Tag Archives: Washington State Department of Transportation

King: State needs to fast-track the rehiring of workers fired over COVID vaccine mandate

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima and the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, issued this statement today in response to the news that King County Metro will fast-track the rehiring of workers who were fired for not complying with the county’s now-expired COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

“It’s time for Governor Inslee and his administration to follow King County Metro’s lead and quickly rehire state employees who were fired over not complying with the governor’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, especially those in high-demand fields like ferry workers.

“His heavy-handed and unnecessary mandate, which dragged on until mid-May, is a key reason why our state’s ferry system is woefully understaffed and failing to provide the reliable service people should be able to expect. With the summer tourist season upon us, it’s especially important to boost the ferry system’s workforce as soon as possible.

“Our citizens’ travel needs are negatively impacted daily because of the lack of ferry staff. Everyone knew there were staffing problems even before the governor’s mandate. His firing of ferry workers only exacerbated the problem.

“The governor has finally seen fit to end his vaccine mandate. Now he needs to fast-track the rehiring of workers he fired– and soon – so their skills and experience can once again benefit the people of our state.”

Unconscionable: WSDOT refuses help to clear snow from roads in Kittitas County

Central Washington Sens. Judy Warnick and Curtis King issued this statement regarding the state Department of Transportation’s refusal to let Kittitas County road crews help clear snow on state highways in the county after a major snowstorm last week:

“We are shocked and very disappointed that the state Department of Transportation refused Kittitas County’s offer to help clear snow off key highways because county employees are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The state, especially the governor, is putting political ideology and an inflexible desire to enforce vaccine mandates above public safety. This is wrong and foolish.

“A snowplow has just one person in the vehicle, so it shouldn’t matter whether the snowplow driver is vaccinated. Most people rightly are more concerned that our highways and roads are kept clear of snow this winter than the vaccination status of snowplow drivers and other winter road crew employees, who typically work in isolation.

“After the snowstorm hit last week, Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 97 through Kittitas County were closed for three days, making travel nearly impossible for county residents and others relying on these highways, keeping people from attending medical appointments or other important meetings on the west side of the Cascades, and delaying freight deliveries. WSDOT’s winter road crews have been working around the clock to try to keep our highways clear, but they are very understaffed – and exhausted – due to job losses caused by Governor Inslee’s COVID vaccine mandates. Kittitas County generously offered to have its road crews help clear the snow, but WSDOT leaders refused. And then WSDOT hired a private contractor to help clear highways in the county. Is WSDOT requiring that contractor to be vaccinated?

“We feared the vaccine mandate would hurt drivers and truckers this winter. Sadly, our fears have been realized. This is on the governor, not those WSDOT workers who lost their jobs.”

Warnick, R-Moses Lake, serves the 13^th Legislative District, which includes Kittitas County. King, R-Yakima, serves the 14^th Legislative District and is ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee.

King was interviewed about this issue today on KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show.

The Senate Transportation Committee is scheduled to hold a work session today at 4 p.m. on the state of transportation in Washington. WSDOT officials, including state Transportation Secretary Roger Millar, are expected to attend. King says he will ask WSDOT pointed questions about its refusal to accept Kittitas County’s offer to help plow highways in that county. The committee meeting can be viewed here.

Sen. King statement on proposed Senate transportation budget

Sen. Curtis King, ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee and R-Yakima, issued this statement on Proposed Substitute Senate Bill 5214, the 2019-21 Senate transportation budget unveiled by Senate Transportation Committee Chair Steve Hobbs on Tuesday:

“This is generally a minimal transportation budget. It doesn’t spend as much as prior budgets, and I plan to support it in committee this week – but with a few concerns. I think we need to take a hard look at the expenses associated with the state ferry system, especially the cost of converting ferries to diesel-electric power. Hydrogen-fueled vessels could be an option and should be considered, but hydrogen wasn’t even looked at.

“Also, this budget covers all of the salary increases for the State Patrol and State Ferries that the governor negotiated. We can’t just keep increasing salaries and expect their salary budgets to remain sustainable and viable. “What I really like about this budget is that it offers some flexibility regarding money that for some reason doesn’t get spent as originally intended. We have said to WSDOT, ‘here is a list of projects that you can move up from the Connecting Washington package if you realized you have monies that you’re not going to be able to spend. These are the projects that you can bring up and continue or complete.’ By doing this, we don’t need to do a big reappropriation at the end of every biennium.”

Baby steps toward transportation reform

The Senate Transportation Committee last week approved my Senate Bill 5886. It asks the Washington State Department of Transportation to increase their sale of surplus properties and gives them additional tools to do so. The increased sales will return needed dollars to the Motor Vehicle Account for future transportation uses. On certain facility-managed properties, the monies from the sale of these properties will go into a special account to help replace many of our aging transportation buildings, some of which date back to the 1930s. Continue reading →

King, Eide call first five transportation feedback forums a “great success”

After establishing the goal of listening to the public’s input on transportation issues at venues across Washington, state transportation leaders are now halfway through their ten-city tour and are calling the feedback forums a great success.

“At the forum in Pasco last week, the governor made an appearance and was impressed by the level of engagement from citizens across Washington,” said Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “We’ve heard the calls for more revenue and we’ve heard the calls for no gas tax increases, but perhaps the clearest message we’ve heard is that the state’s transportation system needs help, and that some of our reforms would do a lot to restore the public’s confidence in that agency. Continue reading →

74 residents testify at Senate’s first transportation feedback forum held in Bellevue

Hundreds of Washington citizens turned out to share their thoughts and ideas on state transportation issues at Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue Tuesday evening. Senate Transportation Committee co-chairs, Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, heard from 74 transit advocates, business representatives and daily commuters during the three-hour public forum.

“For over two hours, we listened to the concerns and comments of transportation taxpayers and that was just the tip of the iceberg,” King said. “I expect tonight’s forum in Everett to be equally well-attended, and I’m looking forward to receiving input from hundreds more as we embark on our feedback forum tour around Washington.” Continue reading →

King adds three stops to Senate’s transportation feedback tour

More people in Washington will have a chance to be heard now that Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, has announced the addition of three locations to the Senate’s statewide transportation feedback tour. The additional stops in Seattle, Tri-Cities and Bellingham stem from an overwhelming public response to a series of public forums scheduled around the state to gauge public opinion on potential transportation reforms and revenue.

“So many people were interested in attending that we had to add a few more to accommodate the overflow,” King said. “It’s a good day in state government when there are so many people interested in participating that you have to increase the number of meetings.” Continue reading →

Dates set for bipartisan statewide transportation forums

Senate Transportation Committee co-chairs Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, today announced the dates and cities that will be included in a statewide listening tour aimed at gathering input from Washington residents on building a new package of transportation projects.

Beginning on Sept. 17 in Bellevue, legislators will hold at least one public meeting in each of the Department of Transportation’s six regions. Each meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and last until 9 p.m. and feature presentations from regional transportation officials, as well as opportunity for public comment. Continue reading →

King announces listening tour to discuss MCC reform ideas

Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, announced today that he’s delivered a letter to Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson, requesting her agency’s cooperation in coordinating a series of public meetings around the state. King, who serves as co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he and his colleagues in the Senate’s Majority Coalition Caucus would like to gather as much input as possible from Washington residents and WSDOT officials in various regions around the state in order to craft a viable transportation package that could be supported by lawmakers as well as taxpayers.

Continue reading →

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