Legislature passes $17 billion transportation package

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Legislature on Thursday passed a $17 billion transportation package that will bring investments in highways, bridges, state ferries and transit.

The package includes funding for finishing the State Route 520 corridor project and Washington’s portion of a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

“We’re going to be filling potholes and bridges, letting our kids ride free on our buses and ferries and trains, and investing in traffic safety without a gas tax increase,” Sen. Marko Liias, Democratic transportation committee chair, told KIRO 7 before the vote.

Liias said the package relies mostly on federal and existing revenue, as well as expected revenue from the state’s Climate Commitment Act.

That act, passed last year, includes a cap and invest program to limit pollution that begins next year.

Past transportation packages have relied on gas tax increases, but this does not directly raise gas prices.

But both the cap and invest program and the state’s clean fuel standard are expected to affect gas prices.

Passage of the transportation package comes at a time of heightened price sensitivity, with high gas prices and inflation.

Republicans said the package was crafted without their input by Democrats who control both houses of the Legislature.

GOP leaders point out the package includes some new fees for car owners.

“I’m listening to the people and they’re telling me, hey, enough,” said Rep. Andrew Barkis, the Republican leader on the House Transportation Committee.

Under the fee increases, the cost of a new license plate will jump from $10 to $50.

Dealer temporary permits will rise from $15 to $40.

The fee car owners pay when first registering a car in Washington to check that it isn’t stolen will go from $15 to $50 this year and to $75 in 2026.

The cost for a six-year enhanced driver’s license will increase from $24 to $42.

“We really focused on those who have the ability to pay,” Liias told KIRO 7, saying the fees are largely aimed at people buying expensive new cars.

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