Orcutt to Gov on transportation: Fix it before you fund it

Governor wants more gas tax money for debacle-ridden Transportation Dept.

In his State of the State address today, Gov. Jay Inslee called on the Legislature to pass a transportation revenue package that includes an 11.5 cent per-gallon gas tax increase.

In response, state Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama and the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, said “there’s no way the people of Washington will accept a massive gas tax hike when the state Department of Transportation can barely handle the projects it’s doing now.”

Orcutt was referring to recent high-profile problems on two Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) mega-projects:  the 520 bridge replacement and the tunneling to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.  Cracked pontoons and huge cost overruns have plagued the 520 project, while “Bertha,” the tunnel-boring machine on the Viaduct project, has been stopped for over a month after running into a steel pipe placed there in 2002 by WSDOT itself.

“Most of the people I represent are working people who don’t have a lot of extra disposable income – and they won’t stand for a higher gas tax when WSDOT is wasting so much money now,” said Orcutt. “We need significant reforms and guarantees of more competent project management before we even think about asking for more money from taxpayers.”

For more information about Rep. Orcutt, visit: www.representativeedorcutt.com.

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Rep. Orcutt’s media: