WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820 We could do that. We could have a Life Lessons 00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:04.099 with Axel series. Yeah, there you go. You think 00:00:04.099 --> 00:00:07.820 anybody would listen? I don't know. I don't know 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:10.400 that. Also, probably there's a Life Lesson in 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:15.580 there, too. There probably is. Welcome to County 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.890 Connection. the official podcast of the Washington 00:00:17.890 --> 00:00:20.289 State Association of Counties, where we dive 00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:22.429 into the legislative issues shaping the future 00:00:22.429 --> 00:00:24.870 of our communities. From budgets to public safety, 00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:27.670 infrastructure to elections, we'll break down 00:00:27.670 --> 00:00:30.309 what's happening in Olympia and how it impacts 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:32.950 counties from across the Evergreen State. Stay 00:00:32.950 --> 00:00:35.890 informed, stay engaged, and join us as we amplify 00:00:35.890 --> 00:00:41.130 the voice of Washington's 39 counties. Welcome, 00:00:41.189 --> 00:00:42.710 everybody, to the County Connection podcast, 00:00:43.149 --> 00:00:45.070 the official podcast of the Washington State 00:00:45.070 --> 00:00:47.630 Association of Counties. I'm Paul Jewell, your 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:50.570 government relations director and host of the 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:54.649 podcast. It is a little bit after 12 o 'clock 00:00:54.649 --> 00:00:58.609 on, geez, I guess it's Thursday already. after 00:00:58.609 --> 00:01:01.890 session. Session ended on Sunday, April 27th. 00:01:01.890 --> 00:01:04.849 Today is Thursday, May 1st. Happy May Day out 00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:08.689 there, everybody. Axel Swanson is here in the 00:01:08.689 --> 00:01:11.230 studio with me to do a little bit of a wrap up 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:13.109 of how things went during the legislative session 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:15.810 for transportation. But Axel, more importantly, 00:01:15.989 --> 00:01:18.189 did you ever celebrate May Day as a kid? Did 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:20.489 you ever do that traditional thing where you 00:01:20.489 --> 00:01:23.489 get flowers for somebody and you... put them 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:25.129 at the doorstep and you knock on the door and 00:01:25.129 --> 00:01:27.069 you run away and they get flowers from somebody 00:01:27.069 --> 00:01:28.870 they didn't know. I do remember that a little 00:01:28.870 --> 00:01:30.290 bit. Yeah. Yeah. Did you ever do that when you 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:31.849 were a kid? Yeah. It was a big, it was a big 00:01:31.849 --> 00:01:36.769 part of your childhood. I mean, you're, you're 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:38.510 bringing back memories here for me, Paul. Yeah. 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:41.590 Yeah. Do you ever do it today? I have, I have 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:44.109 not done that. Have you taught more into the, 00:01:44.109 --> 00:01:46.890 uh, the mother's day hanging baskets? We've, 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:48.709 we've done it, but that's a big thing. Yeah. 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:51.250 Yeah. Mother's day is coming up. Yeah, sure is. 00:01:51.709 --> 00:01:54.640 Well, um, Axel, it's good to see you again. Good 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.859 to have you back. Yeah, thanks. How do you feel 00:01:56.859 --> 00:02:02.439 now that session's over? I'm feeling good. We've 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:04.500 talked about this, but I think for policy staff, 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:06.819 for those of us that are really engaged in the 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:10.020 legislative session, you feel that kind of downshift 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:14.960 even the week before once they're just working 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.460 less on policy bills and more on budget, and 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:18.979 we're kind of waiting to see what's in the final 00:02:18.979 --> 00:02:21.919 budget, and you just kind of transition into 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.189 the the different pace of after session. Well, 00:02:26.210 --> 00:02:28.110 things are sure quiet here at the office. Yeah, 00:02:28.129 --> 00:02:30.150 they were. I came in inside this morning. Yeah, 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:31.669 really quiet. You and I are actually the only 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:33.949 ones here right now. I think there's a few folks 00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:37.129 coming in this afternoon, but I think everybody's 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:40.669 transitioned pretty quickly away from session. 00:02:41.110 --> 00:02:43.030 Let's talk about a couple of things that happened 00:02:43.030 --> 00:02:45.680 this year. I mean, transportation. surprisingly, 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.780 was a pretty major focus this year, even though 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:52.139 it didn't really get, I think, the airtime that 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:53.699 a lot of the other issues did. You know, the 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:57.419 operating budget and the operating budget woes, 00:02:57.419 --> 00:03:00.199 more specifically, really took a lot of the air 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:02.360 out of most rooms. But there was a lot going 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.560 on in the background around transportation, and 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:07.500 there were some pretty interesting developments, 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:09.620 some really good things for counties this year, 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:13.219 and a new transportation funding package, right? 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.699 Yeah. I don't know if leadership would call it 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:22.340 a package, but certainly you had a number of 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:25.800 new revenues that were adopted to support the 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.599 transportation budget. So that's kind of similar 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:30.780 to what you do maybe with a more traditional 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:33.599 transportation package. And those things were 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:37.870 meant to kind of not only. sure up what was adopted 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:40.270 previously in the move -ahead package, but also 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:43.250 similarly in the transportation budget. They 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:45.210 had a deficit they needed to deal with as well. 00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:47.969 So what was the move -ahead? Explain to listeners 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:50.289 what the move -ahead package was. Well, so the 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:52.430 move -ahead transportation package was adopted 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:56.250 in the previous biennium, although it's odd because 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:58.669 it was adopted during a short session. So now 00:03:58.669 --> 00:04:01.169 I'm even struggling to kind of go back, let's 00:04:01.169 --> 00:04:07.319 call it three years ago. And it was a 16 -year, 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:12.620 $17 billion package, included a whole bunch of 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:15.740 things, but that was kind of when Climate Commitment 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.500 Act had gone through the new funding related 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:22.459 to that. So just a whole bunch of things, transportation 00:04:22.459 --> 00:04:29.160 projects, but a lot that was related to enhancements 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:33.300 and additional spending for transit. multimodal 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:37.319 uses and things like that. But what you saw was 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:41.540 just like the state operating budget as we've 00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:44.079 kind of moved through these years and into this 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.740 current economy, we've had high inflation specifically 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:51.959 on projects. Costs related to completing projects 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:56.980 have gone up sort of astronomically. And so you 00:04:56.980 --> 00:05:00.420 just saw what was originally adopted in terms 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:04.649 of anticipated costs for projects and programs, 00:05:05.050 --> 00:05:08.149 coupled with that cost increase, you know, things 00:05:08.149 --> 00:05:11.149 just got out of balance real quick. So they needed 00:05:11.149 --> 00:05:13.870 to come back and readdress the decisions they 00:05:13.870 --> 00:05:16.290 had made three years ago in the Move Ahead transportation 00:05:16.290 --> 00:05:19.370 package with this budget to keep those things 00:05:19.370 --> 00:05:22.129 balanced and in place and then take care of anything 00:05:22.129 --> 00:05:24.269 new and additional that they still needed to 00:05:24.269 --> 00:05:27.040 do. So the Move Ahead package. It included new 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:28.680 funding, but it also included a bunch of new 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:33.000 projects, right? Now, this budget does include 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.139 some new funding, in fact, several new funding 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:37.600 sources, but it's not quite the same as the move 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.579 ahead in that there's not a whole slate of new 00:05:39.579 --> 00:05:42.319 projects, right? It's backfilling a lot of those 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.500 existing projects that had either where we've 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:49.480 seen actual revenue shortfalls or cost increases 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.060 or both, maybe with some new projects thrown 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:54.620 in at the same time. Is that what you're saying? 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:57.720 Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a fair estimation. 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:01.480 So focusing on those projects and programs that 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:03.000 were adopted in the move ahead transportation 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.060 package, making sure that there's enough funding 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.019 to keep the commitments that were already made 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.660 and complete the projects that were already put 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:15.600 forward. And then I would, I believe that yes, 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.399 some, some new things are added in this two year 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.379 budget to that. Although I will say that's not 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.230 my expertise, right? Like I don't. Because we 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:27.350 work for the Association of Counties, I tend 00:06:27.350 --> 00:06:31.990 to work almost entirely on programs and revenues 00:06:31.990 --> 00:06:35.430 that will equally impact and help counties. And 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:38.189 so I don't get too caught up or focused on individual 00:06:38.189 --> 00:06:40.649 projects, as you can imagine. I focus on preservation 00:06:40.649 --> 00:06:42.649 and maintenance funding that will go to each 00:06:42.649 --> 00:06:45.910 of our counties to help fund and upkeep the existing 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:48.889 system we have. I work a lot on, and we'll get 00:06:48.889 --> 00:06:52.759 into this, but fish barrier. Removal and culvert 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.660 replacements doesn't impact every county, but 00:06:55.660 --> 00:06:58.319 almost all of our counties have those types of 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.800 projects. Safety funding is really a key, you 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.540 know, and critical thing for us. So I kind of 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:07.779 work on the more programmatic level of funding 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:09.980 that will benefit all the members. Well, let's 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:12.579 go over some of the details that affect counties 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:16.639 in this particular budget around transportation. 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:20.839 There's a new gas tax included here, right? Yep, 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:24.339 yep. They did a $0 .06 gas tax increase in this. 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:27.370 transportation. Okay. And that's just added to 00:07:27.370 --> 00:07:31.089 all of the previous tax increases that we have 00:07:31.089 --> 00:07:32.990 experienced over the years. Now, the last time 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:35.449 I checked, I thought like the each gallon of 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:38.329 gas was being taxed at like 56 cents or so. I 00:07:38.329 --> 00:07:40.370 don't know how accurate that is, but if that 00:07:40.370 --> 00:07:43.089 were accurate, then it's another six cents on 00:07:43.089 --> 00:07:45.529 top of that, essentially taking it to 62 cents 00:07:45.529 --> 00:07:47.790 per gallon. Is that right? Yeah. And I should 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:49.290 have come in here with that number and I apologize 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:51.779 for not, but I don't think you're far off. for 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:54.759 some reason, 49 cents sticks in my head and then 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:57.800 adding the six on top of that, but we're close. 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.319 So whatever the number is. So it's, it's an, 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.300 in addition to what already exists, all the taxes 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:05.500 that are being paid on every gallon of gas. And 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:07.000 then this one's a little bit different, right? 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.519 Doesn't it have some sort of annual adjustment 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.939 where it actually goes up every year? Yeah. So 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:15.980 that is, that's not how it's been done in the 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:17.899 past. And actually I need to double check this, 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.019 but I'm quite certain because I looked at this 00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:22.230 the other day when we did the, the end of session 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:25.370 report and write -up. But it actually, I believe, 00:08:25.470 --> 00:08:29.670 indexes the full amount of the gas tax at 2 % 00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:33.029 each year starting, but I think it starts in 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:36.470 27. I think I'm right on that. So yes, it will 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:43.710 increase over time automatically. So you said 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:45.990 that's never been done before. Not with the gas 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:47.769 tax. Certainly, I mean, you could think of, and 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:49.529 I could think of other revenues where that's 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:53.559 kind of the case. And depending on who you're 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:56.840 talking to, it makes some sense given the issue 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:59.600 they're trying to correct with part of this is 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.639 the inflation we see, right? So as time passes, 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:05.559 costs go up, your revenues need to keep up with 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.139 those costs or you find yourself in a deficit 00:09:08.139 --> 00:09:10.840 position. So this is how they address that. Is 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:12.360 it clear how they're going to implement that, 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:14.980 Axel? Because when I look at $0 .06, right, and 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:19.799 I say, okay, 2 % of $0 .06 is probably... so 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:22.960 many tenths or hundredths of a cent are they 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.240 saying is it geared so that it has to be rounded 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.139 up to the nearest cent so even though so so the 00:09:29.139 --> 00:09:30.779 following year will go up to seven even though 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:33.120 that's way more than two percent of six cents 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.799 or is it on a per tenth or per hundredth of a 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.340 cent that accumulates as you're kind of pumping 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:42.159 gas into one penny or two pennies difference 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.480 over the entire you know say you know 10 or 15 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.940 or 20 gallons. Do we know how that's going to 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:50.340 work? Yeah, the bill's clear on that. And I can't 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:52.720 remember, you know, to your point. So again, 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:55.299 the 2 % increase is for the full amount of gas 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:58.679 tax. That's my understanding. When the bill speaks 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:02.860 to how to do the 2%. annual increase and how 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:05.120 to round it it's not to the cent it's probably 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:06.919 you know the 10th or the 100th i can't remember 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.159 okay but there's a specific line that i've read 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.000 there that does address you know when that occurs 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.000 it's to this you know to the nearest whatever 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:18.200 and so the indexing is not i just i want to clarify 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:20.279 something you just said that i wasn't clear on 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:23.159 the indexing that two percent per year growth 00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:26.860 rate that's applied to the entirety of the gas 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:31.190 tax cumulative or just the six cents that was 00:10:31.190 --> 00:10:33.549 added this year? I believe it's the cumulative. 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:36.110 I think cumulative is actually the word. And 00:10:36.110 --> 00:10:37.730 so again, that was something I was going to double 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:39.649 check on, but I think in talking with the County 00:10:39.649 --> 00:10:41.970 Road Administration Board, the way the current 00:10:41.970 --> 00:10:44.950 bill, the transportation budget reads is the 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:48.750 2 % will apply and increase the cumulative amount 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:51.649 annually. Wow. Yeah. Which I would understand 00:10:51.649 --> 00:10:54.720 to be the full amount. Now... The first time 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.240 I read it or in one version, I did think it was 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:00.000 just associated with the additional increment. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.279 So the six cents or the original house proposal 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:06.159 had nine cents. And so one of those I thought 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.899 it was the incremental piece was increased. I 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.440 think currently though, and listeners will have 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:13.299 to forgive me if I've got this wrong, but I think 00:11:13.299 --> 00:11:15.480 it's... I think we read it as the cumulative 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.840 amount will increase by 2%. Well, let's say it's 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.440 60 cents, 55 cents, whatever it may be with this 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:24.960 new 6 cents. 2 % of that is a big difference 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:29.159 between 2 % of the increase of 6 cents. That's 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:33.639 going to make a huge amount of revenue difference 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:37.840 over time. That is really interesting. You know, 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.860 this was something that really kind of flew under 00:11:40.860 --> 00:11:43.440 the radar this year. And I think it was because 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:48.240 of all the hubbub around, you know, the up to 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:51.000 $16 billion deficit in the four -year budget 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.700 outlook that the operating budget. was trying 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:57.299 to deal with that really took a lot of attention 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:00.159 as i said you know kind of sucked the air out 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.440 of every room and and this whole transportation 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:04.980 funding issue and a new increase in gas taxes 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:09.059 really wasn't well reported and wasn't extensively 00:12:09.059 --> 00:12:11.080 discussed outside of kind of the transportation 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.120 i don't know what do you want to say the the 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.679 transportation caucus yeah on transportation 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:19.279 and it's funny because you know you and i we 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:21.320 you know, we're across the hallway from each 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.000 other, but you're working often, you know, on 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.759 operating budget and stuff. And so it's funny 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:27.940 to kind of listen to you say that. Cause I'm 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:30.179 like, that's all I work on. So it's like, man, 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:32.539 I saw, you know, lots of articles that were talking 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:35.320 about the gas tax increase and what to expect. 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:37.440 And, you know, it's just kind of what you're 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.399 paying attention to. Yeah. Most people weren't 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:42.519 paying attention to it. I think that's what's 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:44.860 fascinating about it is that, you know, most 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.320 of the time in most years, if a transportation 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:51.039 tax. like a gas tax were being proposed as an 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.179 increase, it'd get a lot of attention. And it'd 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:55.480 be really controversial. And this year it wasn't 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.340 the case. And then they've added this 2 % inflator 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.419 to it on an annual basis. And if that applies 00:13:01.419 --> 00:13:05.159 to the cumulative amount of gas tax that's being 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:07.139 tacked on to every gallon rather than just the 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:11.820 increase, that's a big difference, right? One 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:15.600 versus the other. And it's probably the most 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.460 regressive tax. that they could have potentially 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:22.299 passed, which is also kind of fascinating when 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:25.580 you think about all the talk and discussion in 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:28.139 the legislature about how they want to change 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:32.059 and overturn the regressive nature of Washington 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:35.259 state's tax code. But at the end of the day, 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:38.039 they really fell back and relied. on probably 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.460 the most regressive one they possibly could have. 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:44.019 Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, it's got the, 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:46.399 it's got, gas tax has a couple of challenges. 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:49.960 I think you just mentioned one. I think another 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:52.580 one is, you know, the structural impact we're 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:55.399 seeing between what we're trying to do with improving 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.179 the environment and climate change by having, 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.100 you know, vehicles that use less fuel. So you've 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.320 got, we've got this problem with gas tax that 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:05.940 whereas we get higher gas mileage, we have declining. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:09.059 need for fuel and so declining revenue. So it's 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:10.980 got that challenge as well, structurally. Sure. 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:15.480 But it also has a very clear and clean nexus 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:17.860 to the road, right? So it's like you're putting 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:21.879 fuel in your car to travel on the road. And because 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:23.480 you're doing that, you should help pay for the 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:25.340 preservation and maintenance of the road. And 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:26.899 so, I mean, I think, and it's also something 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:29.019 that's been around. So we'll probably get into 00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:31.080 maybe the road usage charge idea, which did come 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.100 through, you know, committee and both the Senate 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:36.120 and the House with bills this year. But it's 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:38.840 clear there's still a lot of work to do on the 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.299 idea of transitioning away from a gas tax to 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:43.440 something else because people are so used to 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:47.259 the gas tax. And it's very efficient to collect. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.159 I also want to jump back in here because I did 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.320 check the bill. I didn't want to give bad information 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.919 here. I think the current version of the bill 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.639 says beginning July 1st, 2026. So that'd be the 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:05.000 year after the increase is imposed. The fuel 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.759 tax rates imposed under subsection one through 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.879 nine. So the new six cents is actually, I believe, 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:15.220 subsection nine. That's the new six cents. But 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:17.539 all of the previous ones, I think, would be one 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:21.129 through nine. must be increased annually by 2%. 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:23.210 So I do think that - So it is the cumulative 00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:25.509 amount. That cumulative amount. And then to your 00:15:25.509 --> 00:15:28.250 other question, it says, and the resulting fuel 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:31.629 tax rate must be rounded to the nearest 100th 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:34.309 of the dollar. Okay. So there you go. So that's 00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:38.309 interesting. What I think is challenging about 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:41.750 the gas tax, and I agree with you, easy to collect, 00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:47.990 definite nexus, right? You can draw a direct 00:15:47.990 --> 00:15:51.870 line between gas tax and road maintenance and 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:54.629 the need for more travel corridors, et cetera, 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:56.590 right? As people drive more, we need more. As 00:15:56.590 --> 00:15:58.730 people drive more, we need greater maintenance. 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:00.850 We need more funding. There's wear and tear. 00:16:00.929 --> 00:16:02.970 Things need to be replaced, et cetera. And the 00:16:02.970 --> 00:16:05.009 transportation system is a really important part 00:16:05.009 --> 00:16:08.860 of our economy. for sure, and our quality of 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:11.139 life here in the Northwest. In fact, people would 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:15.360 argue it's probably a detriment to a lot of the 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.019 things that we enjoy here in the Northwest because 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:19.179 our transportation system does get bogged down 00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:21.580 a lot. We are one of the more congested places 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:26.100 in the United States, if not the world. But when 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:29.139 we think about all that, I think that while I 00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:31.779 acknowledge those things are true, one of the 00:16:31.779 --> 00:16:33.940 challenges that the gas tax really has is that 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:36.960 everybody pays the same. Right. And in fact, 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.120 if you can't afford a more efficient vehicle, 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:43.539 you pay more. If you have a vehicle that is twice 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:46.019 the price of someone else's, you don't pay more. 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:48.700 It's exactly the same. Right. Because it's on 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:51.559 a per gallon basis. You know, all of the things 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.879 remaining equal. Now, are there other things 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.279 that they did to maybe equalize that a little 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.919 bit so that those who, you know, can afford to 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.820 pay more are paying more in the system or or 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:07.400 was no. Were there no major changes in that regard 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:11.400 this year? You know, one area that I always am 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.660 interested in is electric cars, right? Because 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:18.440 they're obviously not paying for gas or a lot 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.750 less gas, but still. having an impact on roadways. 00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:24.309 Did they do anything there? They ended up not. 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:26.789 There was proposals to do both, I would say, 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:30.609 like a starter or a process to implement the 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:32.710 road usage charge, which certainly would have 00:17:32.710 --> 00:17:35.970 got to those types of higher vehicle miles. In 00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:39.200 fact, the initial bills that have proposed. putting 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.420 a road usage charge in place have started with 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.180 sort of voluntary opting in with electric vehicles 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:48.039 and then becoming more mandatory. Another proposal 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.720 was going to increase the fee for both electric 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.940 vehicles and hybrids. Those ideas did not move 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:59.799 forward in the current package of fee increases. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:04.339 They did increase weight fees. There is certainly 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:08.670 to get away from or towards. The regressive issue 00:18:08.670 --> 00:18:10.950 that you're raising, they did increase the sales 00:18:10.950 --> 00:18:14.109 tax to help pay for this budget on vehicles. 00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:17.309 So, you know, I guess you could argue the more 00:18:17.309 --> 00:18:19.170 expensive the vehicle you're purchasing, maybe 00:18:19.170 --> 00:18:21.490 the more sales tax, but they did an additional 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:24.750 luxury sales tax. So if you're buying a vehicle 00:18:24.750 --> 00:18:27.210 that's over a certain amount, and I can't remember 00:18:27.210 --> 00:18:29.250 the thresholds, but these would be very high 00:18:29.250 --> 00:18:35.039 -end, nice vehicles, you know, $100 ,000. Those 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.359 types of vehicles saw an additional sales tax 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.539 as well, and I think RVs, things like that. So 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:43.660 they did try, I think, in some ways to get at 00:18:43.660 --> 00:18:46.079 that regressive issue that you're speaking to 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:49.480 in this budget and kind of sort of place the 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:51.849 burden on folks that can afford. you know, higher 00:18:51.849 --> 00:18:54.210 end things. Okay. Sounds like there's still a 00:18:54.210 --> 00:18:56.170 lot of work to do there. You mentioned the ruck, 00:18:56.170 --> 00:18:59.390 the road usage charge program that we've talked 00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.190 about actually pretty extensively on this podcast 00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:04.769 there that, that actually didn't move forward 00:19:04.769 --> 00:19:06.190 this year at all, but there's some voluntary. 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:09.599 pieces to it? No, and we don't need to spend 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:11.960 a ton more time on it because I do think earlier 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:14.019 in session we discussed it when maybe the bills 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:16.640 came up for hearing. I think most notably for 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.859 the listeners right now is the current budget 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:21.539 did not move forward with any version of a road 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:23.940 usage charge. We'll have to kind of wait and 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:26.900 see kind of how the legislature and leadership 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:30.400 tackles that kind of going forward. The Transportation 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.079 Commission has been working on that for a long 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.250 time. And, you know, again, it's kind of, we'll, 00:19:36.250 --> 00:19:38.170 we'll have, we'll have to wait and see that. 00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:42.750 I do think later in session, they pivoted to, 00:19:42.769 --> 00:19:46.289 you know, my words, maybe a, I don't know if 00:19:46.289 --> 00:19:49.849 it's a better model or version or a, an interesting 00:19:49.849 --> 00:19:52.950 one. Anyways, they, they did start talking later 00:19:52.950 --> 00:19:56.119 in session about following the Virginia. So Virginia 00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:58.599 has a road usage charge program that they've 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.660 just begun implementing. If you remember, a lot 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.319 of the primary issues around a road usage charge 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:09.140 were related to privacy and tracking. And just 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.400 like, so the opposite, well, we said with gas 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.759 tax, hey, you go, you buy your gas tax. It's 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.279 very simple to administer. The road usage charge, 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:19.440 unfortunately, is not like that. Well, what they 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:23.890 did in Virginia was they just said, look. We 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:25.930 have a lot more high mileage vehicles on the 00:20:25.930 --> 00:20:29.130 road. Those vehicles are not paying their fair 00:20:29.130 --> 00:20:31.750 share or enough for the road they're using. Right. 00:20:31.789 --> 00:20:34.109 We're going to put a flat road usage charge fee 00:20:34.109 --> 00:20:37.369 on top of every year. You're going to pay X amount 00:20:37.369 --> 00:20:40.130 because if your vehicle gets over 25 miles per 00:20:40.130 --> 00:20:42.529 gallon, you're not paying as much into the system 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:44.450 as everybody else. Wow. How much were they charging? 00:20:44.670 --> 00:20:46.809 I can't remember. It's like part of their vehicle 00:20:46.809 --> 00:20:48.490 registration fee or something. Yeah. I think 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:50.289 it was kind of tied to that. So like, you know, 00:20:50.289 --> 00:20:53.160 each year. you've got that flat road usage charge 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:55.220 fee because you're not paying as much gas tax. 00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:59.220 So that's just in place for everybody who has 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:01.799 a higher mileage vehicle. Now, the way they get 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.299 at the road usage charge, because again, there 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:06.440 are a lot of folks that they don't want to use 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.740 even the odometer or certainly not GPS tracking 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:13.039 or anything like that. Right. They said, we will 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:16.200 set up alongside of this program, a road usage 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.849 program where Folks can voluntarily opt in. So 00:21:19.849 --> 00:21:22.170 again, if you're like, hey, I have a vehicle 00:21:22.170 --> 00:21:24.549 that gets 35 miles to the gallon. I'm paying 00:21:24.549 --> 00:21:27.750 this flat fee, but I'm driving very limited miles 00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:32.329 a year. I shouldn't have to pay that much. You 00:21:32.329 --> 00:21:34.750 can in Virginia, you opt into the road usage 00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:36.809 program to show that you should actually pay 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:39.650 less and reduce your payment. So it's kind of 00:21:39.650 --> 00:21:41.930 just a different model. I mean, that would be 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:45.309 the only incentive to opt into something that 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:45.990 was not part of Flappy. Yeah, exactly. Otherwise 00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:47.890 you're paying the Flappy. So different version, 00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:49.769 different model. But again, nothing went forward 00:21:49.769 --> 00:21:52.250 with road usage charge in the current budget. 00:21:52.490 --> 00:21:54.470 Okay. Well, interesting discussion about the 00:21:54.470 --> 00:21:57.109 gas tax. Sounds like they still have a long way 00:21:57.109 --> 00:22:01.940 to go around. reshaping and reforming based on 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:03.880 all the challenges that they're facing today, 00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:07.099 how we fund our transportation system. Let's 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:10.359 move away from the budget for now anyways. What 00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:13.319 sort of policy bills were you tracking this year 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:17.380 that had outcomes that we were hoping for? Yeah, 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:20.240 maybe we'll circle back to the budget and I'll 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.000 look at my sheet here and see if there's some 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.640 other things just I want to highlight before 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:27.009 we totally close. close the conversation on that. 00:22:27.109 --> 00:22:30.009 But in terms of policy bills, there's always 00:22:30.009 --> 00:22:32.910 a lot, right? So we're working from the beginning 00:22:32.910 --> 00:22:35.250 of session just to see what's pre -filed and 00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:38.599 then all the way through. So I kind of put my 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:42.180 bills that I track for infrastructure and transportation 00:22:42.180 --> 00:22:45.680 into some different buckets. And so I look a 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.220 lot at public works procurement bills. And so 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:50.440 on behalf of the association, I'm looking for 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.380 anything that's going to kind of impact the way 00:22:53.380 --> 00:22:56.619 that we purchase things or the way we contract. 00:22:57.549 --> 00:23:00.910 or rules or legal changes that, you know, just 00:23:00.910 --> 00:23:03.970 might change how we do. I know you work on collective 00:23:03.970 --> 00:23:06.829 bargaining, but like, you know, prevailing wage, 00:23:06.990 --> 00:23:10.890 apprenticeship utilization, small works roster, 00:23:11.170 --> 00:23:14.109 you know, all those type of things. So there's 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:15.809 always a number of bills that we're tracking 00:23:15.809 --> 00:23:20.970 on those. The ones I would mention in that area 00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:26.410 this year are House Bill 1549, which two years 00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:29.579 ago, we passed a statewide apprenticeship utilization 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:34.319 program. And so now for everybody, if you have 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.779 a project that's over $2 million, you need to 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:39.900 meet certain apprenticeship utilization requirements, 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:43.940 a certain percentage of apprentices and apprenticeable 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:47.940 hours on the project. This bill comes along after 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:50.940 that and makes some additional tweaks and requirements, 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:54.180 mainly for the contractors and for labor and 00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.299 industries, but we also have some... some things 00:23:56.299 --> 00:23:57.799 that we'll need to be doing there too, in terms 00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:59.759 of receiving and reviewing apprenticeship utilization 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.079 plans. So I note that one first because it passed 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:05.259 and we had worked on it for a couple of sessions. 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.019 We also, there's a couple of other bills that 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:10.920 didn't pass, but I expect to be back. So 5176 00:24:10.920 --> 00:24:14.359 was related to prompt pay and that's a policy 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:16.700 we support, but it's a bill that's really aiming 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:19.920 to get folks, particularly small subcontractors 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.180 paid on time. We've seen this one before, haven't 00:24:22.180 --> 00:24:24.519 we? Yep. It's come through a few times and we've 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:26.990 worked on it. with other stakeholders. This bill 00:24:26.990 --> 00:24:29.910 is less about the policy, which I think everybody 00:24:29.910 --> 00:24:32.190 gets in the room and agrees on, and it's all 00:24:32.190 --> 00:24:35.529 about the mechanics of how you ensure that prompt 00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:38.289 pay will happen and how you write that into a 00:24:38.289 --> 00:24:41.650 statute that ends up not being like too rigid. 00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:43.789 Well, because there's subcontractors involved 00:24:43.789 --> 00:24:45.670 sometimes and you got to get payment from them 00:24:45.670 --> 00:24:48.490 before you can make payment to the others, et 00:24:48.490 --> 00:24:50.230 cetera, et cetera. And we often don't have any 00:24:50.230 --> 00:24:52.410 contractual relationship with a subcontractor. 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:54.890 We will contract with the prime contractor. And 00:24:54.890 --> 00:24:58.420 so trying to get kind of into that detail. is 00:24:58.420 --> 00:25:00.500 challenging. So that bill didn't ultimately pass, 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:02.240 although I thought it was. I thought I had a 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:05.680 good chance this session. And then 5061 is one 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.359 that is another one just like that. It requires 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:12.059 folks to get paid the current prevailing wage 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:15.259 at the time they do the work, which when you 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.900 say it like that, you're like, yeah, that makes 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:21.500 sense. It turns out, though, with how prevailing 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:25.660 wage is updated by labor and industries and kind 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:28.869 of how that comes in at the initial bid and time 00:25:28.869 --> 00:25:31.430 of the project. And then, you know, when the 00:25:31.430 --> 00:25:33.650 timing of review and all of these things, there's 00:25:33.650 --> 00:25:35.970 a bunch of mechanics involved in that. Another 00:25:35.970 --> 00:25:37.890 bill though, that I thought we did a ton of work 00:25:37.890 --> 00:25:40.930 on, it was amended in a way that we were, we 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:42.829 ended up neutral, if not somewhat supportive 00:25:42.829 --> 00:25:45.769 on that bill and we're okay with it, but it didn't, 00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:48.569 didn't make it. Obviously for us, safety and 00:25:48.569 --> 00:25:50.809 operations is kind of, we really look to those. 00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:56.009 So we had some, some early bills this year. House 00:25:56.009 --> 00:25:58.589 Bill 1145 was one that didn't get out of committee 00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:01.309 but gave us a bunch of – I actually worked with 00:26:01.309 --> 00:26:04.190 you on this, and we kind of wrote some letters 00:26:04.190 --> 00:26:06.009 regarding it. But this bill would have kind of 00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:08.289 really required us to collect and maintain records 00:26:08.289 --> 00:26:11.210 related to almost any maintenance activity or 00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.410 construction activity that we did. Obviously, 00:26:14.410 --> 00:26:16.490 we don't have a problem with keeping records. 00:26:16.589 --> 00:26:19.539 That's a big part of our job. We need to do that 00:26:19.539 --> 00:26:21.920 for transparency. But this bill went really far 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:24.920 in terms of kind of what we had to track and 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.519 keep track of. And it would have really impacted. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:29.559 Yeah, if I remember, it was even materials in 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:31.559 our own right of way that we were going to remove. 00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:34.180 We would have to be able to tell people how much 00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:36.380 we removed, where it went, what it's being used 00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.680 for, all those sorts of things. And just kind 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:42.079 of went over the top, if I remember. I think 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:44.279 that's fair. And we were really worried about 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.220 it creating inefficiency in sort of our. Ordinary 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:49.099 operations, selling things down. So the bill 00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:50.559 didn't get out of committee. Now, do you expect 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.480 this one to come back? You know, I don't know. 00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:55.359 I don't think so. We did a lot of work with the 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:57.880 sponsor, with the proponents of the bill. And 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:00.059 I think that we can accomplish some of these 00:27:00.059 --> 00:27:03.359 goals, hopefully without a piece of legislation. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.759 So that would be my aim. Another bill for operations 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:12.559 was 5215. This was a bill that starting in 2028 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:17.390 would require all. loads of aggregate or gravel 00:27:17.390 --> 00:27:20.720 or that kind of material to be covered. Sort 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.819 of a goal that we're okay with. Yeah, I'm kind 00:27:23.819 --> 00:27:25.680 of surprised this one didn't pass. It seems like 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.240 a pretty easy bill. I thought it was going to 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.480 get there as well. We actually had it amended 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.799 to help us out in terms of a lot of things we're 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:35.779 doing on the road with preservation and maintenance 00:27:35.779 --> 00:27:38.039 or working on a job site or those kind of activities. 00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:40.940 That was our concern. I mean, from the county 00:27:40.940 --> 00:27:43.660 road department perspective, our mission is to 00:27:43.660 --> 00:27:46.000 be out there keeping the roadway safe. So we 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.009 just wanted a little bit more leeway to... not 00:27:50.009 --> 00:27:52.990 tarp all of our trucks in every situation, which 00:27:52.990 --> 00:27:55.609 the committee and the sponsor were good with. 00:27:55.849 --> 00:27:57.890 Yeah, the bill, though, ultimately didn't make 00:27:57.890 --> 00:28:00.170 it. So I do probably expect to see that one again. 00:28:01.159 --> 00:28:03.779 Another operations one we had a big challenge 00:28:03.779 --> 00:28:06.380 with initially was the surface mine reclamation 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:09.279 permit fee increase. As county public works departments, 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.119 we do a lot of preservation and maintenance work, 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:13.900 which means we use a lot of gravel and rock, 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:16.480 which means we have a lot of small surface mines. 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:19.000 And so this was going to increase the fee we 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.859 pay to the Department of Natural Resources. Currently 00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:24.619 under the statute, a lot of our small mines, 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:26.579 because we don't sell any aggregate, right? We 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:29.279 have it because we use it to keep the roads up. 00:28:30.900 --> 00:28:34.599 A lot of our smaller mines were waived or exempt 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:37.599 from the permit or the fee. And then some of 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.180 the ones that I'd call middle tier or a little 00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:44.160 bit larger, they were capped at $1 ,000. And 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:46.700 this bill originally kind of wiped that away, 00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:49.119 which we were worried about. But we were able, 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:52.240 through some work with the sponsors and the committees, 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.359 to get those put back. So the bill actually passed. 00:28:56.359 --> 00:28:59.079 we were good with it. Safe excavation bill passed 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.700 as well. I think that's going to be a good thing. 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:03.960 Although we, it's a very technical bill that 00:29:03.960 --> 00:29:06.900 amends the underground utility damage prevention 00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:09.380 act. So anytime you're going to go out and dig. 00:29:10.139 --> 00:29:13.039 And we need to do that in a way that's safe because 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:15.079 there are things buried in the ground like electrical 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:18.240 lines and gas lines. It's that process. Now, 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.140 when you say the safe excavation bill, you're 00:29:20.140 --> 00:29:23.799 meaning 5627, right? Yep, Senate Bill 5627. And 00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:26.500 it went through a lot of work and a lot of process, 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:28.480 a lot of stakeholdering. And so it changed a 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:30.680 lot of times. It was really a hard one to kind 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:32.500 of keep track of a little bit throughout session, 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:36.160 but ultimately did pass. And I think we're good 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.740 there. Now, we're going to have an end -of -session 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:42.119 report that's going to be a full write -up on 00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:46.079 a lot more of these, Axel. And we don't have 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:50.440 a whole bunch of time today. But how do you think, 00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:53.759 if you could just wrap it up in a couple of sentences, 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:56.400 how do you think this session went overall for 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.000 transportation issues for counties? I think it 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:03.480 went well. I mean, in any session like this where 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.920 you're coming in with a number of unknowns because 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:08.819 of the budget deficits the legislature is trying 00:30:08.819 --> 00:30:10.960 to work through. Yeah. And that was true of the 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:13.019 operating budget and the transportation budget. 00:30:13.420 --> 00:30:15.400 Well, and you don't even know if you're going 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:17.019 to be a target for some of those things that 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:19.559 they're trying to fix. Yeah. And this year was 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:22.380 particularly confusing because some of the solutions, 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:24.079 particularly on the Senate side, as you know, 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:26.099 they relied on each other. The budgets work together. 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:28.660 And in fact, this final transportation budget 00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:32.150 relies on sales tax transfer, a pretty significant 00:30:32.150 --> 00:30:35.490 one ongoing moving forward, which will bring 00:30:35.490 --> 00:30:39.390 roughly $300 million from operating to the transportation 00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:43.089 budget each year. So the budgets this year were 00:30:43.089 --> 00:30:45.670 kind of relying on each other or some cooperation, 00:30:45.789 --> 00:30:50.359 and we knew they had to address the revenue shortfall 00:30:50.359 --> 00:30:52.619 that they faced. And so you just kind of, you 00:30:52.619 --> 00:30:55.480 didn't know what to expect. So given that context, 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:59.259 I think coming away with, you know, the, with 00:30:59.259 --> 00:31:01.500 the budget numbers being where they were, we 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:04.079 got some sharing of the gas tax. It wasn't a, 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:06.380 it wasn't a ton. It was two and a half percent, 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.980 but like you mentioned, it's indexed. That will 00:31:08.980 --> 00:31:11.240 take us from five to 6 million in the first year, 00:31:11.299 --> 00:31:14.319 you know, up to twice that much going out into 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:19.630 six years or 30, you know, 2031. So They recognized 00:31:19.630 --> 00:31:27.950 our need as well in some way there. We were hoping 00:31:27.950 --> 00:31:30.529 for more funding for fishberry removal projects, 00:31:30.630 --> 00:31:34.029 but we got $32 million, which is maybe the second 00:31:34.029 --> 00:31:36.289 highest award we've got. So there was some recognition 00:31:36.289 --> 00:31:38.150 of the need for all those projects that we have 00:31:38.150 --> 00:31:40.829 to do there. They included the federal fund exchange 00:31:40.829 --> 00:31:42.890 pilot program through the next biennium, which 00:31:42.890 --> 00:31:44.769 is something we worked on two bienniums ago. 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:46.450 Yeah, and that's just getting off the ground. 00:31:46.789 --> 00:31:49.130 Yeah, we're still trying to make that function 00:31:49.130 --> 00:31:50.230 in the right way. It'll be interesting with all 00:31:50.230 --> 00:31:52.170 the changes going on at the federal level whether 00:31:52.170 --> 00:31:55.410 there's any use for the federal fund transfer 00:31:55.410 --> 00:31:57.609 program. And that's probably another podcast 00:31:57.609 --> 00:32:00.049 you and I should have is kind of what – Or federal 00:32:00.049 --> 00:32:02.650 fund exchange. As we transition out of the state 00:32:02.650 --> 00:32:05.329 legislative session, starting now really to look 00:32:05.329 --> 00:32:07.710 at what's happening. At the federal level. Yeah. 00:32:07.789 --> 00:32:10.349 But there's some funding included in here for 00:32:10.349 --> 00:32:14.710 safety. We got our biggest policy bill or priority 00:32:14.710 --> 00:32:17.450 in transportation this year was trying to get 00:32:17.450 --> 00:32:22.529 established the new county road board local access 00:32:22.529 --> 00:32:25.789 program, local access road program. I didn't 00:32:25.789 --> 00:32:28.529 say that right. And you and I talked in the podcast 00:32:28.529 --> 00:32:30.569 prior about that. And Jane and I talked about 00:32:30.569 --> 00:32:32.890 that, too. Jane, the executive director of Crab. 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:36.269 And we worked a lot on that bill. We wanted to 00:32:36.269 --> 00:32:39.069 get it established with a bill. Unfortunately, 00:32:39.410 --> 00:32:42.529 it didn't get through the floor cutoff, but it 00:32:42.529 --> 00:32:45.109 is established. The program is in this budget, 00:32:45.329 --> 00:32:47.529 the transportation budget. Unfortunately, not 00:32:47.529 --> 00:32:51.009 funded until the next biennium. But I also consider 00:32:51.009 --> 00:32:54.190 that a win in terms of just the structure and 00:32:54.190 --> 00:32:56.569 the legislation. to recognizing sort of our need 00:32:56.569 --> 00:32:59.069 for funding and then trying to create a balance 00:32:59.069 --> 00:33:01.269 and sort of a well -rounded approach through 00:33:01.269 --> 00:33:03.789 some gas tax sharing, the new local access program, 00:33:04.049 --> 00:33:06.109 transportation improvement board is supposed 00:33:06.109 --> 00:33:07.950 to get some more funding for complete streets 00:33:07.950 --> 00:33:10.289 in the next biennium. So, you know, there's some 00:33:10.289 --> 00:33:14.710 things in this budget definitely to like. And 00:33:14.710 --> 00:33:16.869 so I think that's good. And we address the policy 00:33:16.869 --> 00:33:19.150 bills, you know, my take on the policy bills 00:33:19.150 --> 00:33:21.789 that we sort of faced in the first month of session 00:33:21.789 --> 00:33:24.589 versus where we ended up. I feel like we really 00:33:24.589 --> 00:33:27.309 were able to do some good work on the ones that 00:33:27.309 --> 00:33:29.490 we were most concerned about. The ones we were 00:33:29.490 --> 00:33:31.849 most concerned about didn't move on. The other 00:33:31.849 --> 00:33:34.250 ones that we've been working on, and I feel like 00:33:34.250 --> 00:33:36.009 we've got good relationships and we've done some 00:33:36.009 --> 00:33:38.069 stakeholder things with, we got to neutral and 00:33:38.069 --> 00:33:40.579 we were okay with, and we got some good. Good 00:33:40.579 --> 00:33:43.799 bills passed. So I think policy -wise, we ended 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:46.119 up in a similar position to the budget, which 00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:49.220 is pretty good. Pretty good overall. Well, Axel, 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:52.299 I hope you get a chance to take a little time 00:33:52.299 --> 00:33:55.559 off and relax a little bit after a pretty intense 00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:58.200 legislative session. I know everybody kind of 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.160 felt like this was a tough session compared to 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.259 many of the others that they've been in. A lot 00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:04.359 of challenges to overcome. It was a pretty emotional 00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:06.940 session this year with the loss of some key legislators. 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:10.699 It was. Senator Ramos was a big part. of the 00:34:10.699 --> 00:34:13.659 Senate Transportation Committee. And I know that 00:34:13.659 --> 00:34:16.139 you knew him and worked with him. That was a 00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:19.679 big and very unexpected loss right towards the 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:22.099 end of session that created even more challenge, 00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.639 I think, for people as they were trying to focus 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:27.719 on the task at hand and set aside some of those 00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:31.019 emotions, which is difficult for us to do, especially 00:34:31.019 --> 00:34:33.559 when you know someone on a personal level. So 00:34:33.559 --> 00:34:37.449 hopefully you'll get a chance to... Reflect a 00:34:37.449 --> 00:34:39.969 little bit, maybe congratulate yourself a little 00:34:39.969 --> 00:34:42.590 bit for a job well done. I certainly enjoyed 00:34:42.590 --> 00:34:46.070 working with you. And I look forward to doing 00:34:46.070 --> 00:34:48.050 this again in just a couple of months, it sounds 00:34:48.050 --> 00:34:51.170 like. Yeah, I appreciate it too, Paul. And I 00:34:51.170 --> 00:34:53.829 think, you know, hopefully you get the same some 00:34:53.829 --> 00:34:56.329 time off. And I know I work right across from 00:34:56.329 --> 00:34:58.650 you. So I appreciate your guidance during session. 00:34:58.909 --> 00:35:01.389 And I appreciate how hard you work on behalf 00:35:01.389 --> 00:35:06.000 of the association and helping us as staff. Yeah. 00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:08.059 So I would like to, you know, thank you as well. 00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:10.400 And, and maybe we'll get to do this here in a 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:12.940 couple of weeks and talk maybe about some changes 00:35:12.940 --> 00:35:16.019 at the federal level that are impacting us moving 00:35:16.019 --> 00:35:37.440 forward. the updates of what's happening. Hopefully, 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:40.699 it'll be good news. Or if it's not good news, 00:35:40.780 --> 00:35:44.440 hopefully, it won't be terrible news. And with 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.059 this budget package and what's going on there, 00:35:47.260 --> 00:35:49.300 we can continue to push things forward from a 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:51.460 transportation basis. That's the one thing in 00:35:51.460 --> 00:35:53.639 Washington state is we can't afford to go. We 00:35:53.639 --> 00:35:56.460 can't afford to go backwards. That goes without 00:35:56.460 --> 00:35:58.059 saying, but we can't afford to just stay in the 00:35:58.059 --> 00:35:59.940 same place with our transportation either. I 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:03.019 mean, we're growing. population here a significantly 00:36:03.019 --> 00:36:06.460 growing population especially uh in the puget 00:36:06.460 --> 00:36:08.880 sound region along the i -5 corridor and and 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:11.380 not making progress and not making more investments 00:36:11.380 --> 00:36:15.440 really is unacceptable i think uh from a whole 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.079 variety of different perspectives uh not least 00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:20.679 of which our economy here so it's so critical 00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:22.440 to everything that we do and that's true in our 00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:24.559 counties too yeah yeah all right well thanks 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:28.079 axel have a good weekend buddy and we'll see 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:31.969 you next week okay okay Thanks for tuning in 00:36:31.969 --> 00:36:34.309 to County Connection. 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