Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg once again stated his opposition to the governance structure of the regional transportation plan created by the state legislature.
“The idea of a regional transportation plan is a good one and I think the county councils should support it,” he said. “My problem is with the structure of the governing body. The legislature created an administration where King County will have more votes than Pierce and Snohomish combined. That’s a fatal flaw and it needs to be addressed or the plan is going nowhere.”
The Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill (E2SSB 6140) in March giving Pierce, Snohomish and King counties the ability to raise transportation funding for regional projects.
Voter approval is required. The staffs from all three counties have been working since the legislature gave the go-ahead to identify projects and examine funding alternatives.
Sub regional equity is another concern of Ladenburg’s.
Without an agreement that revenues collected in Pierce County will be used for transportation projects in Pierce County, he feels the legislative bill is unacceptable.
“Now is the time to address these issues,” concluded Ladenburg.
“We either find a legal fix all three counties can be happy with or we go back to the legislature and ask that the bill be rewritten.”