With the legislative session less than a month away and Gov. Jay Inslee set to release his budget proposal on Thursday, various groups are stepping up to remind lawmakers about what needs to get done. Education and transportation will be the main focus, but many other strings will remain to be tied up.
Among those with reminders for legislators is the Snohomish County Cities group, which represents all 20 cities and towns in the county and brings together its mayors and council members to work together on common interests.
Standing together, the group — lead by Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling, president, and Mill Creek City Council member and former mayor Mike Todd, vice-president — wants the county’s legislative delegation and other lawmakers to remember a few things:
Snohomish County is first in the state in the number of manufacturing jobs with 65,000 direct jobs at more than 745 companies. Of those, 47,000 jobs and more than 215 are in aerospace.
The county is second in the state in technology jobs outside of aerospace.
And those jobs in aerospace, technology and manufacturing generate $6.2 billion in wages.
It’s not a surprise then that the cities group is asking that attention be paid to issues of transportation, infrastructure, education and the workforce, specifically related to Snohomish County and its residents.
Echoing the call by Economic Alliance Snohomish County, the cities group says that as a transportation package is negotiated, $1.076 billion in projects should be spent in the county, improving roads and bridges for moving commuters and freight and alleviating the choke points at rail crossings.
Beyond those expenditures, cities also are seeing their share of gas tax revenues decline as the miles of city-maintained streets increase. As is the case elsewhere, cities have had to put off some of their regular street maintenance to meet budget, but neglected roads are reaching a point where further delay of maintenance work will result in even more costly work.
The cities also need lawmakers to restore funding to the Public Works Trust Fund. Like other such funds, the public works fund was emptied to solve short-term budget problems. The trust fund allows quicker and easier access to low-interest short-term loans for public works projects that are more economical for taxpayers than reliance on bonds.
The cities are joining the chorus that the Legislature adequately fund education and expand funding for science, technology, engineering and math programs. It also supports the capital and operation funds that will be necessary as Washington State University ramps up its administration of the University Center in Everett.
The cities group also is seeking restoration of funding they lost since the passage of Initiative 1183, which privatized liquor sales. Washington cities are receiving a smaller percentage of revenue from state excise taxes on liquor and a smaller percentage of the revenue from license fees and permits. I-1183 provided that cities receive increased revenue to help fund public safety, a provision that the Legislature hasn’t honored, Snohomish County Cities says.
The common interests above are what will help Snohomish County Cities make its case to lawmakers. Their mayors and council members were elected to look out for the interests of their residents. Those residents should add their voices to these requests.
Correction: In an earlier version of this editorial, Mike Todd’s current position with Mill Creek was misstated. He is a current city council member and former mayor.
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