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SWISS Regional Partnership (multi-county consortium)

WHA-CON-SPC-2025-09-11 September 11, 2025 Committee of the Whole Whatcom County
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The SWISS Regional Partnership held its quarterly meeting to coordinate on shared priorities across Island, San Juan, Skagit, Whatcom, and Snohomish counties. The meeting focused heavily on transportation infrastructure funding, with significant updates from the County Road Administration Board (CRAB) on their new $21 million biennial Local Access Road Program, which won't be funded until 2027. The group also discussed strategic plan adjustments, including suspending their broadband subcommittee in favor of participating in the statewide WSAC broadband group, and identifying a youth behavioral health needs assessment project for their behavioral health subcommittee. Counties shared budget challenges, with multiple jurisdictions facing multi-million dollar shortfalls. Transportation emerged as a major theme, with discussion of ferry funding challenges, the state's property tax cap impacts on road funding, and ongoing needs for fish passage barrier removal funding. The group is planning an enhanced November meeting in Spokane focused on county project sharing and a December legislative luncheon with potential facility tours.

No formal votes were taken during this informational meeting. Key organizational decisions included: - **Strategic Plan Update**: Confirmed suspension of SWISS broadband subcommittee to focus energy on participating in WSAC's statewide broadband subcommittee - **Behavioral Health Project**: Approved SWISS behavioral health subcommittee participation in North Sound BH ASO youth behavioral healthcare needs assessment, with completion …

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**Transportation Funding Crisis**: Multiple speakers highlighted the structural deficit in county road funding, with CRAB's Jane Wall noting that the new Local Access Road Program received only half of the requested $40 million biennial funding. The program won't receive money until July 2027, raising concerns about legislative commitment during future budget pressures. **Ferry System Challenges**: Extended discussion on advocacy approaches for state ferry funding, with Axel Swanson explaining WSAC's difficulty in advocating for ferry-specific funding since it only benefits certain counties, versus their focus on issues benefiting all 39 counties. Commissioner St. Clair noted successful federal coordination efforts and the 50-mile rule limiting federal ferry funding access i…
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**Travis Dutton (WSAC Staff)**: Provided strategic plan updates, noting the behavioral health subcommittee has found a specific project focus with the youth needs assessment, while transportation subcommittee work on ferry incorporation continues. **Jane Wall (County Road Administration Board)**: Emphasized the historic significance of establishing the first new CRAB grant program in 30+ years, but stressed concerns about legislative commitment to 2027 funding given revenue forecasts. Highlighted that local roads make up 60% of county roads and 30% of all state roads with no prior funding program. **Axel Swanson (WSAC)**: Explained WSAC's challenge in ferry advocacy si…
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**Jane Wall, on the historic Local Access Road Program:** "I say it's not insignificant that it's our 60th year, because through the years, we have been able to stand up programs... but those were established in the late 80s and early 90s, and since that time, we've not established a new grant program." **Jane Wall, on funding concerns:** "My greatest concern is as forecasts continue to come in in terms of revenue, forecasts that revenues are down... I do worry that the legislature will say, …
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- **October**: Travis Dutton to meet with Council Member Fuller in Ellensburg on transportation subcommittee language - **October**: CRAB hiring program manager for Local Access Road Program (starts October 1) - **November**: Youth behavioral health needs assessment completion target for North Sound BH ASO legislative meeting - **November**: SWISS meeting in Spokane with county project presentation…

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After this meeting, SWISS has a clearer strategic direction with the broadband subcommittee formally suspended and the behavioral health subcommittee engaged in a specific project. The transportation subcommittee has a path forward for incorporating ferry advocacy. The group gained detailed understanding of the 2027 timeline for the…
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# Quarterly Regional Partnership Builds Toward 2026 Legislative Priorities The September 11 special meeting of the Swiss Regional Partnership unfolded as a planning session for the upcoming legislative year, with county officials from five northwest Washington counties gathering virtually to review strategic priorities and coordinate advocacy efforts. Swiss — an acronym for Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, and Snohomish Counties — represents a unique regional collaboration focused on transportation, behavioral health, and now-dissolved broadband initiatives. Commissioner Janet St. Clair of San Juan County chaired the 72-minute session, which brought together county commissioners and council members from across the region. The meeting followed a familiar rhythm of strategic updates, partner briefings, and regional coordination — the kind of civic machinery that operates largely outside public view but shapes policy decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. What emerged was a picture of counties grappling with shared challenges: budget pressures, infrastructure needs, and the complex web of state and federal policy that determines local capacity. The conversation revealed both the collaborative potential of regional partnerships and the persistent structural limitations facing county government in Washington state. ## Strategic Plan Recalibration Travis Dutton, staff coordinator from the Washington State Association of Counties, opened the substantive discussion with updates to Swiss's strategic plan — a living document that has evolved significantly since its original conception. The most notable change was the formal suspension of the regional broadband subcommittee in favor of participating in the broader Washington State Association of Counties broadband initiative. "Really the big changes that ultimately we came out of the original strategic plan was to suspend the broadband subcommittee in favor of participating or putting more energy and committing our time to the wasac broadband subcommittee that Axel manages, that is all of the counties," Dutton explained. This shift reflects the reality that broadband policy has moved beyond regional coordination to statewide implementation, particularly with significant federal funding flowing through existing pro…
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Transportation & Infrastructure Government Operations Budget & Finance Crab Island County North Sound Bh Aso San Juan County Skagit County Snohomish County Swiss Whatcom County Wsac Axel Swanson Jane Wall Janet St Clair Jill Boudreau John Scanlon Kaylee Galloway Nate Nehring Ron Wesen Travis Dutton Behavioral Health Broadband Budget Challenges Climate Commitment Act Electric Vehicle Fees Ferry Advocacy Fish Passage Barriers Property Tax Cap Road Usage Charge Transportation Funding