With jobless rates hovering near 9 percent in the Evergreen state, a few Washington lawmakers say they are zeroing in on a way to fire up the regional economy.
Their idea is a new way to pay for government construction projects. Sen. Derek Kilmer says the concept is simple: Issue revenue bonds, just like the state does now to pay for state highway and bridge projects with gas taxes.
But this construction package – which could be for $1 billion or more – would rely on the state’s toxics taxes, public works trust funds, and perhaps other streams of money that roll into the state’s capital budget.
“What we want to look at is a responsible approach that has the state making investments that make sense,’’ the Gig Harbor Democrat said.
The bonus: Unlike past jobs plans, this one would avoid adding debt payments to the state’s general fund, which already needs a $2 billion fix. It also could avoid a trip to the ballot, allowing work to get under way in the next construction season.
Kilmer, the capital-budget leader in the Senate, said the goal is to reduce joblessness in the economically gutted building-trades sector.
Also working on the package is House Capital Budget Committee Chairman Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish – the architect of previous unsuccessful bond packages targeted at job creation.
So far, Republican leaders have not signed on, nor has Gov. Chris Gregoire. But they are not fighting it – at least not yet.
“There’s a skeleton proposal right now,” said Republican Sen. Linda Parlette of Wenatchee, who worked with Kilmer earlier this year to set up a debt commission to study problems with the state’s financial balance sheets.
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