Cascadia today: Puget Sound transit agency confronts costs + 1 in 6 in OR on SNAP benefits

Seattle-area Sound Transit confronts rising costs

The Urbanist reports that rising cost estimates for expansion of the three-county Sound Transit light rail system in the Puget Sound area are forcing the agency to consider major changes to future plans. Two "infill" stations on the main line in south Seattle have ballooned in cost, and Sound Transit's board is grappling whether it makes sense to stop or delay them as the agency expands the line to Ballard and West Seattle. One that seems likely to get the ax is the Boeing Access Road, which is only expected to draw only 2,100 riders and could cost as much as $475 million to build.

As SNAP benefits in OR at risk, state looks at options

OPB reports that one in six people in Oregon use federal SNAP food assistance. With the program facing cuts and continued threats by the Trump administration, Oregon is considering its options to continue helping residents put food on the table.

It seems to me that some of the new work requirements and documentation requirements run the risk of producing a kind of churn that is going to have people who are totally eligible get dropped from the program because of not having just the right document at the right time. – Mark Edwards, director of the Policy Analysis Lab, Oregon State University.

In related news, Oregon Capital Chronicle reports that members of the Oregon legislature have options to deal with crippling federal cuts to services in the state, including tapping into two reserve funds: the $1.9 billion rainy day fund and the $1 billion Education Stability Fund. One thing Portland resident should definitely should not do: sign a proposed ballot initiative that would re-direct 25% funds from the city's Clean Energy revenue tax (a 1% sales tax on large retailers) to hire more cops.

Indigenous leaders walk out of BC legislature after comments on residential schools

The Tyee reports that leaders from BC's Metis Nation ended a visit to the British Columbia legislature after right wing One BC Leader Dallas Brodie made comments calling incidents in the tragic history of residential schools in the province "the worst lie in Canadian history."

“We have people, we have relatives that went to residential schools that witnessed these things, and so it’s denying all of those statements from all of those people and all that intergenerational trauma that’s still being carried.” --Patrick Harriott, vice president, Metis Nation

Thanks for reading! --Andrew