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Washington Senate Majority Unveils New Gas Tax Package, Votes Lacking

The members of the mostly-Republican majority in the Washington Senate say they want to jumpstart negotiations on a gas tax package to fund roads and transit in Washington state.

They unveiled a revised funding proposal Thursday, but also acknowledged they don’t have the votes to pass it.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and Gov. Jay Inslee say the time is right to pass a gas tax increase of 10 to 11.5 cents per gallon.

Republican Curtis King co-chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. His latest proposal makes some concessions to Democrats, like more funding for transit.

But King also insists on a list of what he calls transportation reforms. For example, he wants to reinvest the sales tax on any transportation projects back into transportation. The money currently goes into the state’s general fund.

“We must have these reforms. It’s the only way that we can sell this package to the public,” said King, R-Yakima.

King needs 25 votes to pass his gas tax package out of the Senate. He says he has 13 votes at this point.

Washington House Democrats say they already passed their version last year. House Transportation Chair Judy Clibborn it doesn’t make sense to resume negotiations until the Senate has enough votes to pass its own package.

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.