Coalition Caucus Urges Transportation Reform

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The Washington state Senate’s Majority Coalition Caucus wants to reform state transportation.

But exactly what to change, and how to change it, they say, requires input from voters.

Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, on Tuesday said members of the Majority Coalition Caucus as well as a few Democrats are soliciting the needed input via a 10-city, cross-state tour.

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, in a news release said around 400 people attended the Bellevue forum, the first, followed by more than 200 in Everett.

“In Wenatchee and Yakima earlier last week, it was standing room only,” King said, “and well over 100 citizens turned out to share their thoughts in Pasco.”

“I think this is the right way to go about it,” Braun said about holding the meetings. “I don’t think we can say for certain what the final outcome will be, but we’re saying if we’re going to do a transportation package we need to engage the public.”

“If you’re going to ask for a dime for transportation,” he said. “We need to make sure we spend that dime well.”

Many of those in attendance provided testimony.

“We’ve heard the calls for more revenue, and we’ve heard the calls for no gas tax increases, but perhaps the clearest message we’ve heard is that the state’s transportation system needs help,” King said, “and that some of our reforms would do a lot to restore the public’s confidence in that agency.”

The public’s comments, as described by King, are in line with the Majority Coalition Caucus’ stance of “fix it before you fund it.”

During the 2012-2013 session, lawmakers passed a minor transportation package which used only existing revenue. A comprehensive package, however, stalled in the House for most of the six-month legislative session.

With three days left, it was passed to the Senate.

“We had just finished a hard-fought operating budget. There wasn’t much appetite for that kind of package,” Braun said about the transportation plan, which died in the Senate.

“Plus, it really hadn’t been presented to the public in a meaningful way,” he said.

At the public meetings, lawmakers have presented 10 transportation reform ideas.



Easiest, and likely least controversial among them, Braun said, is a suggestion that sales taxes collected on transportation projects go back to the transportation budget.

“One of the things that’s happened over the years is … the sales tax goes back into the general fund,” Braun said. “So, in essence, we’re taking part of the transportation money and diverting it to the operating budget.”

Keeping the money within transportation will in fact make the Legislatures’ actions consistent with the 18th Amendment, he said.

“It’s pretty common sense,” Braun said.

Another of the most important reforms, Braun said, is opening a dialogue about prevailing wage requirements.

“On the face it sounds controversial, but I don’t think it’s as controversial as it sounds,” Braun said.

The Majority Coalition Caucus hopes to align prevailing wage requirements with federal requirements. Current state requirements increase construction costs by an estimated 10 to 15 percent, according to the Coalition Caucus.

“They work well in the rest of the country, and they’d work well here too,” the 20th District legislator said. “There’s no reason we have to have to be in excess of of the federal requirements.”

Braun said that another key reform could come from using Environmental Legacy Stewardship Account money to fund transportation.

The Stewardship Account, funded by a tax on oil refineries, is intended for environmental benefit, but can be used in a broad variety of ways.

“One of the best ways you can spend the money is to fund stormwater requirements for transportation projects,” Braun said. “It makes a lot of sense to use that money in a very productive way and, in fact, the way, I believe, the voters intended it.”

According to the Majority Coalition Caucus, $40 million from the transportation budget is spent annually on transportation-related stormwater projects.

Among the coalition caucuses other reform suggestions: Add congestion relief to the state’s required list of transportation priorities; streamline environmental permitting; and use toll revenue for highway projects within the corridor being tolled.