OLYMPIA — North Olympic Peninsula legislators don’t want to set into concrete a state transportation bill funded by a 11.7-cent gas price hike over three years.
Sen. Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam voted against the Republican-backed bill that passed the state Senate on Monday by a 27-22 margin.
Representatives Steve Tharinger and Kevin Van De Wege, both of Sequim, both said they’ll oppose the plan when it surfaces in the House of Representatives, whose majority leader said it would siphon revenue from school funding.
Hargrove, Tharinger and Van De Wege represent the 24th Legislative District that includes all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and most of Grays Harbor County. All are Democrats.
“Very few local projects are included in their plan, showing just how much the Olympic Peninsula isn’t a priority to them,” Van De Wege said Tuesday.
“I am working toward getting our schools funded and creating jobs and look forward to finding a better solution,” Van De Wege said.
Tharinger noted that the bill exempted transportation projects from the state sales tax, diverting revenue he says the state will need to meet state Supreme Court-ordered support for education.
It would create “a $450 million hole” for education funding that already is an estimated $4 billion short of what the Supreme Court mandated in its McCleary decision, Tharinger said, calling the exemption for concrete and structural steel “a little bit of a shell game.”
As for the bill’s projects, “I don’t think there’s a lot in there for our district,” he said.
And as for the 11.7-cent gas price hike over the next three years, “obviously the gas tax is challenging for rural areas where people do a lot of driving,” Tharinger said.
Now the measure goes to the House, where Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said Monday the package diverts the Legislature from meeting its requirement of fully funding public schools.
The Senate’s $15 billion transportation revenue package includes an incremental gas tax increase of 5 cents this summer, a 4.2-cent increase next year, and a final 2.5-cent increase that would take effect in 2017.
Sen. Brian Dansel, a Republican from Republic, said, “It adds up quite a bit for folks who have to drive greater distances to fill their rigs up more often.”
The Senate proposal includes more than $8 billion for such road projects as the North-South Freeway in Spokane and I-90 on Snoqualmie Pass, and puts money toward transit and rail projects, as well as bike paths and pedestrian walkways.
It also would allow Sound Transit to ask voters to fund potential expansions of its rail line.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.