Ryu bill on special-needs transportation clears House
Saturday, February 11, 2012
OLYMPIA—The statewide council responsible for coordinating special-needs transportation may live beyond June, if the state Senate follows the lead of Rep. Cindy Ryu and the House of Representatives.
The House voted 56-41 on Friday for Ryu’s proposal to expand, reform and permanently reauthorize the Agency Council on Coordinated Transportation (ACCT), which would otherwise expire on June 30.
Opponents of the bill argued that the Legislature should allow agencies with sunset provisions to die. Ryu countered that the Agency Council on Coordinated Transportation is the only statewide organization that brings together all the major players who play a role in providing transportation to people with special needs.
“Thousands of our neighbors with disabilities depend on public transportation to get to jobs and everywhere else they need to be,” said Ryu (D-Shoreline). “We owe it to them and to our communities to make special-needs transportation as accessible and efficient as possible.”
In addition to permanently reauthorizing ACCT, Ryu’s House Bill 2725 directs the council to place a high priority on projects that deliver measurable performance benefits, promote cost- and ride-sharing, match transportation with human services, and address the needs of underserved populations.
Ryu said she expects her bill to pass during the current legislative session, while there is still time to save the council.
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2 comments:
Great job Cindy!! Thank you for addressing this very important issue. Without transportation, these people cannot get to their needed medical care and other services vital to them keeping their fragile health. If their health fails, it is more of a cost burden to our health care system. Go Cindy!
June 30th is a long way off...why are you taking care of all these social things instead of figuring out the budget????? You can pass all the bills you want, but if you can't fund them you are wasting your time and our tax dollars, because then you are going to want to go back for a "special session", get paid MORE MONEY OF our tax dollars to do what you were sent down to do in the first place!!!!
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