Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna says Washington will need to ask voters to support a tax package to fund the state’s multi-billion dollar transportation needs, but his Democratic counterpart, Jay Inslee, isn’t ready to support any specific financing plan.
McKenna, the state’s attorney general, said that “in the next couple of years,” voters will need to consider a tax package to address the state’s transportation system.
“I don’t know what will be in it yet, it’s too early to say,” McKenna told The Associated Press. “But when it comes to transportation, we’ve always relied on voter-approved revenues to preserve, maintain and improve transportation infrastructure.”
Inslee, a former congressman, wouldn’t say whether he would support sending voters a transportation tax package, saying that much of whatever decision was made would be “dependent upon economic conditions and the rate of recovery of the state economy.”
“I’m not proposing any financing package. I am not proposing any specific method of financing,” he said, but acknowledged that “at some point, our state will to have to figure out some way to finance these mega projects.”
A task force last year determined that the state needs billions of dollars of transportation spending over the next decade, and McKenna said there are economic concerns if the state fails to address the needs.
“Transportation infrastructure is one of those areas where you have to keep up,” McKenna said “It’s very detrimental for the economy and job creation if you don’t.”
Voters last approved a gas tax in 2005, but the state is seeing less money from the tax as people drive less and cars become more fuel efficient. Gas tax revenue, which accounts for about two-thirds of the state’s funding of transportation funding when federal gas taxes are included, is projected to fall by more than $5 billion by 2023, according to a report released in December by the Connecting Washington Task Force.
Inslee said that in the coming weeks, he would be discussing his ideas on expanding freight mobility access to the state’s ports. He also expressed a concern about the state of the ferry system.
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