Errors on Senator Tom's page about transportation

From Senate Transportation Proposal Moving our District Forward

The House transportation package is a non-starter. It’s over spent [sic] by hundreds of millions of dollars. We simply do not have enough resources to make it happen. That is irresponsible and is the kind of budgeting that has hurt our state for years. It is particularly not a good deal for our district. The Senat’es [sic] proposal actually funds projects [the House version doesn’t?] and will help get our state and district moving again. Please click here to see what projects are funded in our district.

In the email he sent out to constituents, Tom wrote:

We’ve built a connection between parts of the general fund and education which has driven us into a corner. We are in a situation where we have to fund education at the expense of moving goods, people and services that in turn fund our state’s education system. Our habits have done two things; short changed our kids’ education and created unsustainable transportation funding.

But the proposal by the Senate Majority Coalition would worsen the funding situation for education by exempting transportation projects from the sales tax, thus starving schools of funds.

With the increase in population, the need to rebuild 520, the increased needs to fund K-12 education mandated by the McCleary decision, and the expiration in May of the congestion reduction charge for registrations, there’s no way to pay for needed transportation and education investments without additional revenue.     The extreme anti-tax ideology of today’s GOP is resulting in increased concentration of wealth. Washington State has the most regressive tax system in the country. So, ideally the additional revenue would involve a tax on capital gains, elimination of tax breaks for rich corporations, or a tax on high-incomes.