The Missing Link bill is dead. Again.

Section 902 was the Missing Link SEPA exemption section.

Well, it was once again worth a try, but the Washington House Transportation Committee has removed SEPA exemption for the Ballard Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail from their transportation funding bill.

The bill initially passed the House before failing to get a committee vote in the Senate. At that point, we declared it dead. Then it surprisingly showed up again as rider on the House counterproposal to the Senate's transportation funding bill, but the House Transportation Committee killed it Wednesday via an amendment by Rep. Alex Ramel, as Ryan Packer reported. You can watch the discussion starting at the 1:08:30 point in this video. So Missing Link opponents have once again won a victory by the skin of their teeth.

We barely had enough time to get excited about the bill's surprise rebirth before it was dead again.

Representative Julia Reed voted against the amendment to remove the Missing Link language, but she also acknowledged that we shouldn't do policy in budget bills, even policy I support." I agree with her there, though the Missing Link is a saga where being polite and playing by the normal rules has not garnered any advantages for trail supporters over the past quarter century.