Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 25, 2003
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Gary Locke Calls House Transportation Plan a ‘Start,’ Presses for Increased Package to Address Critical Projects

Gov. Gary Locke said today that the House Transportation Committee chair’s three-cent gas tax proposal is a “start” in delivering transportation improvements that are needed to ensure a healthy economy for the state.

Locke said the state needs a gas tax increase of four or five cents to address long-delayed transportation projects critical to the state economy. And he urged the Legislature to act immediately to approve a transportation-funding package, which will stimulate the economy by creating thousands of construction jobs.

“I’ve been meeting on an almost weekly basis with transportation committee chairmen for the House and Senate,” Locke said. “Both sides are close to agreement, and there is no reason we cannot reach a compromise that will keep our highways safe, keep our people moving, improve freight mobility, improve public transportation and passenger rail, and create jobs now.”

Locke thanked Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, for proposing a transportation plan that calls for a three-cent increase in the gas tax, a 0.6 percent title transfer fee on sales of new and used vehicles and a 15 percent increase in the gross weight fee for trucks. “It’s a start in addressing the backlog of transportation projects that have been on hold much too long,” Locke said.

Saying he would prefer to see a four- or five-cent increase in the gas tax, the governor noted that fully bonded, each one-cent increase in the gas tax could raise an additional $500 million over 10 years – and that $500 million in highway construction could generate up to 3,000 family-wage jobs for Washington citizens.

“Representative Murray’s proposal is a good-faith effort to address our critical transportation problems,” Locke said. “We simply have to provide more funding to deal with the state’s worsening transportation crisis.”

Murray’s transportation proposal would raise a total of $2.6 billion over 10 years, including nearly $700 million in flexible funding for public transit. Locke said the state needs up to $1 billion more dedicated to new highway construction to meet the state’s urgent transportation needs.

Locke said he would continue to work with Murray and Sen. Jim Horn, R-Mercer Island, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, to forge a compromise transportation solution, but said time was running out.

“A solution is within our reach,” Locke said. “We need to pass a transportation budget by the end of the month, so these important issues get the attention they deserve.”

Locke said a transportation funding solution could be lost if it is not approved before legislators begin final negotiations on difficult issues in the state’s operating budget.

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