In a day when it’s often lacking, Gov. Chris Gregoire is showing considerable political courage. Last week, she put forward two far-reaching proposals that would restructure elements of state government — both in an effort to solve ongoing problems, save money and chart a new course.
First, in an effort to address the state’s balkanized and bureaucratic educational system, she proposed putting the state’s various education boards and agencies under a single department.
Two days later, she suggested turning over the state’s cash-strapped ferry system to a new Puget Sound-based ferry district, giving the nine counties in the proposed district the option to raise revenue to supplement the state’s support of this critical service.
Both were greeted with instant and extensive criticism. And in the case of the ferry proposal, it’s easy to understand why.
This is a system that is bleeding red ink, and it appears that labor costs — due to an intransigent union and padded paychecks — are part of the problem. Before the governor tries to offload the system onto the counties, she should work harder to reign in those costs.
What’s more, as several critics have pointed out, this would put the state on a new and troubling path, foisting what were once statewide services onto financially strapped counties, Balkanizing the state in yet another way. Under this thinking, we could ask Eastern Washington counties to take care of those state highways used largely by ranchers or expect the mountain passes to get plowed by those counties most profoundly affected by the heavy snowfall.
At the same time, we applaud what appears to be Gregoire’s rationale behind this move: As she put it, the ferry system can no longer be patched together with Band-Aids. It’s time for a plan that goes to the heart of the problem — and in the ferry system’s case, it’s pretty basic: It has been underfunded for several years.
Washington State Ferries began to unravel several years ago, when voters approved an initiative ending the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, a significant portion of which provided a revenue stream for the ferry system. That initiative was later ruled unconstitutional (it addressed more than one issue, in violation of state law). So lawmakers themselves — saying they were responding to the will of the people — put an end to the tax, and the system has been bleeding ever since.
We’re not crazy about the governor’s proposal. Like other critics, we see it as an attempt to alter the social contract — reframing a service that has long been considered part of a statewide highway system into one that is regional and locally based.
At the same time, we urge our lawmakers and citizen activists to think, like the governor is doing, about the big picture. It’s time to put forward a plan that has the vision to make a difference and the political oomph to survive in Olympia.
