4/16/02-State lawmakers have passed a $7.7 billion transportation plan they claim aids highway safety and congestion-relief projects. HB2969, which must gain voter approval on a November ballot to take effect, would enact a 9 cents-per-gallon fuel tax increase from the current 23-cent fuel tax, a 1 percent sales tax on new and used vehicles and a 30 percent increase on the $1,600 annual registration fees for trucks to help pay for the plan.

2/26/02 - State lawmakers have released the details of a $5.6 billion transportation plan they claim aids highway safety and congestion-relief projects. If passed, HB2969 must gain voter approval in a June election.

Legislators want to pay for the transportation improvement plan with an 8 cents-per-gallon fuel tax increase from the current 23-cent fuel tax, an 0.8 percent sales tax on new and used vehicles and a 20 percent increase on the $1,600 annual registration fees for trucks to help pay for the plan.

Gov. Gary Locke, who in December proposed an $8.5 billion plan that would not require a public vote, said he was "encouraged" by the plan. A similar proposal last year failed to pass the state Legislature after a near-record-long seven-month session. HB2969 is in the House transportation committee with a vote expected in the House this week. The bill status number is (360) 786-7573.

9/4/01-The Washington State Legislature failed in late July to reach an agreement on a transportation bill that would have charged truckdrivers higher fuel taxes, trucking fees and sales taxes. Legislators promised the transportation issue will not die and may be revisited next session.
Lawmakers struggled for months trying to strike a deal that would have increased fuel taxes by 9 cents over the next three years, raised truck registration fees by 20 to 25 percent and established a sales tax on new and used vehicles.
The legislature finished the near-record-long seven-month session without an agreement on the largest transportation project in state history. The package would have paid for about $9 billion in improvements over the next decade, including work on Interstates 5 and 405 near Seattle.
Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald told news reporters that the legislators inability to reach an agreement "is a temporary bump in the road." About 140 projects scheduled to begin construction in the next two years have been shelved until an agreement is reached. "We are going to have a modern transportation system in Washington state, one way or another, sooner or later."

5/14/2001 - SB5138 proposes increasing the weight of commercial vehicles exempted from scale stops in the state. Currently, all commercial drivers over 16,000 pounds and carriers of hazardous materials are required to stop at a weigh station when it's open. Sen. Bob Morton's bill would allow commercial vehicles weighing up to 26,000 pounds to bypass open scale houses without being required to stop. The exception, of course, haz mat. The Senate Rules Committee is in special session. If the bill is not heard before the end of the session it will be carried over to the next session.

4/24/01 - HB1334, introduced by Rep. Mark Miloscia, proposes fining any driver responsible for an accident that causes injury or damage to another while operating a motor vehicle and using a wireless phone. The cell-phone-wielding driver would be fined $35. Any driver making an emergency call or operating a hands-free mode wireless phone would be exempt. At press time, the bill was in the hands of the Judiciary Committee. The session was due to end in May for two weeks before reconvening in June. The bill status number for the Washington Legislature is (360) 786-7573.

3/21/01--HB1334, introduced by Rep. Mark Miloscia, proposes fining any driver responsible for an accident that causes injury or damage to another while operating a motor vehicle and using a wireless phone. The cell-phone-wielding driver would be fined $35. Any driver making an emergency call or operating a hands-free mode wireless phone would be exempt. The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee.
The general information number for the Washington House is (360) 786-7573.

3/7/01 - SB5138 proposes increasing the weight of commercial vehicles exempted from scale stops in the state. The bill, introduced by Sen. Bob Morton, would allow commercial vehicles weighing up to 26,000 pounds to bypass open scale houses without being required to stop.
Currently, commercial drivers over 16,000 pounds and all carriers of hazardous materials are required to stop at a weigh station when it's open. The weight requirement was increased from 10,000 to 16,000 in 1999.
Truckdriver and OOIDA board member Charlie Parfrey, of Parfrey Trucking Inc. in Spokane, said if the bill passes "it would make it easier on these hot shots that travel through the state and traffic at the scales would be reduced cutting down on backups."
Any carrier of hazardous materials, regardless of weight, will still be required to stop at an open scale house.
The general information number for the Washington state Senate is (360) 786-7550.