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Feb. 16, 2008 Senate approves truckload
of transportation measures
 OLYMPIA — The Senate spent Saturday morning
passing a long list of transportation-related bills
including more vigorous oversight of Washington State
Ferries, maintaining publically-owned railroads, and
providing special license plates for parents of service
members killed in combat. Also passed were several technical
fixes to existing laws on issues as diverse as aerial
search-and-rescue liability, waterway pilotage,
environmental mitigation in highway construction and
allowing rural transit stops.
“They say ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease,’ but many
of the measures we consider are ways to prevent wheels from
ever getting squeaky in the first place,” said Sen. Mary
Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who chairs the Senate
Transportation Committee.
“We have transportation issues that need our immediate
attention,” said Haugen. “But we also have a responsibility
to take care of other things that might seem more mundane to
people who aren’t directly affected by them.”
Among the high-profile issues addressed today was the
unanimous vote to pass
Senate Bill 6932, sponsored by Haugen, which
requires Washington State Ferries (WSF) to adopt the
recommendations from the 2007 Joint Transportation Committee
ferry study.
“We shouldn’t have to use legislation to tell Washington
State Ferries how to plan for the future,” said Haugen. “But
there clearly needs to be some accountability, and I think
it’s time for us to give Washington State Ferries clear
guidance on what we expect of them.”
The Senate also passed
Senate Bill 6324 to provide liability immunity for
volunteers who assist the
Washington State Department of
Transportation in aerial search and rescue activities,
and
Senate Bill 6678 authorizing the Gold Star Parents
vehicle license plates for parents of service members killed
in combat.
Other transportation related bills that passed the Senate
today included the following:
Return to Sen. Haugen's home page
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