OLYMPIA — Don’t plan on getting ferried on the Xbox from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island or riding the PEMCO Express from Edmonds to Kingston anytime soon.
While the state Senate wants to allow the cash-strapped ferry system to sell naming rights for its vessels, House members are opposing the idea.
On Tuesday, a Poulsbo representative proposed rewriting a Senate-backed bill so ferries retain their American Indian names.
“Ferries should have tribal names and ply the waters of Puget Sound without any of that modern-day advertising on their side,” Democratic Rep. Sherry Appleton said.
“I can’t envision one traveling through the Puget Sound with ‘Go See the Terminator’ on its side or ‘Use such-and-such deodorant and it will keep you dry,’ ” she said.
Naming rights is one of several revenue-generating options for the financially troubled Washington State Ferries suggested in a study by the state Transportation Commission.
Ferry officials predict the system will face a $3.3 billion deficit by 2030 if service is maintained at current levels, fares are increased annually by 2.5 percent and nine boats are built to fill gaps on routes and replace aging vessels. That shortfall can be trimmed to $1.3 billion if service is cut and fewer boats are built, according to department studies.
Allowing someone to pay to put their name on a boat is not considered a big moneymaker but is viewed as an extension of efforts to raise money through the sale of advertising on boats.
Existing state laws let the transportation commission name or rename state transportation facilities. For example, in 2007 the commission renamed the Clinton ferry terminal in memory of deceased Whidbey Island lawmaker Jack Metcalf.
The legislation under consideration, Senate Bill 5440, makes clear the transportation commission can name and rename ferries, and American Indian tribes must be involved in those decisions. This would become relevant when a new Island Home class ferry is launched on the Keystone-Port Townsend route in early 2010.
Senators also added wording to allow naming rights to be sold; Appleton is proposing to erase that with an amendment.
The bill and her revision were discussed briefly in a hearing Tuesday of the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee.
“We can live with this,” Paul Marshall Parker, senior policy analyst with the transportation commission, told the panel.
Appleton, other lawmakers and members of the public did joke about seeing a ferry emblazoned like a stock car.
She quickly got serious about making the change.
“Ferries belong to us, each and every taxpayer and it should continue to belong to us,” said Appleton, D-Poulsbo.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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