Tag Archives: Transportation

Freedom Caucus delivers sustainable, taxpayer-friendly transportation plan

In a Wednesday news conference, members of the Senate Freedom Caucus unveiled their new transportation-funding proposal, pushing back on a package recently put forth by the Democratic Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and building on the plan from the ranking Republican on the committee. Senators Phil Fortunato, Doug Ericksen, Mike Padden, and Jim McCune are pushing for a comprehensive shift in how the state pays for transportation altogether by utilizing the existing sales tax on motor vehicles and ending the state’s reliance on the gas tax. A nonpartisan analysis done in 2019 shows that the plan would result in more than $10 billion in funding over the next decade, create tens of thousands of jobs and yield tens of billions of dollars in economic benefit for the state.

“As cars become more fuel efficient, commuting patterns change and new technology comes online, existing methods to fund the state’s transportation infrastructure are failing,” said Fortunato, R-Auburn. “Proposals being discussed in Olympia continue an unsustainable cycle of project lists and taxes, including a new cap and tax proposal, carbon taxes and an intrusive mileage tax. All these approaches fail to address underlying cost-drivers for transportation projects – inflation.”

Portions of the plan have received hearings over the years and even the Democratic chair of the Senate Transportation Committee noted that it was “probably the right thing to do…”

“Voters are tired of paying more taxes just to be stuck in traffic,” Ericksen, R-Ferndale said. “It’s time to do the right thing by taxpayers and ensure their money is being spent on what it’s intended. We can get more resources for roads and bridges without new taxes under our proposal. It’s the responsible and sustainable policy for our state’s transportation needs.”

A Democrat-proposed mileage tax, also known as a road usage charge, is currently in a pilot project phase in Washington. To function as a replacement for the gas-tax, Washington drivers would have to install a GPS tracker in their vehicles, which would then report miles traveled to a third-party. Freedom Caucus members warn this is an unacceptable invasion of privacy by the government and a costly one. As much as 30 percent of the collected mileage tax would go to the third-party vendor.

“Our approach avoids an intrusive and inefficient mileage tax,” explained Padden, R-Spokane Valley. “It’s unconscionable that the state would require a GPS tracker in your car, track your movements through a third-party who in turn charges exorbitant fees to collect the tax. The mileage tax is bad for eastern Washington and will drive up costs for commuters and consumers without any guarantee our roads will be any better. This is the only package that meets the ever-growing transportation needs of Spokane County.”

The Freedom Caucus’ proposal includes protections for the redirected revenues and asks voters to weigh-in with a state constitutional amendment.

“We cannot wait any longer to make these investments and we cannot afford to saddle future Washingtonians with more taxes only to have their investments wasted while they drive on crumbling roads,” said McCune, R-Graham. “That is why part of our plan includes a constitutional provision to protect that money.”

Update from Olympia

Friends and Neighbors,

We are nearing the halfway point of the 2021 legislative session. Monday is what is called the policy cutoff. This means that all bills in the Senate must be approved in their respective committee to continue in the process and then we will begin voting on bills to send to the House of Representatives for their consideration. March 9 is the last day to vote on bills that originated in the Senate. If you’re following legislation that is in the House, I won’t get an opportunity to really see it until after then.

Since the Legislature’s business is being conducted remotely, I’ve gathered resources to stay involved in the process. Click here to find more information on how to provide input on bills during the committee hearings, track legislation and more.

This coming Wednesday, I’ll be holding a virtual town hall again to discuss what’s happening in the Legislature and ask for your perspective on bills that are moving. You can register for the town hall by clicking here. Information on how to participate is also available on my website.

Click here to register

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Stark contrasts revealed in approach to state’s transportation needs

Transportation policy leaders have been working to address Washington’s ailing infrastructure since the passage of the last 11.9 cent gat tax increase, known as “Connecting Washington,” in 2015. Despite record increases in the state gas tax and other transportation-related fees and charges, the state’s transportation needs have remained woefully underfunded.

I’m continuing my 20-plus-year push to fund transportation with existing revenue rather than raise taxes and I’m pleased that my proposal has been adopted as part of the recently unveiled Republican budget. What is being discussed right now won’t ensure safe bridges or less congested roads. We are just putting an expensive Band-Aid when the state should be looking at creative ways that address the main cost-driver… Find out more…

Announcing the formation of the ‘Freedom Caucus’

Freedom is the watchword for the new Senate Freedom Caucus. Lawmakers will advocate for lower taxes, responsible state spending, individual liberties and a government that gets out of the people’s way.

Learn more about this effort…

Constitutional amendment expanding protections for citizens’ right to bear arms

While many policies coming from Olympia concerning the right to bear arms focus on restricting Second Amendment protections, I’m pushing to expand them. Senate Joint Resolution 8205 would amend Article 1, Section 24 of the Washington Constitution by adding, “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state includes the right to possess firearm magazines and firearm loading devices of any size.”

Continuing tax-relief efforts for seniors

Seniors and disabled people are particularly affected by rising property taxes and health-care costs – and that was before the economic uncertainty related to COVID-19. This issue is one that I hear about at almost every town hall. I’ve sponsored a slate of bills that are awaiting hearings in the Senate’s budget committee to provide needed relief.

The focus of my three property tax reduction bills are to help expand access to existing state programs for those most in need. The ‘age wave’ is here and its effects are going to be significant. See what I’m working on…

It is an honor to serve you and my office is here to help you with any questions you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Phil Fortunato,

Your 31st District State Senator

Nearing the end of the 2020 session

Greetings from Olympia,

It’s been awhile since I last sent out an update but have tried to keep folks apprised of what’s happening in Olympia via my legislative Facebook. You may have noticed that in our first round of voting in the Senate, I was marked ‘excused.’ A couple of weeks back, I was admitted to the hospital with some abdominal pain. It turned out to be nothing serious, but I was out for just over a week. The good news is that I’ve been back and have hit the ground running.

Budget season

There have been a few big-ticket items that I’d like to comment on. First, we had news recently that the state revenue continues to grow. Without doing anything, revenue collections are up $1.5 billion more than anticipated. This is on top of the billion-dollar tax bill (the first bill signed into law of the 2020 session) on everything from nursing homes to health-care providers and mental-health facilities. The majorities have unveiled their budgets for this supplemental year and, unsurprisingly, every penny you send to Olympia has been spent growing government.

My colleagues and I have been pushing for tax relief, whether it’s doing the will of the people and passing my bill to give $30 car tabs, or needed property tax relief. The fact is, the state has the money but is choosing other “priorities.”

Just look at how much state spending has increased since 2013. Granted, we had some needed investments to make in education, but it’s out of control. You pay for the state budget with your taxes and the growth has outpaced any gains you or your family may have seen in wages. That’s even worse if you’re outside of King County. Something has to give.

Time for a Washington Prop 13

Some years back, taxpayers in California revolted because of their skyrocketing property taxes. We are reaching that point here. I’ve received countless emails from people around the district who can’t afford the endless property tax increases. The reality is that the Legislature cannot be trusted. I voted in support of historic education funding reform to satisfy the McCleary decision that also resulted in a property tax reduction for over 70 percent of Washingtonians. Less than a year later, the majority betrayed taxpayers and undid that work. They opened the door to steep increases in property taxes and an overreliance on local levies that create inequity in our schools. We are almost back in the same boat that got us the McCleary case to begin with.

We need and can afford property-tax relief. I’ll be pushing for legislation modeled after the California Proposition 13. It froze property tax assessments at a certain date, limited annual increases to inflation, and froze re-evalutions until after change of ownership.

Just say ‘No’ to kindergarten sex ed

I’ve received overwhelming responses from constituents opposing the bill that would mandate sex education starting in kindergarten. Let’s be clear, this is not about good-touch, bad-touch or having healthy friendships. What’s really happening is an agenda pushed by special interests to sexualize our children. Discussing and normalizing alternative lifestyles or teaching about sexual pleasure is not ‘age appropriate’ for young children. You’ve been clear, and I’m in agreement, we need to get sex entirely out of schools and get back to teaching our students how to read, write and do math. Our state has a persistent opportunity gap and introducing this new requirement will only make matters worse by taking up valuable instructional time on something that is the responsibility of parents and families.

Starving transportation

Democratic leaders on the Senate Transportation Committee unveiled their funding proposal last week to deal with what they’re calling the “I-976 crisis” and to restart delayed transportation projects.

I supported this supplemental budget, but it’s really just a Band-Aid. It is needlessly starving our state’s transportation infrastructure and fails to address long-term solutions that we need to act on now. That is being exacerbated by the ill-advised pausing of critical projects by Gov. Inslee, which has cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars. The overwhelming majority of those projects are funded by the gas tax and have nothing to do with this so-called “I-976 crisis.”

What about homeless and housing?

Last week, those of us working on housing and homelessness in the Senate Republican Caucus held a news conference to discuss what the Legislature is doing about this critical issue. We outlined where we thought we should be going at the outset of the 2020 legislative session, but with just a couple of weeks left to go, not many of those proposals made it through.

The majority is intent on continuing the same failed policies and practices of just throwing more taxpayer dollars at a broken system with no accountability.Here’s a short article on parts of the Republican proposal.We all agree that this problem needs to be addressed. We just disagree on how to get there. I’ve been vocal about my holistic plan to address this problem. To my disappointment many of these components have been simply ignored by the majority in favor of increased spending on policies that have proven they do not work.

Standing up for your rights

The Senate recently approved SB 6288, creating the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to push unscientific ‘research’ by special interests. What’s worse, they’ll be handing out your tax dollars to nonprofits already funded by billionaires opposed to the Second Amendment.

The bill even says that as a condition of receiving those grants, organizations must include how they’d “implement evidenced-based firearm reduction.”

It’s not about research, it’s not about safety. It’s about restricting rights of law-abiding citizens and it’s unacceptable. It was even a fight to include language in the bill that directed this new state agency to look at suicide prevention, which is the largest percentage, by far, of firearm-related deaths.

It is an honor serving as your state Senator.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns you have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Phil Fortunato,

Your 31st District State Senator

Senate proposal needlessly starving transportation infrastructure

Democratic leaders on the Senate Transportation Committee unveiled their funding proposal this week to deal with what they’re calling the “I-976 crisis” and to restart delayed transportation projects. I offered the following statement to the press.

“I supported this supplemental budget, but it’s really just a band-aid. It is needlessly starving our state’s transportation infrastructure and fails to address long-term solutions that we need to act on now. That is being exacerbated by the ill-advised pausing of critical projects by Governor Inslee which has cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars. The overwhelming majority of those projects are funded by the gas tax and have nothing to do with this so-called ‘I-976 crisis.’ It’s simply political retribution against voters wanting to keep more of their tax dollars.

“Since joining the Senate, I’ve been fighting for a solution that actually addresses the underlying problems with funding transportation in our state. The Legislature is taxing working people and families to death with usage-related policies when the problem is inflation. If we simply used the existing sales tax on motor vehicles, we could fund all our transportation needs and then some with money people already send to Olympia.

“Taxpayers don’t distinguish between general fund and transportation accounts; they just expect results from what the state is taking out of their wallets. It’s our responsibility to use those dollars wisely.

“The Legislature should act now to give voters what they want – $30 car tabs. We can do that without a significant hit to our transportation funding like the somewhat flawed initiative does with all the other things in it.”

Fortunato’s $30 car tab legislation to receive public hearing

Before the 2020 legislative session, state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, advocated for a special session to address the $30 car tab legal challenge that placed the needed tax-relief measure on hold. Now, Fortunato’s “clean” bill to avoid single-subject concerns that precipitated the Initiative 976 lawsuit will receive a public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee.

“I’m very pleased that the Senate at least is giving the public a fair shot to have their voice heard on this issue,” said Fortunato. “After the court once again cited the ‘single-subject’ requirements in the state constitution as a reason to ignore the will of the voters, I have dropped a clean, one-subject bill to avoid further legal issues.”

Similar single-subject arguments were made nearly 20 years ago when voters approved Initiative 695 which resulted in the court overturning the initiative. “This legislation will give taxpayers what they want, what they voted for – affordable car tabs,” Fortunato added.

“The battle over $30 car tabs that has played out for decades is emblematic of the problems with Olympia,” Fortunato said. “Who down here is actually listening to the voters? It’s really a simple concept that I’m fighting for – trust the people when they tell you what they want. I fought for the original fix back then and will continue to do so.”

The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the John A. Cherberg Building, Hearing Room 1. You can watch the hearing live on TVW by clicking here.

Return to $30 car tabs creates path forward for Fortunato transportation-funding plan

State Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, says voter approval of Initiative 976 has cleared a path for his legislation to meet the state’s transportation-infrastructure needs without new taxes. I-976, which has so far received a 56-percent “yes” vote in the general election that concluded yesterday, will return annual licensing fees to $30 for most vehicles; it also corrects the flawed Sound Transit car evaluation schedule that has landed the regional transit authority in court.

“Since joining the Senate I have been sounding the alarm on the impending transportation funding crisis,” said Fortunato who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee. “That had nothing to do with this initiative, but was driven by an honest look at declining revenues versus the immense need for infrastructure resources. Now that voters have spoken, the state still needs these valuable projects, and my proposal will fund them and more with the money they already send to Olympia.”

Senate Bill 5743 would fundamentally change how the state pays for transportation projects by using the existing sales tax on motor vehicles. The bill received a public hearing during the 2019 legislative session and is the only no-new-tax proposal before the Legislature that can fill the funding gap created by the passage of I-976.

Presentations to the Senate Transportation Committee by state officials indicated that declining gas-tax revenues and inflationary costs already outpace the state’s resources. To date, ideas such as a mileage tax, also known as a Road Usage Charge, are being considered in the Legislature.

“The problem with transportation funding is not usage, but all the solutions are based on that premise,” said Fortunato. “The main cost driver is inflation. The existing sales tax on motor vehicles represents an inflation-linked funding source that non-partisan analysis shows will give the state more money for roads than the other schemes being discussed — and it gives taxpayers a well-deserved break.

“When my bill received a public hearing, the chair of the committee said that my approach was ‘probably right but would never make it out of the Ways and Means Committee’. I think that taxpayers have clearly sent a message that we need to get creative and find solutions that don’t require an endless list of taxes to fix the roads they already pay for. The timing is right to fully fund transportation.”

An economic analysis of Fortunato’s proposal can be found here: Transportation Funding

The Impending Congestion Crisis

While much attention is being paid to the development of the state’s two-year operating budget, there are other troubling policies working their way through the Legislature in the final days of the 2019 legislative session. As concerning as billions more in general tax increases are, there is a looming, self-imposed crisis about to take place regarding transportation.

Since joining the Senate, I’ve been sounding the alarms on our state’s crumbling transportation infrastructure and the tax-and-spend approach to funding this immense need. Now, there is legislation that could come up that would ensure our region is stuck in traffic for decades. To complete a much-needed project along SR-167 to the Port of Tacoma, some in Olympia are considering making tolls along the corridor permanent AND bonding the toll revenue, which means we can’t do anything to relieve congestion for decades until the debt is paid off. That is a bad idea.

The proposal to bond toll revenue puts us down a path that would ensure congestion for decades because we could not do anything that would alter the funding source, i.e. tolls. In effect, you will be paying to have congestion.

I’ve made the rounds on various news outlets to let the public know about this proposal. You can listen to the segments below.

Dori Monson Show discussing tolls.

There is more than enough money coming to the state to fund my proposal that uses the existing tax on the sale of motor vehicles, providing an inflation-linked funding source for infrastructure. The problem with funding is not usage, as some would have you believe.

The state transportation secretary has said as much. The problem is inflation – the costs of construction are increasing, as well as the cost of right-of-way purchases. We currently fund our transportation needs with declining gas-tax revenues, tolls or other usage-type taxes that will never actually meet the need. We develop project lists that are great for communities around the state, but then have to raise taxes to pay for them. We have to do something different.

By using the existing sales tax, we would have more money available to pay for projects, create thousands of family-wage jobs, and unlock billions in economic development with the money you already send to Olympia.

Update from Olympia

Greetings from Olympia,

It’s been a busy week in your state Capitol. We’ve been working late into the evenings voting on all kinds of bills, mostly proposals by the majority party to increase energy costs, raise property taxes, impose new taxes on consumers, and grow government. You can be assured that I’ve been voting “No” on those efforts. Instead, I’ve taken opportunities to speak up for you on the Senate Floor, pointing out the facts. We don’t need to tax you more.

Thanks to the federal tax cuts and deregulation, our state is projected to receive billions more of your tax dollars than we expected. These aren’t my words. Our state economist was on TVW saying the same thing. In fact, the state’s budget is edging past $50 billion, and too many in Olympia think it’s still not enough.

Whether it’s affordable housing, education or transportation, the only solutions coming from those in charge are MORE TAXES!

I’ve adopted a three-pronged strategy to deal with these pressing issues before the Legislature:

Transportation;
Education; and
Housing and Homelessness.

Read more about my approach to addressing these problems below.

Fully Funding Transportation

In my last e-news update, I asked your input on how the state should address transportation funding. The results are clear. In case you missed it, you can read more about my plan by clicking here. Right now, we are stuck in an endless cycle of creating project lists and raising taxes to pay for them. In the transportation package being considered now, I was able to secure a lot of great things for our district, but to get them I’ll have to vote for billions in new taxes, including an $8 billion carbon tax and increase in the gas tax. I’ll be fighting to use the money you already send Olympia to meet our growing infrastructure needs.

Driving More Money into the Classroom

Classroom

There are over 1,400 unfunded mandates from the state on our local schools. These cost money. Conversations in Olympia are focused on how we get more money for schools. I want to know how we can get the billions we are already spending where they need to go – educating kids in the classroom. We spend about half of a $50 billion two-year budget on K-12 education. If we were able to save just 5 percent by reducing these mandates, that’s over $1 billion more for our students. Click here to learn more about my proposal.

Fighting for the American Dream

While our state is in the midst of a self-imposed housing crisis, I’m committed to finding real solutions. I sponsored legislation to make building single-family homes more affordable. The problem is that government regulations and fees are making the costs to build too high. Now, an entry-level home is more than $400,000. That puts the biggest driver of wealth creation for low- and middle-income families – their own home – out of reach. Instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into government-subsidized housing, which costs more per unit than the private sector, we need to look at the underlying costs. Click here to watch a short video and here for a write-up I did on how we can make home ownership a reality for more people.

It is an honor serving as your state senator. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns you have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Fortunato Signature

Phil Fortunato,

Your 31st District Senator

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.

Elephant in the Dome – Sen. Fortunato talks transportation and much more

Listen to my take on issue before the legislature in new episode of the Senate Republican’s podcast where I discuss transportation, taxes, education funding and affordable housing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download