Round one
Earlier this week, Rep. Liz Pike’s bi-state bridge bill sailed out of the House Transportation committee with a unanimous vote.
Pike turned to the lawmaker sitting next to her and gave her a two-thumbs up.
So far, the measure has survived one major deadline – the policy cutoff – and a pleading by Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt to kill it.
But the joint effort by Pike and Democrat Sharon Wylie still has to survive the Senate where its future remains uncertain.
(It also still has to pass the House. A similar measure passed the House in the previous legislative session and failed in the Senate.)
Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, told The Columbian earlier the Senate will “just let the House do what it’s going to do,” with regards to the measure.
And if it does make it to the Senate, travel to the floor and get approved … there’s still Oregon.
Rivers mentioned a letter from Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, last year, in which Kotek reminded Pike of a decade’s worth of squandered efforts and said Oregon had no interest in a bi-state bridge coalition at this time.
Kotek’s spokeswoman confirmed earlier nothing had changed since the letter was sent in May last year.
Lauren Dake
Lauren Dake covers politics for The Columbian. You can reach her at 360-735-4534 or lauren.dake@columbian.com. Follow her on Twitter .