming weeks.
Passage of a transportation package is urgently needed. Competing economies are making signficant investments in their infrastructure, congestion is growing in key corridors and the price of construction remains at an all-time low. We want lawmakers to have that same sense of urgency. This doesn't mean we expect legislators to ignore the important remaining policy and funding issues that must be worked through. We just want to make sure they work through these quickly.
The signs from Olympia are positive. Let's hope they materialize into something sooner than later.