Rivers, Benton split on transportation package

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Clark County Senators Ann Rivers (R-La Center) and Don Benton (R-Vancouver) cast opposing votes as Senate lawmakers passed a $15 billion transportation package that includes an 11.7-cent increase to the state gas tax over the next three years.

After the Senate passed the package on March 2, it moved to the Democrat-controlled House where Majority Leader Pat Sullivan (D-Covington) said that the package won’t be considered until lawmakers address education funding, which they are under order from the state Supreme Court to substantially increase.

“In the end, our goal is to pass a transportation budget,” Sullivan said. “But we can’t do that until we get the operating side figured out.”

The city of Battle Ground would receive $7.5 million from the package to be used for the 502/503 Congestion Release Project.

Rivers voted in favor of the package and Benton was opposed.

“I’m tired of the people of Southwest Washington paying for everyone’s steak dinner, but not even allowed a piece of bread. The projects slated for our legislative district alone will produce an enormous return on investment,” said Rivers, who serves the state’s 18th Legislative District. “Between the enhanced economic development our area will enjoy and the family-wage construction jobs that will result from these projects and the others in surrounding districts, this is a great deal for Clark County.” 

The transportation-revenue package totaled 11 bills. The first eight bills passed in the Senate addressed key reforms that had been must-have changes for Rivers and her Majority Coalition Caucus colleagues to move forward with the next leg of the package – the proposed 11.7 cent-per-gallon gas-tax increase, phased in over three years.

“People can always find a reason to say ‘no’ to a proposal. It’s harder to say ‘yes,’ but if that’s the best way to reverse the decline in our state’s transportation infrastructure, then that’s what you do as a leader. I wish there were a ‘no tax of any kind’ option, but taxes are how we have always paid for roads. There has to be a revenue source, and while this package isn’t perfect, it’s a big improvement over 10 years ago,” said Rivers.

The Legislature has not approved a transportation-revenue package since 2005, and that one allocated no money to maintenance and preservation.

“I agree that there are real transportation needs across this state – and in the 17th Legislative District, but there is simply no way I could have supported this transportation package in its current form,’’ Benton said. “This package is high on taxes and fees, low on reforms and fundamentally bad for Southwest Washington.

“It would force drivers in my district to pay nearly 12 cents more per gallon, while also hiking the passenger-vehicle weight fees and license fees on light trucks and heavy trucks. It also increases fees on vehicle sales, electric vehicles, studded tires, trailers, and CDL permits and requalification exams.



“People are still struggling to recover from the Great Recession, gas prices are creeping back up and families simply don’t believe that government needs their hard-earned dollars more than they do.’’

Benton is one of many legislators who have called for a reform of the Department of Transportation (DOT) before they will endorse more transportation spending.

 “What’s worse, people in my district have little to no confidence in DOT to do major projects in an efficient and competent way,’’ Benton said. “Millions of dollars have been wasted by DOT in recent years. Seattle’s deep-bore tunnel machine was stuck for months in a giant money pit that is costing taxpayers daily. Overruns on the SR-520 bridge project resulting from four leaky pontoons have cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Millions more have been identified as examples of waste and mismanagement at DOT.

“The reforms included in this package have been watered down at every turn, and like most of the people of my district, I am very leery about the chances of these reforms – even in their reduced state – being enacted and implemented,’’ Benton added. “The people of this state want to see DOT reformed and their tax dollars used in an efficient way before lawmakers come back to them asking for more money.’’

Benton also felt the Seattle-Tacoma area would benefit too greatly from the package.

“Finally, nearly 60 percent of the revenue in this package would go to the Puget Sound region, with the rest of the state getting the scraps,’’ he said. “Southwest Washington is not treated fairly in the project list. For example, the package does not include funding for a new interchange near the Clark County Fairgrounds. This project is a priority for our county and it should have been included from the start in any package that wanted support from our region.’’

Rivers said the proposed hike in the gas tax was a necessary evil.

“People can always find a reason to say ‘no’ to a proposal,’’ Rivers said. “It’s harder to say ‘yes,’ but if that’s the best way to reverse the decline in our state’s transportation infrastructure, then that’s what you do as a leader. I wish there were a ‘no tax of any kind’ option, but taxes are how we have always paid for roads. There has to be a revenue source, and while this package isn’t perfect, it’s a big improvement over 10 years ago.”

Reporter Cooper Inveen of the WNPA Olympia News Bureau contributed to this report.