“The United States Congress, Sen. Patty Murray says, helps those who help themselves.And because the Washington State Legislature did nothing about transportation – doing nothing, we would add, being a charitable description of its accomplishments – Murray was powerless to help her home state, even from her position as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee.It breaks my heart that with legislative inaction we can’t be as effective as we might, the senator told us Thursday afternoon.Murray – who very graciously gave us a few minutes aboard the ferry to Seattle, after her appearance on the island – took the reins of the subcommittee this spring when the Democrats became the majority party. That followed Vermont Sen. James Jeffords’ party switch, which you may have read something about elsewhere.Anyway, very simply put, funding for all types of transportation flows through Murray’s subcommittee.And while she was able to triple transportation funding for this state, legislative inaction on a comprehensive transportation package frustrated her ability to do more.Most of the federal programs require matching funds, she told us, and legislative inaction eliminated the state’s eligibility for those programs. More damning to our Olympia leadership, Murray acknowledged that the legislature’s failure (our emphasis, not hers) also made it virtually impossible politically to argue this state’s case for federal funds.Murray told us that during the present congressional recess, she has been contacting state legislators to make people understand the imperative nature of moving. As of Thursday, she had not talked to Republican House leader Clyde Ballard, but said she did sympathize with the reluctance to raise taxes displayed by Ballard and other Eastern Washington legislators.People in western Washington don’t understand how badly hurting Eastern Washington is with low crop prices, she told us. It’s hard for those legislators to do anything that would add to those burdens.Murray said regional funds could be used to match federal grants if they are written the right way, and urged the state to continue grappling with the transportation issue.The quality of life is degrading, and we’re losing business, she told us. There can be a perception eventually that this is not a vital area.Rep. Jay Inslee echoed Murray’s comments.I can’t overstate what Sen. Murray’s position means for the state, he told us. She is very effective. It’s going to mean a lot of dollars to us if the Legislature comes up with the bucks. So the Legislature left federal money on the table by in its inaction, we asked Inslee.That’s a polite way of putting it, he said. You could also say they wasted the money.Wasted time and wasted money. Not a proud legacy for our Olympians. “