Lawmakers in both branches of the Legislature are still working to find agreement on a multibillion dollar transportation package as the current 60-day session passes its halfway point.
Last week, the Republican-led Senate unveiled a proposal that in 12 years would raise more than $12 billion for projects, partially through an 11.5 cent gas-tax increase over the next three years.
About $6.5 billion would be used to complete ongoing projects, such as the widening of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass and connections between Highway 167 and Highway 509 to Interstate 5.
Meanwhile, Democrats in both the Senate and House were rallying Wednesday in an attempt to finish their own unified proposal.
As that development unfolded, 20th District Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, spoke to a gathering of newspaper editors and publishers during an annual event at the Capitol.
Orcutt, a ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, was critical of the ongoing focus on starting expensive projects in King County to spur development, rather than spreading taxpayer dollars across the state.
“Lets stop forcing development or encouraging development in Seattle and start stoking development elsewhere in Washington,” Orcutt said.
Orcutt noted that planners must consider Lake Washington, Lake Union and Puget Sound when developing projects in King County, making construction costs all the more expensive while providing little benefit to the majority of taxpayers who live elsewhere in the state.
“(We need) to stop literally dumping our money into Puget Sound,” he said.
Orcutt said he doesn’t currently think there is an appetite for a large transportation package in the House Republican Caucus. He said voters are tired of more and more taxes, and they want to see more responsibility from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Most importantly, he said, he’d like the state to focus on assisting development in Southwest Washington and Eastern Washington.
“Lets let everyone get into recovery mode from this recession,” he said.
One potential example is between Grand Mound and Centralia, Orcutt told The Chronicle.
He said a new Interstate 5 interchange between the two areas would improve access to the industrial area north of Centralia as well as the still in-progress industrial park at TransAlta
“It’d be tricky to do, but absolutely necessary,” he said.
Orcutt’s approach to transportation is appreciated, and reflects the opinions of many of his relatively new constituents in the 20th Legislative District.
We’re fortunate that he is bringing to Olympia a fair and rational approach to the contentious and expensive issue of transportation.
