As the state of Washington and its Highway 99 tunnel contractors careen toward litigation, the Legislature has suddenly scrapped the panel that monitors the project.
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Instead of funding a panel that offers technical and financial perspective, lawmakers would hold their own committee meetings to seek information from project leaders.
The rationale is the panel somehow creates legal risk for the state. I'm sure removing independent oversight and having the sole information source be the people you're writing big checks too solves this problem brilliantly.