Senator O’Ban hoping for Democratic support for ST3 legislation

Senator Steve O’Ban has been a vocal opponent of Sound Transit 3, the $54 billion light rail expansion that voters approved last year, and now he’s proposing new legislation that would allow cities and counties to vote themselves out of it.

RELATED: Lawmakers grill Sound Transit over car-tab fees, release of thousands of emails

“It’s become so obvious that (Sound Transit) is an agency which has the DNA of unaccountability and lack of transparency,” O’Ban told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “I think the only thing that can bring real relief is to allow cities or counties by popular vote to pull out of ST3. That’s about the only way we can save the tremendous amount of tax money that will be sucked out of these jurisdictions that don’t want Sound Transit 3.”

But what happens if, say, the residents of Shoreline voted out of ST3 and the residents of Lynnwood did not? The light rail would still need to travel through Shoreline in order to get to Lynnwood. In that case, O’Ban said, the jurisdictions would have to do some negotiating.

“You shouldn’t sort of force one jurisdiction to have to absorb the cost and the inconvenience and other impacts of ST3 if they don’t want them,” he said. “This is really about a jurisdiction being able to decide its own destiny, make its own choices about transportation and about the tax money that it’s going to raise.”

The light rail expansion will add 62 miles to the existing system. Trains will run from Tacoma to Everett and into cities on the Eastside. Funds for ST3 come from a series of taxes implemented earlier this year. One of the taxes that has many voters upset, even some of those who voted for the measure, is the one that increased the cost of car tabs. For some vehicle owners, car-tab fees doubled or even tripled.

Support for ST3 bill

Although O’Ban’s proposal is still in its initial stages, he said he hopes it will gain support from Republicans and maybe even from a handful of Democrats.

RELATED: Senator says voters knew what they were approving with ST3

“I do know that there are actually a few Democrats, I certainly wouldn’t say a majority, who have real concerns about Sound Transit and the way they spend their money and about the car tab taxes,” he said. “So I think there’s actually a few Democrats that are sympathetic and would be to my bill.”

Despite the fact that the Washington State Senate is now under Democratic control, O’ban said he won’t stop trying.

“Sound Transit is creating headlines all the time of waste and abuse. I think the support for my bill and bills like it is only going to increase over time.”