Randy Lewis, Tacoma's government relations officer, offered a preview Tuesday of what Tacoma will likely request next year of the state and federal governments.

Most of the discussion regarding Tacoma's federal legislative priorities focused on transportation and public safety. Tacoma wants:

• $2 million in federal transportation funds for a hoped-for $90 million, 3,000 vehicle parking garage near the Tacoma Dome that's could figure into a future streetcar system.

• $5 million in federal bridge replacement funds for work on the Murray Morgan Bridge.

• $5 million for track upgrades and signal improvements for the city's Mountain Division Rail Line.

• $2 million in Homeland Security funds to restore Fire Station 5 on Ruston Way.

Councilman Mike Lonergan questioned whether the city should ask for money for the Ruston Way fire station now that it's apparent it will cost $6 million to fix the building. Even if Tacoma got $2 million, it might not be prepared to follow through with a renovation, he said.

But Mayor Bill Baarsma, who envisions the building become a public safety center with police, fire and Coast Guard presence, said recent talks suggest there might be private sector sources willing to help with funding. Baarsma didn't disclose the names of potential sources, and not all of the council members seemed to know about the talks.

Problems along Ruston Way appear to be driving the interest. The private sector is interested in a police presence to stabilize the area, Baarsma said.

"I'm more optimistic than I've ever been," he said.

Lewis told council members not to expect too much from the state Legislature, noting that it's a short 60-day session and Gov. Gregoire is facing re-election along with all of the House and roughly half of the Senate.

Here are the draft state legislative priorities.

Tomorrow morning, State Auditor Brian Sonntag is releasing his agency’s audit of Sound Transit’s performance since it was created. Let’s call it “Sound Transit, the first 10 years.”

It is likely to detail how the three-county agency failed to deliver on what it promised voters back in 1996, when voters approved what was then a $4 billion project to build light rail from the University District south past Sea-Tac Airport and have that 21-mile portion finished by 2006.

(The first 16-mile segment won’t start operating until sometime in 2009.)

Bad timing if you’re in the camp that’s now asking voters to approve an $18 billion expansion of the light rail line, including streets, roads and highways. (We’ll call that “Sound Transit, the next 20 years and beyond.”)

Good timing if you’re Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, an opponent of Proposition 1. Freeman has been beating Sound Transit over the head with the agency’s many failings at debates on its new combined ballot measure with the Regional Transportation Investment District in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.

“Every single thing they’ve told us has turned out not to be true,” Freeman said at a recent debate before Seattle City Club.

If you want Sonntag’s audit to show up in your e-mail box tomorrow morning, go to www.sao.wa.gov and click on the Performance Audit button, and sign up on the ListServ.

Even worse for Sound Transit: The agency is required to hold a public hearing on the audit within 30 days of its release. That would be no later than Nov. 4, two days before the election on RTID-Sound Transit’s latest money request.

The Tacoma city clerk's office issued a notice this morning that Gov. Chris Gregoire will be giving an "update on local issues" Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Tacoma City Hall.

Sources tell us the "update on local issues" will include an announcement that the recently formed Puget Sound Partnership intends to locate its offices at the Urban Waters facility planned for the Thea Foss Waterway.

Tacoma has been lobbying to land the agency, which would bring roughly 32 staff jobs to the east side of the Foss. It would also add some heft to a lab that boosters hope will become a world-class marine research facility. Gregoire hinted in April that Tacoma could become the agency's home.

In July, the University of Washington Tacoma announced the selection of the first Port of Tacoma Chair. The professor, Joel Baker, will serve as a science adviser to Urban Waters, officials said.

David Dicks, son of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, was appointed as the first executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership in August.

From Les Blumental in Washington, D.C.

Less than an hour after the President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded a government-run children’s health care program, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was on the Senate floor challenging the president’s action.

“American families are being squeezed out of health insurance, and the president of the United States is turning a deaf ear to the crying health care needs of children in America,” Cantwell said. “The president should not be so heartless when it comes to the children of America.”

The bill would provide an additional $35 billion over five years for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Cantwell has said the additional federal funding coupled with new state initiatives could cut by more than half the number of children in Washington state who are currently uninsured. In addition, the measure would eliminate a provision in the existing law which has cost Washington state more than $200 million over the past 10 years because it has aggressively moved to insure children.

The veto is the fourth by Bush since he took office. The SCHIP bill passed with enough votes in the Senate to override a veto. But the House vote fell roughly 20 short of that needed to override.

Bush has said the expansion of SCHIP was the first step toward government-run health care and families would drop their private insurance in order to sign up for the government plan.
Cantwell countered that a family of four with an income of $41,000 would pay roughly a third of their income for health insurance.

Since 2001, health insurance premiums have risen 79 percent, while wages grew only 19 percent, the senator said.
Video of Cantwell’s floor speech can be found here.