Lewis County Commissioners Edna Fund, Gary Stamper and Bobby Jackson meet with Prosecuting Atorney Jonathan Meyer on Tuesday.
A week after a King County Superior Court judge ruled that I-976 didn’t violate state law, the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners and the Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer weighed in on the ruling and next steps for the initiative — and what it means for Lewis County road projects.
With the battle over I-976 ongoing, Lewis County Public Works Director Josh Metcalf says that funding from the state’s existing transportation budget is “on hold,” which has caused delays in at least one county project.
Lewis County Commissioner Gary Stamper added that, from what he understands, there’s “well over 100 other projects all over the state that are being held up,” because of Governor Jay Inslee’s temporary postponement.
“There’s about $470 million basically on hold right now that hasn’t been put into agreements for projects at this point in time.” Metcalf said.
Meyer said he thought the court could rule the initiative constitutional, and acknowledges a resolution could still take some time to reach.
“I think a lot is going to depend on how Olympia decides to frame their narrative,” Meyer said in Tuesday’s meeting with the Board of County Commissioners. “Which, I’m guessing, will be doom and gloom. We’re just kind of waiting to see. As we indicated before, we thought (I-976) had a decent chance of being found constitutional, but regardless, it’s going to end up in the state supreme court.”
A lawsuit filed by nine plaintiffs, including King County, the City of Seattle and the Washington State Transit Association, in King County Superior Court on Nov. 13, 2019 alleged that the initiative did, in fact, violate rules regarding initiatives, and argued that the initiative was unconstitutional, according to King County’s website.
Although the judge’s ruling didn’t favor the plaintiffs, Lewis County Commissioner Gary Stamper said he doesn’t foresee I-976 being viewed as constitutional for long.
“I anticipate the (state supreme) court will probably overturn (the ruling),” Stamper said. “That’s just my opinion, obviously, I don’t know that, it’s just (based on) history and the precedent that’s been set over the past and basically some of the decisions that have been made over the years.”
Due to the hold up with funding, Stamper said he expects a final ruling regarding the initiative to come down from the Washington State Supreme Court “rather quickly.”
“Is that in the fall, I’m not sure,” Stamper said. “I would think it’s going to be sooner rather than later, that’s for sure, because the decision is affecting many people, you know, some people feel it’s positive or negative, wherever you stand on the fence.”
Meanwhile, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, issued a statement this week saying $30 car tabs are “viable” given revenue forecasts.
“Senate Republicans are listening to the people across our state, and the people clearly want $30 car tabs. We have legislation to make that happen, and today’s revenue forecast makes our legislation even more viable. It’s no surprise that House Republicans are on the same page, as they also respect the message sent by the passage of Initiative 976,” Braun’s statement reads.
Braun’s statement notes that estimated revenue for the 2019-21 budget cycle is $606 million ahead of the last forecast, from November 2019.
“Government can always find something to do with more money; the question is whether the majority side will do something that is good for all of Washington. Lowering the cost of car tabs certainly qualifies. This forecast should make it harder for the majority to ignore the wish of the people; it also crushes the governor’s false claim that K-12 funding would be affected by our common-sense proposal to fund transportation needs with tax revenue from vehicle sales,” Braun’s statement reads.
Stamper called the discussion surrounding I-976 and the limiting of transportation fees in Washington “polarizing,” citing the divide between the rural and metropolitan counties as a reason why.
“The gap has kind of widened between rural and more suburban, populous counties,” Stamper said. “I do think the rural counties are definitely more scattered throughout the state and obviously there’s more counties, but the center of our population, most of our population is located in the four or five big counties. It seems like they have a lot of legislative powers and they determine laws that affect rural counties.”
Stamper still believes in the process, though.
“I’ve got faith in the system,” Stamper said. “You still go out there and vote and if you believe in a cause, you go out, support it and make sure you get the message out.”
