In a recent letter, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Secretary Roger Millar tried to explain the agency’s shocking blanket support of legislation that would replace existing transportation policy goals, and would remove the goal of mobility (congestion relief and freight mobility).

House Bill 2688 and its companion, Senate Bill 6398, would replace the state’s current goals with redefined and expanded goals that include: accessibility, safety, environment and climate, health and resilience, equity and environmental justice, preservation and economic vitality. These bills also establish vague, qualitative metrics, and attempt to prohibit legislative authority in funding transportation projects, instead requiring all transportation projects be vetted and scored by multiple state agencies in accordance with the new goals and metrics.

The Seattle Times Editorial Board called the proposal “insidious,” potentially “undermining jobs and the economy.” The legislation is a top legislative priority for the Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC), a “Seattle lobbying and advocacy group supported by labor and big corporations that profit from transit spending.”

In his letter, Secretary Millar appears to backpedal his agency’s support of the bills in committee. He notes that WSDOT feels the concepts in the bills “merit serious consideration,” though “WSDOT was not asked to participate in the drafting of the bills and had no knowledge of their content until they were introduced.” It’s worth nothing that anyone who testifies on a bill does not have to sign in “pro” or “con” – they can sign in “other,” which public agencies often do.

He also noted that what WSDOT meant to communicate in its support of the legislation was that the agency would like to have more “performance-based information on which to base its decisions.”

Secretary Millar's letter can be viewed here. The agency's original testimony in support of House Bill 2688 is available on TVW. 

Neither bill made it past cutoff - but legislation is not truly dead until session ends.