Sunday, November 9, 2025
The Thurston Regional Planning Council is set to take action on Friday, May 2, on a recommendation to potentially remove references to equity and other federally targeted language from its long-term transportation plan, which is now a requirement for federal grant eligibility.
At the Olympia City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 29, Council member Dani Madrone raised concerns about a proposed recommendation by the Transportation Policy Board (TPB) to consider removing references to equity from the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).
She warned that removing the language could have far-reaching consequences for the city and the region.
The RTP is a strategic blueprint for transportation in Thurston County over the next 20 to 25 years. It identifies projects, assesses diverse community needs, and ensures continued state and federal funding.
TRPC Executive Director Marc Daily explained the current draft — developed before President Donald Trump took office — has a heavy emphasis on equity, climate change and greenhouse emissions reduction that are aligned with the previous administration's priorities and are deeply embedded in the draft.
"Some things that have come out in the new administration's guidance don't want to see (those themes) in documents," Daily said.
According to Daily, there are about 60 instances in the draft that talk about equity or equitable outcomes across multiple sections.
During an April 9 TPB meeting, members struggled with a challenging directive: scrub equity, diversity and inclusion language from their RTP to remain eligible for federal funding.
TPB Chair Andy Ryder provided a detailed briefing about their recent attendance at the National League of Cities conference in Washington, D.C. He said the conference was dominated by concern over how Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) should navigate the federal government requirements.
"The big question that everyone has … when they are applying for federal funds — 'How much do we have to follow this administration's mandate?' which now says that anything regarding DEI cannot be a part of within the funding package," Ryder said.
He added lobbyists and representatives of MPO were giving the same advice to them to remove all DEI-related terms from grant applications.
"Everything that is going to federal government for approval right now, if you have that language in there, it is being bounced back," Ryder said.
Ryder described a recent experience with the federal RAISE grant, in which the federal government required removing all equity-related information in the application.
He said this directive directly contradicts Lacey's established values and ongoing work. His dilemma was a choice between compromising the language to secure funding or maintaining original principles and risking losing critical resources.
JoAnn Schueler, who represents the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on the TPB, said the state has taken similar steps, removing specific language from environmental documents before approval to comply with new federal direction.
TPB members offered a pragmatic approach by complying with immediate requirements and continuing to do the work.
TPB member Michelle Murray acknowledged the difficulty of complying with the administration. She argued that censoring language in the short term was necessary to care for their community.
"It sucks to have to give into this administration, but at the same time, we need to take care of our community. If that means having to censor ourselves in the short term so that we can care for our community, we do that, but we don't stop fighting against what's happened and letting the administration know that it's not OK in every other way we possibly can," Murray said.
For TPB vice chair Renee Radcliff Sinclair, removing equity language does not mean stopping their work. She expressed commitment to continuing discussion about building equitable solutions.
While reluctant to "give into a bully," Sinclair recognized they had limited choices.
"I think we need to keep equity at the front of our minds, even though we might have to scrub the language of our work," Sinclair said.
The board members voted to release the draft RTP for public review and recommended staff review and revise the document to ensure compliance with the new administration's executive orders.
The staff report stated the TRPC would be asked to consider modifying the transportation plan to align with federal executive orders by removing language related to:
At the Olympia City Council meeting, Madrone, a voting member of the TRPC, warned the changes would compromise core community values.
She underscored that if the equity language was removed, the project in the RTP on environmental justice and social equity justice would likely be impacted.
"Other projects would probably remain if we are just limiting it to the word equity, but it is already getting outside of the values of our community. I don't (think) that would protect anything by forfeiting those values," Madrone said.
She added removing the targeted language would require eliminating critical regional data and monitoring metrics like vehicle miles traveled, which serve as a key climate change indicator. It would also disrupt the region's planning and work on green and bicycle infrastructure.
"The conversation here is around, do we capitulate to the federal government in the hopes of trying to preserve some transportation funding, or do we hold strong to our values?" Madrone said. "My vote will be against all of that."
She explained the RTP is a long-term plan extending to 2050, and should not be compromised by federal administration which has less than a four-year term.
"Our RTP has always been based on the values of our community. We've never taken direction from the federal government before, and I don't think that we should start now," Madrone said.
Council member Jim Cooper strongly supported Madrone's stance, asserting the language in the plan originated from the community, not from federal mandates.
"These are our words, and we want them in our plan," Cooper said.
Other council members, including Mayor Dontae Payne, expressed grave concerns about the potential removal of critical equity language.
"I think that cowering to the federal government at this point makes no sense … by the very fact that we are talking about it right now, we are actually creating news. … Instead of just sticking to our values like we should have done … we are actually making ourselves more of a target," he said.
The TRPC is expected to take action on the draft RTP at its meeting on Friday, May 2.
10 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Southsoundguy
DEI aren’t community values, just the values pushed by ideologues that have seized power. Luckily, liberalism is on the way out.
Wednesday, April 30 Report this
GeorgeBurazer
First of all, the article is well written and gives equal weight to the viewpoints of each of the board members.
Giving in on the county's principles in the draft could produce a domino effect where climate, equity and justice
are deleted from all forms of serious community discussion. I urge the board to stand strong, the community
will support your courage. Once the Trump administration gets their claws in you, they will keep coming back
to spread more fear.
George Burazer
Lacey
Thursday, May 1 Report this
OldKid
Quadlok, well said. You certainly speak for me.
Cicada
Thursday, May 1 Report this
Southsoundguy
Typical lib responses. Have fun with your self-terminating ideology.
Thursday, May 1 Report this
Southsoundguy
And I don’t wear a pointy hood, Hugo Boss only.
Thursday, May 1 Report this
Boatyarddog
SSGuy, YOU DO WEAR A POINTY HOOD.
This ain't Liberialism.
Your stuck in your pointy Headed thinking it goes with your pointed headed Logic.
This Community SEES you for what you are, defective in logic, mental clarity, and ANYTHING THAT includes equality Diversity, or Inclusivity.
Plan on Getting More of this kind of response, you WELL DESERVE IT.
NOW BACK TO YOUR DARK DANKY CAVE!
Thursday, May 1 Report this
Boatyarddog
Thank You Dani Madrone, and to ALL PLANNERS.
FIGHT THESE FACISTS A-HOLES WE can and will do without Funding from these Extremist Rightwing NAZIS.
Thursday, May 1 Report this
MisPeeps
We cannot give in to this fascism, but we need the money, fight and lose the money or stand for what we know is right? That's a tough call. My first reaction is to fight for what we know is right, but my second is to be clever. Maybe change the language but not any meaning and do the very same thig we were going to do anyway.
South Sound guy here is the definition of Liberal. It is definitely not on it's way out and yes we are proud to be caring humans.
lib·er·al
/ˈlib(ə)rəl/
adjective
1.
willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
Thursday, May 1 Report this
TheGreatAnon
Kids, don't feed fascist trolls.
Know what will hurt our poor and disadvantaged neighbors than editing a document? Loosing infrastructure over a pissing match with a senile old man & his Nazi droogs. One has to pick their battles and sadly the battle over DEI, at our county level is one we would most likely lose. Continue the work of DEI just call it something else.
Thursday, May 1 Report this
Southsoundguy
Only burned out boomer liberals agree with you. When your cohort is gone, nothing will be left. You have no legacy. Reality will cast aside your silly house of cards.
Thursday, May 1 Report this