Inslee Vetoes Small Rail Bill Pt 2

Inslee Vetoes Small Rail Bill Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Ag and forestry producers could have benefited from a bill that would allow businesses to build along smaller rail lines ... had the governor not vetoed it.

HB 1504 sponsor, Representative Liz Pike says her bill flew through the House and the Senate so the governor's decision is puzzling ...

LIZ PIKE ... "It's all about jobs and, you know, for a governor that says every time he's on the campaign trail says, quote, "I'm focused like a laser beam on jobs," this veto message really didn't jive with that campaign slogan. Well, let's just say this, if you and I had a buck for every time a politician campaigned on jobs, we could retire."

But, Pike says she doesn't give up and that she's been working with the governor's policy team ...

LIZ PIKE ... "The way the bill came out of the house, it was pretty narrow. It only included three counties including Clark, of course, and when it came out of the Senate it was expanded to Clark County plus all of Eastern Washington. And so, I'm trying to get it back to a narrow version to see if that would be acceptable by the governor. And we still are in Special Session, so if there's a chance that I can get a new bill crafted, get some co-sponsors, and if there's a will on the part of leadership in both chambers, and the governor will accept it, I'm going to move ahead with a special session bill to get this done."

Pike says the bill would have allowed limited development of freight rail dependent businesses along the short-line railroads in Clark County and Eastern Washington, creating thousands of jobs.

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