April 14, 2015
CONTACT: Kevin Shutty, Public Information Officer - (360) 786-7252
Rep. Jesse Young votes 'no' on gas tax hike without reforms
'We must have an accountable system that doesn’t hurt the economy by funding King County mega-project overruns'
Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor, today voted against legislation to raise the gas tax by 11.7 cents per gallon, saying there aren't enough reforms to protect taxpayers. The vote occurred in an evening executive session of the House Transportation Committee.
"We have major projects in this state that can be very easily funded without raising taxes," said Young. "Unfortunately, these projects are being held hostage by the increasing demands from Seattle and King County that their projects be funded by the rest of the state.”
Young said although the gas-tax legislation includes funding for building out Highway 167, which he supports, the lack of reforms that would guarantee such funding won’t be stripped away for additional spending on 520 expansion and the Alaskan Way Viaduct tunnel replacement leave the very real possibility of putting 26th District taxpayers on the hook for even more transportation failures.
"My vote today was about protecting local taxpayers and those on fixed incomes. We must have a guarantee that transportation dollars will be spent wisely and carefully."
Young also noted that the 26th district was underrepresented in project requests.
“What little money we had in the Senate package was almost completely removed,” Young noted. “And all efforts to provide for needed 26th district projects were rejected without even being given a hearing or vote.”
For more information about Rep. Young, visit: www.representativejesseyoung.com.
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