Tag Archives: Roads

Schoesler says agricultural groups oppose ‘cap-and-tax’ bill, contrary to claims by Democrat senator

No one should believe claims that the state’s agricultural industry backs a Democratic senator’s “cap-and-tax” bill, considering how disastrous the proposal would be to this key part of Washington’s economy, says 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler.

Schoesler cited a recent story in the Capital Press agriculture publication in which reporter Don Jenkins quoted officials with the Washington Farm Bureau, Northwest Agricultural Cooperative Council and Washington’s Cattlemen’s Association. All countered Sen. Reuven Carlyle’s recent claim that the state’s agricultural industry is an “enthusiastic supporter” of the cap-and-tax proposal, Senate Bill 5126.

“When you have officials from these important ag groups all saying this claim by Senator Carlyle is false, it really makes you shake your head,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville, who runs a wheat farm and is a fifth-generation farmer. “As someone who serves an agricultural district, I’ve been in touch with a wide section of people in this sector. At best, they are apprehensive about this proposal. At worst, they are flat-out against it. People need to remember that farmers and growers are price takers, not price setters. If this bill becomes law, it will drive up food prices, which is bad news for consumers, especially those on a small income.”

Senate Bill 5126 has been placed on the Senate’s voting calendar after being approved along party lines by the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, Senate Ways and Means Committee and Senate Rules Committee.

“When Senator Carlyle claimed in Ways and Means that his bill has support from agriculture, he followed it with a mention of reforestation. Trees are definitely an important rotational crop in Washington, but if the good senator from Seattle doesn’t know our agricultural sector is about much more than forestry, I’d encourage him to leave the city and pay a visit to the farms that grow our food and are so important to trade in our state,” Schoesler said.

“The fact that this bill never went to the Senate Transportation Committee, despite the enormous effect it could have on the cost of fuel, clearly indicates Democratic leaders don’t care much about the negative effect it will have on drivers, and on companies that rely on our roads to ship products and goods,” said Schoesler.

People who wish to comment to Democratic leaders on a particular bill can call the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and share their thoughts.

The 2021 legislative session is scheduled to end April 25.

Governor should prioritize kids over fish

Additional funds for fish passage barriers should pay for better highway safety in Eastern Washington

The citizens of Whitman County and the parents of students at Washington State University’s Pullman campus aren’t happy, and why would they be? They are still mourning the two students who died in car crashes over Thanksgiving break on the highways that feed into Pullman. They want safer highways, and they want them soon.

The comprehensive transportation package passed during the 2015 legislative session allocates money to improve State Route 26 and U.S. Highway 195. Four repaving projects are almost complete, and passing lane construction on U.S. 195 will begin in 2017. But the passing lanes S.R. 26 aren’t projected to begin until 2025.

Almost 6,000 people have signed an online petition in an effort to make highway safety in that area a bigger priority and bump up the timeline for those improvements. Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, believes this is possible, especially in light of Gov. Jay Inslee’s recent supplemental budget plan calls for $113 million of additional funding for fish passage barrier removal.

“We already allocated 300 million dollars in the current budget for fish culverts. Any additional funds need to be prioritized towards saving kids’ lives on a dangerous stretch of eastern Washington freeway. We are investing millions in the highways leading to the University of Washington. Governor Inslee should value Cougars as much as Huskies – and the safety of students more than fish.”

“If that money goes toward anything in Washington, it should go toward making it safer for our kids to drive our highways,” says Schoesler.

In 2013, Inslee supported a transportation package that made no provision whatsoever for improvements to S.R. 26 and U.S. 195. By contrast, the package passed in 2015 was a bipartisan effort led by the Senate and is far more comprehensive than the governor’s initial plan.

“We wanted a plan that would serve the east side of the state as well as the west side. The governor’s transportation package prioritized the west side. We worked for a plan that made all of Washington a priority,” says Schoesler.