Washington State Democrats Release Transportation Package

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – House and Senate Democrats have unveiled a $16 billion, 16-year transportation revenue package that spends on a variety of projects.

Areas that will see funding range from the building new hybrid electric ferries and funding of more walking and biking corridors to highway maintenance and the replacement of fish passage culverts.

Unlike previous packages that have included gas tax increases, this plan gets a bulk of its funding from a carbon pricing program signed into law last year that requires the state’s largest emitters, like refineries, to purchase credits for allowed emissions if they exceed a cap set by regulators.

Other revenue sources include $3.4 billion in federal money.