On Friday, May 11th, Senator Steve O’Ban and Senator Dino Rossi called for a legislative investigation into Sound Transit, alleging that Sound Transit officials deceived lawmakers and voters, and misused public money leading up to their 2016 ballot measure to secure a tax increase.

A few days later, Senator Mike Padden, the Chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said he would schedule hearings to investigate these serious allegations.

The last time Senator Padden’s committee conducted a large investigation of a public agency the Secretary of the Department of Corrections was forced to resign. In other words, the pending investigation of Sound Transit is a big deal.

Sound Transit officials are already notorious for delivering projects late and over budget. Their recent decision to profit from an unfair and outdated vehicle valuation method to collect maximum revenue from taxpayers may have been the last straw. Inflated car tab notices shocked voters who were unaware that Sound Transit overvalues their cars to get more taxpayer money. The practice has raised important questions about the agency’s ability to operate with integrity.

In their letter, Senators O’Ban and Rossi raise three important points.

First, they say Sound Transit’s authorization to collect up to 0.8 percent in additional car tab fees is unconstitutional. They raised the same point in March with Attorney General Bob Ferguson who took no action.

Second, they say Sound Transit officials repeatedly said they wanted $15 billion in taxing authority to extend light rail to Tacoma and Everett. Lawmakers had no reason to think Sound Transit’s tax request would extend beyond 16 years, so they “had no reason to limit the time period of the authorization.”

Even Representative Judy Clibborn, Chair of the House Transportation Committee, said that the authorization “would not have gone anywhere” had lawmakers known of Sound Transit’s intent to expand the proposal to a whopping $54 billion. If lawmakers didn’t know then, they certainly do now – yet House leaders continue to block Senate legislation that would increase accountability for Sound Transit and require fair car tab collections for working families.

Meanwhile, Sound Transit officials insist they were honest with officials and voters about their tax proposal. Their story does not line up with reality. Had Sound Transit spent nearly as much money to communicate honest data as they did on colorful pictures in their Mass Transit Guide for voters, people would have understood what they were voting on. Even lawmakers who are Sound Transit supporters are now reluctantly acknowledging that Sound Transit officials went too far and that the inflated car tabs are unfair.

Third, the Senators allege that Sound Transit used public dollars for campaign purposes. Leading up to last year’s Sound Transit 3 (ST3) campaign, Sound Transit officials used an online survey to identify what political message would make people more likely to vote for more taxes. Then last August, they gave 173,000 private email addresses of ORCA cardholders to their friends at the Mass Transit Now political campaign. To make matters worse, between 2014 and 2016, gearing up for the ST3 campaign, Sound Transit officials increased their communications and external affairs budget by 25 percent.

None of this comes as a surprise. In 2008, Washington Policy Center found that Sound Transit had given $156,000 in public money to the political advocacy group, Transportation Choices Coalition (which ran the Mass Transit Now ST3 campaign), in the form of annual membership dues. Sound Transit gave more money to Transportation Choices Coalition and other interest groups by purchasing “sponsorships” at annual fundraising dinners, including events for Futurewise and Cascade Land Conservancy. Using public money for politics violates the state constitution and shows disrespect for taxpayers.

Still, some public officials are upset that Sound Transit is being investigated. They insist that House Bill 2201 should be accepted as a solution and everyone should move on. However, this bill favors Sound Transit and provides only a “modicum” of relief, as stated by Jerry Cornfield of The Everett Herald. It passed the House Floor on May 25^th with a 64-30 vote, and would give drivers in Sound Transit’s taxing district credit for the amount they are overcharged each year; in other words, the overcharges would remain built in to car tab renewals. This is hardly a fix, and is susceptible to being reversed in the future.

A true fix would end the dishonesty and misuse of public money within Sound Transit, which is what the Senate investigation aims to do. During hearings, lawmakers will have an opportunity to both fix inflated car tabs and also help Sound Transit officials operate above reproach in the future.