Inslee aims to pay for fish-barrier removal at expense of highway projects

OLYMPIA–When about two-thirds of legislators and I voted in 2015 for the “Connecting Washington” transportation package, we did so despite also passing a large gas-tax increase. We voted for this package–and gas-tax hike–mainly because it would fund needed highway projects throughout the state, including some in our very own 9th District.

So, you can imagine how unhappy I was to learn that Gov. Inslee’s recent state transportation budget proposal might result in the delay of several road projects that have either just started or are slated to begin soon. Our Senate Republican Caucus transportation policy staffer emailed me the following:

Right now, the Governor’s budget takes reductions from Connecting Washington projects to cover about $1 billion in both preservation and fish culvert projects. The reductions would be created by delaying or modifying projects into out years where possible.

The Governor did not specify which projects would be delayed or modified. The related budget proviso states that the Governor and OFM [Office of Financial Management–his budget office) will work with the legislature to determine what projects must be prioritized and to figure out where reductions might be made. This sentiment is also reflected in their 2021–2023 Budget and Policy Highlights document.

In other words, the Governor will seek to delay Connecting Washington projects in order to cover the shortfall. The issue is that there may not be enough Connecting Washington projects to cover the full $1 billion. In looking at projects that have not yet started, or have just barely begun, there only seems to be about $586 million in planned spending. If culverts are expected to take $724 million of the $1 billion shift then there is still a $138 million gap that would need addressed.

When the governor announced his transportation budget plan a few weeks ago, he was quiet on which road projects might be suspended or delayed in order to pay for the fish-barrier removal projects that are required due to a recent court decision. It concerns me that we won’t know until the latter part of this year’s session which projects might be placed on hold. Will it be a Spokane-area project? Will it be a project on Highway 26? Who knows? And drivers have reason to be upset. They are paying a higher gas tax with the idea that the money raised by the latest gas-tax hike will help pay for road projects in their area – not for fish-culvert projects. There’s no way I’d vote for such a large gas-tax hike if I knew that any projects funded by this package were delayed or taken away in order to pay for fish passage.