Washington state Democrats agree on $17 billion in transportation funding
House and Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday on a 16-year, nearly $17 billion transportation package.
The “Move Ahead Washington” package provides funding for four new ferries, maintenance and preservation projects, culvert removal, and free fares for those under 18 years old using public transportation.
Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, who helped craft the bill, told McClatchy on Wednesday that an additional $10 million will be dedicated to expanding Pierce Transit service. He noted too that $20 million will go towards light rail expansion between the Tacoma Dome and Fife. Funding for street improvements near the Tacoma Dome also is included.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to get this done in such a short time,” Fey told McClatchy. “This is an historic investment in transit.”
He said that the package is the largest transportation package in Washington’s history. It contains a one-time, $2 billion allocation from the operating budget.
The proposal was heard and voted out of a conference committee on Wednesday. While Democrats voted to pass the transportation budget, Republicans Rep. Andrew Barkis of Olympia and Sen. Curtis King of Yakima voted against it.
Barkis told the committee he knows the need exists for a transportation budget and that transportation has gone overlooked for “far too long.” He said the stress of the proposal could have been alleviated if Democrats had worked more with Republicans on the issue.
“I think there could have been more compromise,” Barkis said.
He said he supported the one-time transfer from the general fund, but had concerns with the revenue from the Climate Commitment Act, which establishes a comprehensive program to reduce carbon pollution and achieve the greenhouse gas limits set in state law. The program will start Jan. 1, 2023.
Democrats had initially proposed an exported fuel tax that would have provided $2 billion of the transportation funding for the package. However, other states including Oregon, Idaho and Alaska that would have been affected by the tax increase fiercely opposed the proposal, threatening potential lawsuits against the Washington Legislature if passed. Democrats eventually scrapped the proposal altogether.
Fey said that in retrospect it would have been “unthinkable” to increase taxes on exported fuel considering the circumstances worldwide now.
To backfill the loss of those predicted funds for the year, Democrats instead chose to pull $850 million from the Public Works Trust Fund, and $850 million from the operating budget. Starting in 2024, $57 million per year will be pulled from the Public Works Trust Fund, and $57 million will be pulled annually from the operating budget to continue funding the package.
Stolen vehicle check fees also will be increased, as well as other licensing fees.
An additional $5.4 billion from the Climate Commitment Act will be used to fund the package. Also, $3.4 billion will come from federal funding from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last year.
The package was to be voted on in both houses Thursday, the last day of the 2022 legislative session.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 8:52 AM.
