Tag Archives: Sen. Curtis King

King receives recognition for his record of bipartisan leadership

During its annual Cascade Conference in Leavenworth, the Mainstream Republicans of Washington announced that state Sen. Curtis King is this year’s recipient of the organization’s Mitchell-Hill Award.

The award, which was given to King for his ability to work in the Legislature in a bipartisan manner, is named after two former Republican legislators, 30th District Rep. Maryann Mitchell and 45th District Sen. Andy Hill.

“Curtis King has demonstrated Mainstream Republican values throughout his tenure in the Senate. In a time of polarization and rigid partisan politics, he has worked in a bipartisan fashion with civility to craft and pass major transportation projects and budgets. Senator King is very deserving of this award,” said former Secretary of State Sam Reed, one of the organization’s leaders.

“It’s a great honor to receive this award,” said King, R-Yakima. “I’m especially honored because one of the Republicans the award is named after is Andy Hill, whom I had the privilege and pleasure of serving with in the Senate before he passed away a few years ago. I try hard to work in a bipartisan manner when times call for it and doing so allows me to get more accomplished for the people of our district and the state.”

King is the ranking Republican member on both the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee and Senate Transportation Committee. He was elected as the 14th Legislative District state senator in 2007 and has been re-elected as the district’s senator in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Statement from Republican transportation leaders on the agreement reached by the Legislature on the Move Ahead Washington transportation package

Sen. Curtis King, ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, and Rep. Andrew Barkis, ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, issued this statement regarding the Legislature’s agreement on the 2022 supplemental transportation budget (Senate Bill 5689) and the Move Ahead Washington transportation package (Senate Bill 5974 and Senate Bill 5975).

“Unfortunately, the partisan transportation package from the majority will punish drivers throughout Washington with higher fees and taxes,” said King, R-Yakima. “It isn’t right to make our citizens pay more to own a car. The higher taxes and fees passed today by the majority party, on top of measures they’ve passed in recent years, will make it much more costly to drive. Most people in our state are already struggling with inflation, and now gas prices are rising daily. The legislation passed today will make things worse. I’m disappointed that for the first time in our history, a completely partisan transportation package has been passed with zero input from 20 Washington state legislative districts. Our citizens need relief and deserve better.”

“It’s disingenuous for the majority party to imply this package isn’t going to raise the cost of living on every Washingtonian. Besides the new taxes and fees that are included, a large portion of the intended revenue comes from the Climate Commitment Act passed in 2021. One integral component of the CCA is cap-and-trade, which goes into effect later this year. This will raise the price of gas at the pump even higher than we’re experiencing right now. Washingtonians are still recovering from the pandemic, inflation is at a 40-year high, and gas prices are already at one of the highest rates we’ve seen. This is the wrong time to be pushing this package forward,” said Barkis, R-Olympia. “Republicans from both chambers had solutions that wouldn’t raise taxes and fees on anyone or anything. Given the historic revenue the state is experiencing, we could’ve built a bipartisan package that provided relief to the taxpayers. With existing revenue, we could’ve funded new innovations for our transportation system, while keeping our promise to complete projects already on the books. I’m extremely disappointed the process was partisan and does not reflect the true transportation needs of every corner of our state. Washingtonians deserve real solutions from their transportation leaders and tax dollars.”

Today, both chambers are set to vote on the agreed upon supplemental transportation budget and the Move Ahead Washington transportation package.

The 2022 legislative session is scheduled to adjourn Thursday, March 10.

King unveils state transportation-funding plan free of tax or fee increases

Sen. Curtis King, the Republican leader on the Senate Transportation Committee, today unveiled a plan to make nearly $23 billion in transportation investments statewide without any tax or fee increases.

“There are important transportation needs throughout Washington that need to be addressed soon,” said King, R-Yakima. “This proposal funds many of those, including new highway projects, maintenance and preservation projects, fish-barrier removal, ferries, transit, rail and other modes. Best of all, this plan does not include any tax or fee increases, so people across our state who are struggling with inflation won’t have to pay more to have a better transportation system.”

Details of King’s $23 billion transportation funding proposal can be viewed here.

The plan uses many of the same funding sources in the package released by Democratic transportation leaders a few weeks ago, including:

  • $5.4 billion expected from the Climate Commitment Act;
  • $3.4 billion from the federal government’s new surface transportation reauthorization; and
  • a $2 billion one-time transfer from the state operating budget.

The key difference between King’s proposal and the Democrats’ plan is how his plan would shift half of the state sales-tax revenue from car and truck sales in Washington, starting in 2023. This shift in vehicle sales-tax revenue is expected to generate $12.188 billion over the 16-year span of the package.

“In the past few years, some of my Senate Republican colleagues and I have advocated for using some of the tax money from vehicle sales for our highway needs, and the case for that approach is stronger than ever now. There is a connection between tax revenue from vehicle sales and transportation, so it makes sense to use that money to address transportation needs in our state,” said King.

King’s plan includes funding in several transportation areas:

  • $6 billion for maintenance and preservation projects in the state.
  • $4.16 billion for new highway projects, including $1.2 billion for replacing the Interstate 5/Columbia River Bridge between Vancouver and Portland, $640 million for State Route 18 widening, $300 million for the U.S. Highway 2 trestle project, $244 million for I-5 high-occupancy vehicle lanes, $210 million for the I-5 Nisqually Delta project, $240 million for a U.S. Highway 12 project between Pasco and Walla Walla, and $180 million for a new Hood River Bridge over the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon.
  • $1.8 billion toward existing highway projects, including $460 million for Interstate 405 corridor construction, $520 million for a State Route 520 project, $155 million for an Interstate 90 project at Snoqualmie Pass, and $434 million for the SR-167/SR-509 Puget Sound Gateway project.
  • $2.435 billion for fish-barrier removal projects.
  • $150 million for freight rail projects.

Under King’s plan, the $5.4 billion in Climate Commitment Act funding would be used to pay for additional multimodal funding, including the construction of five new hybrid-electric ferry vessels. The plan also includes, from other sources:

  • $500 million for transit programs and projects.
  • $440 million for ferries.
  • $190 million for “active transportation projects,” including $100 million for “safe routes to schools” projects and $90 million for a bicycle and pedestrian grant program.

King unveiled his transportation funding plan during a virtual news conference today. He was joined by Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia. The news conference can be viewed here.

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 13th Legislative District, which includes Kittitas County. King, R-Yakima, serves the 14th 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.

King receives awards for work on business, agricultural issues

Sen. Curtis King has been honored this week by two statewide associations for his legislative work on business and agricultural issues.

King, the ranking Republican member on both the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee and Senate Transportation Committee, received the Association of Washington Business’ 2021 Legislator of the Year award during AWB’s annual meeting in Tacoma Thursday night.

“It’s such a great honor to receive this award from the Association of Washington Business,” said King, R-Yakima. “In the past few years, new or higher taxes, along with mandates and new regulations, have been placed on the backs of businesses and families across our state. I’ve fought hard to protect businesses and employees from punishing taxes and I will continue to do that in the future.”

“Senator King is a strong advocate and champion for rebuilding our state’s infrastructure and works hard to solve problems in the spirit of bipartisanship,” said AWB President Kris Johnson. “Washington is the most trade driven state in the country, and his work to connect employers, employees and our exports with the world is critical to our future success.”

AWB is Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association and includes nearly 7,000 members representing 700,000 employees.

King and 18th District state Rep. Larry Hoff, R-Vancouver, were presented with the Washington Farm Bureau’s 2021 Legislator of the Year awards during its annual meeting Wednesday night in Yakima. It is the second consecutive year King has received this award from the Washington Farm Bureau, which is the state’s largest general agricultural organization.

“I’m very honored and humbled to be recognized by the Farm Bureau for the second straight year,” said King, who serves the 14th Legislative District. “Agriculture plays a major role not only in my district but throughout eastern Washington and our entire state. Agriculture and food processing provide 164,000 jobs in our state and are key parts of Washington’s economy.”

“Rep. Hoff and Sen. King were instrumental in protecting farmers and ranchers from the unfair consequences of the WA Supreme Court’s DeRuyter decision,” said Washington Farm Bureau President Mike LaPlant in a Farm Bureau news release last September. “During the 2021 legislative session, the relentless work and dedication of these individuals created the opportunity for a more thoughtful, workable bill to be passed that dealt with ag overtime and retroactive compensation.  For that, we are sincerely grateful.”

“Both of these legislators went above and beyond for their constituents, and for all of us involved in agriculture,” LaPlant said. “We are honored to award our Legislator of the Year award to Rep. Larry Hoff and Sen. Curtis King.”

(CAPTION: Sen. Curtis King accepts the Association of Washington Business’ 2021 Legislator of the Year award during AWB’s annual meeting in Tacoma Thursday night.)

King receives award for work on agricultural issues

Sen. Curtis King has been honored by the Washington Farm Bureau for his work on agricultural issues.

King, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee, was named the agricultural organization’s 2020 Legislator of the Year on Wednesday.

“I’m honored to be recognized by the Farm Bureau in this way,” said King, R-Yakima, who serves the 14th Legislative District. “Agriculture plays a major role not only in my district but throughout eastern Washington and our entire state. Ag and food processing provide 164,000 jobs in our state and are key parts of Washington’s economy.”

“Senator Curtis King has become one of the champions of agriculture in the Legislature,” said Mike LaPlant, president of the Washington Farm Bureau. “For instance, he was instrumental in helping us defeat legislation that would have raised fees for farmers that use the H-2A program, and he was the primary negotiator in this year’s ag overtime bill.

“All of these bills came with countless hours of negotiating and we would not be in the position we are in today without his strong leadership on these issues,” added LaPlant.

The Washington Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general agricultural organization.

King opposes Senate passage of bill creating state income tax on capital gains

A Democratic proposal that would create a state income tax on capital gains was passed by the Senate 25-24 Saturday, despite opposition by 14th District Sen. Curtis King, other Republicans and three Democrats.

Senate Bill 5096 now goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

“Creating any type of state income tax is unconstitutional and unnecessary, and it could force some Washington residents to move out of the state,” said King, R-Yakima, “Our state’s long-term revenue situation looks promising, which means we don’t need to create a state income tax. ”

Washington voters have rejected a state income-tax proposal 10 times over the past 85 years, most recently in 2010 when 64 percent of voters said no to Initiative 1098.

“Most people in Washington historically haven’t wanted a state income tax, and a recent statewide Elway

Poll revealed that only 41 percent of respondents favor one,” said King. “It’s too bad that most Senate Democrats ignored the people and passed this bill anyway.”

If SB 5096 is signed into law, it likely would result in a lawsuit that eventually would be decided by the state Supreme Court.

“In the past, our Supreme Court has rejected state income tax proposals,” said King. “Democrats are eager to put this issue before the current Supreme Court. The IRS has determined that taxes on investment income to be an income tax, so I don’t think this proposal would survive a legal challenge.”

Before the proposal was approved, the Senate passed an amendment removing a so-called “emergency clause” from the bill. Had the emergency clause remained in the bill, it would have prevented citizens from filing a referendum that would bring SB 5096 before state voters to approve or reject.

King applauds selection of Augustine as chair of state Redistricting Commission

The recent selection of Yakima’s Sarah Augustine as the chair of the Washington State Redistricting Commission was a good decision, said 14th District Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima.

The Redistricting Commission is reestablished the year after each U.S. Census to reset the boundaries of Washington’s legislative and congressional districts, using the new census figures. The four voting members of the commission unanimously chose Augustine as its nonvoting chair. She will preside over the commission’s meetings throughout the year.

Augustine is the executive director of the Dispute Resolution Center of Yakima and Kittitas counties.

The four voting members of the commission are April Sims, appointed by the House Democratic Caucus; Brady Walkinshaw, selected by the Senate Democratic Caucus; Paul Graves, the House Republican Caucus appointee; and Joe Fain, chosen by the Senate Republican Caucus.

“I commend the four members of the Redistricting Commission for selecting Sarah Augustine as the commission chair,” said King. “I’ve had a chance to get to know Sarah since she came to Yakima a few years ago. She is respected for her role as a dispute mediator and as the leader of the local Dispute Resolution Center. I’m sure she’ll do an outstanding job of working with the commission members to develop new district maps that will win support not only from the commission itself but ultimately from the Legislature, a year from now.”

During the 2020 legislative session, King sponsored a resolution honoring Resolution Washington and its dispute resolution centers throughout Washington.

King bill aims to prevent farms, other employers from paying three years of retroactive overtime

Two months after the state Supreme Court issued a confusing ruling that could have disastrous consequences for dairy farms, Sen. Curtis King has introduced a bill to head off what could be a financially devastating problem for the state’s dairy industry and other segments of Washington’s economy.

For 60 years, state law exempted the agriculture industry from paying overtime wages after 40 hours per week. However, the Supreme Court last November declared that law to be unconstitutional. The majority’s opinion was silent on whether overturning the law also meant up to three years of retroactivity on wages would apply. Since then, dairy farmers and other agricultural employers have worried that they could be forced to pay their employers with retroactive overtime going back three years.

Under Senate Bill 5172, an employer who followed the overtime-exemption law up until it was overturned cannot be assessed damages under the state’s wage and hour laws for three years of retroactive compensation.

“It is very unfair to target an industry and employers who have acted legally over the years,” said King, ranking Republican on the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee. “The Legislature needs to shield farmers from being penalized, forced into bankruptcy and put at risk of losing their farms, simply because they had followed the law. The Legislature, not the courts, should be setting policy on this issue.”

SB 5172 will receive a public hearing at 8 a.m. Thursday in the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee.

In its November ruling, the Supreme Court sent the question of retroactivity back to Yakima County Superior Court for a decision. Since the high court’s decision, attorneys already have filed nearly 25 class-action lawsuits, said King.

“Most of these lawsuits target dairy farms. The gist of these lawsuits is that since the overtime exemption for dairy and other agricultural workers was tossed out, these employees have the right to claim wages going back three years,” added King, R-Yakima.

Those seeking retroactive overtime for employees likely won’t just stop with agriculture, noted the 14th District legislator.

“They probably will also target other parts of our state’s economy, including real estate agents, railroad workers, salespeople and other employees who often work overtime. That’s why my bill goes beyond our agricultural sector,” said King.