Last week, the Senate Transportation Committee held its third hearing on Sen. Steve Hobbs’ (D–Lake Stevens) proposed transportation revenue and spending package, “Forward Washington.” With less than a week of session remaining and the current law budget yet to be adopted, the future of a transportation revenue package remains uncertain.

The Forward Washington package generates roughly $17 billion over sixteen years and relies on a separate cap-and-invest proposal to generate a little under a third of the projected revenue. This effectively ties the promise of a transportation revenue package to a proposed Grand Bargain—marrying the future of transportation spending to carbon-reduction policies. Click here to read our previous reporting on the transportation proposals at play.

The Grand Bargain doesn’t stop there. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards proposal is also contingent upon the passage of a transportation revenue package. After being significantly amendment in the Senate earlier this month, the bill awaits concurrence by Rep. Fitzgibbon and the House.

To complicate the grand bargain further, last week, seventeen House Democrats sent a letter expressing their concerns with the equity and efficiency of a cap-and-invest program and their preference of Washington STRONG, which would establish a carbon tax, as an alternative to Sen. Carlyle’s bill. While many legislators and stakeholders agree that bold climate action is needed, many groups remain divided when considering the most effective, equitable policy for achieving significant carbon reduction.

Sen. Hobbs moved Forward Washington out of his committee last week; the proposal is currently in the Rules Committee.

Dates to remember

Forward Washington awaits action in the Senate Rules Committee. SB 5126 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, April 19 at 9 am; it is scheduled for executive session in the same committee on Tuesday, April 20 at 9 am.