Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
After a months-long study and recommendations by Washington State Parks for improvements to the John Wayne Trail in Whitman County, Ninth district Representative Joe Schmick of Colfax is skeptical of its prospects in the legislative session which begins Jan. 9.
The 105-day session includes a goal of passing a new budget to pay for a myriad of items – among them the McCleary mandate to fully fund K-12 education and the Parks' proposal.
In July, State Parks released its budget request for the 2017-19 biennium, featuring $6,176,000 in permitting work for trailheads at Tekoa and Rosalia, trail development from Lind to Malden and Malden to Rosalia, tunnel and trestle repairs and more.
“The Parks already has a $486 million backlog of maintenance and yet you want to add more to it?” Schmick said. “If you take on new projects, something else gets bumped.”
The representative said he has not seen the Parks' budget request and its list of top items.
“The trail improvements are above and beyond the backlog – this particular set of improvements,” said Daniel Farber, State Parks policy and governmental affairs director. “But almost everything we do isn't totally new.”
Gov. Inslee is expected to release his budget in mid-December, at which point House and Senate members may look it over.
“It's a starting point,” said Schmick.
What does he expect may take precedence in the budget discussions?
“That little thing called McCleary,” Schmick said. “Balancing a thousand decisions ... that will be the number-one issue.”
McCleary v. State of Washington is the 2012 ruling by the state Supreme Court which ordered the state legislature to make progress each year to fully fund K-12 education by 2018.
A State Parks' formal public planning process on the John Wayne Iron Horse Trail began last December after a failed budget proviso in September 2015 in the legislature almost closed a section from Beverly to Malden.
The proviso was supported by Ninth District legislators Schmick, Rep. Mary Dye and Sen. Mark Schoessler.
The Iron Horse State Park Trail stretches 285 miles from North Bend to the Idaho border, comprising most of the former Milwaukee Road Railroad corridor. The trail's eastern section begins on the east side of the Columbia River and extends 175 miles to the Idaho border.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)