Resolution in Support of Local-Option Transit Funding
Whereas a key source of funding for King County METRO Transit will expire in mid-2014, resulting in a 17% loss of service hours, and Snohomish County has already cut all Sunday transit service; and
Whereas new transit funding will take almost a year to put in place; and
Whereas for many people in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, transit provides the only way to get to work or to access other critical services; and
Whereas King County METRO, Snohomish County Community Transit, and Pierce County Transit all give extra emphasis to maintaining routes that serve communities of color and low-income communities; and
Whereas 43% of people who work in Seattle go to work via transit; and
Whereas if even a small part of that 43% were to switch to driving, it would result in a significant increase in congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, with similar effects in the rest of King County and in Pierce and Snohomish Counties; and
Whereas congestion harms the local economy and reduces jobs and our tax base; and
Whereas reduction in transit will likely harm low-income people, both directly and secondarily by reducing county services;
Therefore be it resolved that we call on our state legislators and the governor to support a measure allowing King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties to enact a local tax to replace lost funding and increase coordination between transit authorities, to increase efficiency and prevent transit cuts; and
Be it further resolved that we urge the King, Pierce and Snohomish County Councils to support and implement such local options as the Legislature may permit, without a vote of the people, to avert the dire consequences in service cuts that would result from failing to take immediate action in the current fiscal year; and
Be it finally resolved that we urge our state legislators and the governor to support inclusion of a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax in the 2013 transportation package, as a progressive and sustainable funding source for transit.
Adopted _____ÂÂ________ by_________________________
 Originated by Chris Eggen, chrisEggen@comcast.net
Edited by the King County Democrats Resolutions Committee