GOP opposes tapping pension funds and 75-year Sound Transit bonds, calls for governance fixes

Republican lawmakers used the briefing to oppose two distinct fiscal ideas they say pose long-term risks: tapping public pension funds to balance the budget and allowing Sound Transit to issue 75-year bonds.

On pension funds, reporters asked about a House bill that would tap funds from the state’s "plan 1" pension system. Senator Drew McEwen and other GOP leaders said taking pension assets to balance the budget is legally suspect and politically unfair to retirees. "Using pension funds to balance the budget is a poor use of pension funds," one Republican said, adding that many in the caucus would not support legislation that raids those accounts.

On transportation, Senator McKeown, who serves on the Senate transportation committee, described a bill by Senator Elias (co-sponsored by Senator King) to allow Sound Transit to issue 75-year bonds as "financially irresponsible." "Sound Transit is behind schedule and over budget, and to try to fix that by going to a 75-year bond scheme, I think is financially irresponsible," McKeown said, adding she voted against the measure in committee.

GOP speakers also called for structural reforms at Sound Transit, including a governing body more directly accountable to voters. They argued that shifting costs into the far future leaves taxpayers paying interest for generations and risks funding projects that may be obsolete before bonds are retired.

Lawmakers framed these critiques as part of a broader theme: resisting what they described as short-term fixes that shift costs to future taxpayers and urging alternatives such as better project management, governance changes at quasi‑governmental agencies, and protecting pensioners’ benefits.