The 2014 legislative session began today, and my priorities this year continue to be reforming state government to make it more efficient, more effective and less costly to taxpayers. In even years such as this, the session lasts only 60 days which leaves very little time to get a great deal of work accomplished. However, I am excited about the coming challenges we’ll be facing and working collaboratively with my Democrat colleagues to find amicable solutions to our state’s problems.

Perhaps the biggest issue we’ll face this year is in the area of transportation. I serve as co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and have been extremely active during the 2013 interim working on transportation issues. The Majority Coalition Caucus (MCC) held ten “feedback forums” in ten different Washington cities last fall to listen to your concerns regarding transportation. That feedback helped shape our MCC transportation proposal which begins with a series of much-needed reforms. You can find our list of proposed reforms here.

Locally, our transportation proposal includes funds to enhance I-82 from Union Gap to the twin bridges, and east-west from the Boise Cascade property over into Terrace Heights in Yakima County. In Skamania County we’ve proposed funding for the Wind River/SR-14 interchange and in Klickitat County we’ve proposed funding for the overpass between the Port of Klickitat and Highway 14 to allow for better ingress and egress as the train traffic on that route increases.