Tag Archives: litter

Senate approves Fortunato’s continued efforts to clean state roadways

In 2021, Fortunato passed the “”Welcome to Washington” litter act, directing the state Department of Ecology and the Department of Transportation to work together to tackle the state’s litter problem with increased cleanups and education. However, there are additional hurdles to keeping our roadways clean, so Fortunato sponsored Senate Bill 5178, which would increase penalties for large debris cleanup. The measure was approved unanimously Monday by the state Senate.

Fortunato’s proposal would increase penalties for large debris cleanup and originally redirected the surplus in the existing $1 tire tax to an account dedicated to clearing large items like tire pieces, car bumpers, couches and other large debris. The bill was amended to remove the dedicated funding source and made it subject to budget appropriations.

Jokingly, Fortunato has said, “You can furnish a house and build a car with what you find on the side of road.”

“There are too many large items on the side of our highways that could make it unsafe to pullover especially at night,” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “While it appears there are still some issues getting litter picked up, at least these state agencies can pick up the big stuff and make our roads a little safer.”

As an expert on environmental issues, particularly Clean Water Act compliance, Fortunato has been pushing state agencies to clean up their act, pointing to the environmental disaster resulting from the numerous homeless encampments exacerbating the pollution problem.

“The homelessness problem and the environmental problem are connected here. The state needs to find a solution that deals with where a lot of the debris is coming from. Driving to Olympia during the session, there are large homeless camps that have no regard for our littering laws. That has to change,” added Fortunato.

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Sen. Fortunato calls on governor to relax vaccine requirements for volunteers

OLYMPIA…While most of the nation has moved beyond vaccine mandates, Washington state remains an outlier, and a policy hidden in one of Gov. Inslee’s executive orders is putting a damper on cleaning up the state’s highways.

Sen. Phil Fortunato sent a letter to the governor asking him to relax the rules that require even volunteers in outdoor settings to provide proof of vaccination status to pick up garbage as part of the state’s Adopt-a-Highway program.

“It’s absurd that the state is requiring volunteers to provide proof of vaccination to clean up garbage outdoors,” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “I was told there are concerns about safety, but the governor doesn’t seem to care about the vaccination status of people illegally camping on public right of ways who are creating the litter problem.”

Last year, the governor signed legislation sponsored by Fortunato aimed at cleaning up the state’s littered roadways. Senate Bill 5040, known as the Welcome to Washington Act, streamlines the process for road clean-ups and creates a process for local jurisdictions to get reimbursed for their own litter control activities on state highway ramps.

Local officials brought this issue to Fortunato’s attention after a local service organization was barred from participating in its Adopt-a-Highway clean-up.

“As I said in my letter, we can have disagreements about the necessity of the governor’s continuing emergency powers, but I believe that he should follow the example of other states and start to relax some of these more outlandish requirements and allow these volunteers to help make Washington beautiful again,” added Fortunato. 

You can read the entire letter here.

Fortunato’s ‘Welcome to Washington’ litter bill approved by Senate

Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, to clean up Washington’s highways was approved Tuesday by the state Senate.

Senate Bill 5093, known as the “Welcome to Washington” act, would prioritize litter control on state highways and require coordination of the state’s agencies, including the departments of Ecology, Transportation and State Patrol, using the current hidden litter tax.

“I travel a lot for work and spend even more time in traffic,” said Fortunato. “If you pay attention, you’ll notice our roadways are a mess. There are bumpers and tires, sometimes even couches on the side of our highways. When you come into Washington from Oregon, there is big, beautiful sign that says ‘Welcome to Washington,’ and you’re greeted with trash on the highway.”

Fortunato’s bill would increase coordination during lane closures between the state agencies in charge of keeping highways and roads litter-free in order to clear large debris.

“You probably have seen the signs on the highway for an Ecology crew, but they don’t have the ability to clean up large items, but the state Department of Transportation does,” Fortunato added. “This simple proposal gets these agencies to communicate with each other and use their resources to keep our highways beautiful.”

The legislation was approved unanimously and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.