From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: Arizona Republic Editorial 12-23-03 - In case you missed it. Date: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 8:51 AM In case you missed this Arizona Republic Editorial on 12-23-03, below is a copy of the text. Thank you, David Schwartz Executive Director Green light Inter-Valley diplomacy is keeping $15.8 billion transportation bill on the right track Dec. 23, 2003 12:00 AM, Arizona Republic The clock is ticking. The opening session of the state Legislature is fast approaching - Jan. 12, to be precise - and an important transportation bill for the next 20 years is not ready. Not yet, anyway. But legislators and others meeting today could produce an agreement that will pave the way for the drafting of a $15.8 billion transportation bill. Gov. Janet Napolitano must sign the bill by Feb. 3 if the package of new freeways, streets, buses and light rail is to qualify for a May 18 special election in Maricopa County. In recent weeks, solid progress has been made in the diplomacy between legislators, Valley mayors and the business community. Rep. Gary Pierce, R-Mesa, and Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park, the point men assigned to oversee the plan's development, have pushed for greater legislative involvement to ensure the plan's accountability. "To my satisfaction, I think we've resolved just about everything," Pierce says. "Basically, the plan is everything (the cities and the business community) want. Accountability is what gets us our 20 and 40 votes (to pass the Senate and House). Pierce and Blendu would like a legislative role in appointing business representatives to the Transportation Policy Committee, the group of elected officials and business representatives empowered by the Legislature to craft the plan. The TPC will review performance audits and approve any alterations to the plan that may crop up. If major changes are suggested to the plan, Pierce and Blendu also want other agencies, including Maricopa County, to play a role in plan amendments. Surely there's room for compromise in reaching an agreement among the various parties. Agreement apparently has been reached on these points: • A special election May 18, which wisely allows voters to concentrate on a complex issue like transportation instead of it getting lost in the shuffle of issues in November. • There will be one vote on the full transportation package, not separate votes on freeways, transit and streets, which could doom everything. • The pots of money for different parts of the transportation plan would be kept separate to prevent raids on transit or streets or freeways. • Performance audits, conducted by an independent auditor every five years, would be based on criteria used by the federal government to evaluate transit and highway projects. The MAG Regional Council would retain the final decision of dropping a project from the plan. • Phoenix and Tempe would be reimbursed for the $165 million they are fronting to build transit bridges, a maintenance yard and park-and-ride lots. Just a few weeks ago, key legislators and supporters of the transportation plan seemed miles apart. But thanks to the efforts of Pierce and Blendu, among others, agreement is within reach on a transportation plan that will keep the Valley and Arizona moving. To read about the Valley's planned light-rail system, see "A WORD WITH . . . " on today's Opinions page.