House Democrats and Republicans reportedly are now just a penny apart on a gas-tax plan that has stymie progress on the state’s transportation woes for two years.
Tomorrow, Democrats will propose an 8-cent-per-gallon increase to fund state transportation projects $6.1 billion over the next 10 years, House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Ruth Fisher, D-Tacoma, said Sunday.
Under their own plan released Friday, House Republicans called for a 7-cent-per-gallon increase to fund a $5.5 billion “congestion relief plan.”
Surprised Democrats apparently hadn’t realized the two sides were so close.
“It’s as optimistic a future as I’ve seen in years,” House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said. “It means compromise may be on the horizon.”