The Regional Transportation Commission—chaired by Seattle Democratic King County Council member Dow Constantine but dominated by representatives of suburban cities—seems poised to formally oppose a proposal by King County Executive Kurt Triplett that would designate Metro bus service cuts as "suspensions," rather than permanent cuts. At a meeting of the RTC on Wednesday, representatives of the suburban cities expressed support for designating the cuts as permanent.

The difference sounds semantic, but it's actually substantive—once there's enough money to add service again in a few years, "suspensions" would be restored at the same levels they were cut (i.e., if 10 percent of service was cut in Seattle, 10 percent of the restored hours would be in Seattle); in contrast, "cuts" would be restored according to the "40/40/20" rule, in which suburban areas receive 80 percent of new service to Seattle's 20 percent.

If the RTC votes in favor of making the cuts permanent, that decision will go to the King County Council, on which Democrat Julia Patterson and Republican Jane Hague—both of whom represent both suburban and urban areas—are said to be the swing votes.