OLYMPIA — Nothing has galvanized lawmakers quite like the governor’s scheme for saving state ferries.
Democrats and Republicans don’t like her idea of shifting control of one of the world’s largest waterborne transporta
tion systems into the hands of residents of Snohomish and eight other counties.
Several pronounced it dead-on-arrival and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said she wouldn’t give it a hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee that she leads.
Yet until Gov. Chris Gregoire startled lawmakers with her call for a regional ferry district, many seemed unwilling to accept ferry operations are sinking in red ink and dragging a chunk of the state transportation budget down with it.
“It forces the conversation on finding a real funding source and we think that’s a good thing,” said Gordon Baxter, lobbyist for ferry worker unions.
“Our feeling is we can’t support it because there is not enough detail. But we also aren’t opposing it.”
On Thursday, as members of the House Transportation Committee poked at the idea and quizzed Gregoire’s advisers on what the executive wants to do, the political seas had calmed a bit.
Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, who denounced the idea initially, said it sounded a lot more attractive after the presentation by the governor’s advisers.
“I’m open to the idea if the core services paid for by the state don’t put the counties in a must-tax position,” he said.
Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, the ranking Republican on the panel, said though he doesn’t like the idea he is glad there is an idea to discuss.
“You’ve brought something forward to get us going,” he said.
What the Legislature faces again this year is coming up with a way to keep the ferries financially afloat.
Right now, fares cover about 70 percent of the ferries’ operating costs as only two runs actually pay for themselves — Edmonds-Kingston and Seattle-Bainbridge Island.
Making up the difference has been debated and studied a lot since it started becoming a problem 11 years ago with the loss of the motor vehicle excise tax.
There have been fare increases, service reduction and millions of dollars in spending cut. There have also been higher bills for fuel and vessel construction and, until recently, some costly provisions of labor contracts.
There’s not been enough dollars to make ends meet. Money for roads keeps getting used to balance the books. It’s totaled $852 million in 11 years; it’s $81 million in this current two-year budget or about $2 million from each county in the state.
The governor’s proposed ferry budget for 2011-13 calls for a 10 percent fare hike and fewer daily sailings. Even with those changes, $44 million must be transferred from roads to ferries.
Gregoire sought advice from a nationally recognized maritime group, the Passenger Vessel Association, on how the Washington State Ferries could be run differently to make ends meet.
The group didn’t come up with a recommendation but Gregoire drew upon ideas from its report. She also tapped analyses done in 2008 and 2009 for the Legislature, which suggested a regional ferry district might be a better governing option for the long term. Those studies were ordered by lawmakers who were rattled by the forced retirement of 80-year-old Steel Electric-class vessels over safety concerns. They were told the clock was ticking on other aging vessels, and the state had no workable plan to pay for replacement ferries and terminals.
Gregoire’s proposal envisions control going to a Puget Sound Ferry District made up of all of Island, San Juan, Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam counties and slivers of Snohomish, King, Pierce and Skagit counties.
Creating the district would take months and lawmakers must give their approval at different junctures, under the concept outlined at Thursday’s hearing by Teresa Berntsen, Gregoire’s transportation policy adviser.
An interim board of directors would be named with members from each of the counties plus seven appointees from the governor. This board, working alongside lawmakers and the governor, would do the heavy lifting of getting the district in motion.
The crucial and controversial step would be determining the “core services” to be paid for by the state. These could range from minimum staffing levels to number of sailings to terminal maintenance. The idea is the state would write a check to the district each year to cover those costs.
Gregoire wants the district to be able to levy taxes if state aid and fares don’t pay the bills. But this interim board and lawmakers could limit or nix taxing authority at the outset.
Only if the Legislature approves all the set-up would the district be formed, under the concept put forth by Berntsen. A 15-member board would run it with eight of those being elected and seven appointed by the governor.
It is similar in structure to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in California. That district is comprised of six counties, including San Francisco, and has a 19-member Board of Directors.
Set up by California’s Legislature, the board oversees operations of the Golden Gate Bridge plus bus and ferry service linking San Francisco with Marin County and points north.
It has no power to levy taxes but hasn’t needed them. Ferries are funded primarily with surplus bridge tolls and fares. There are also local, state and federal subsidies and profits from advertising and concession sales.
Its ferry operation is tiny compared to Washington’s, prompting Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, to note in the hearing that it is an “apples and oranges” comparison.
She and several other lawmakers in both parties contend the ferry system could fix its books by simply shaving costs of administration and labor.
Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, who is not on the committee but sat in the audience for the presentation, said the ferry district is the wrong path for savings.
“I agree with the governor that we need reform, but there are other alternatives that can reduce costs, increase efficiencies and keep the ferry system an integral part of the state highway system,” she said.
Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, who described the governor’s plan as “fundamentally flawed,” has introduced a bill to allow a private contractor to manage the ferry system.
“This is a structural change, an out-of-the-box change that is not abdicating our responsibility to county governments,” he said.
Gregoire hadn’t read the bill but is open to alternatives.
“I don’t have some pride of ownership in this. But I didn’t just dream it up overnight,” she said “My question will be, show me how much money will be saved.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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