Gov. Inslee: DUI laws, gun control, transportation taxes all on special session agenda
May 1, 2013, 10:33 AM | Updated: 11:48 am
Gov. Jay Inslee takes questions from the media after announcing a special legislative session, on Sunday, April 28, 2013, in Olympia, Wash. Washington state lawmakers have adjourned the regular legislative session, but must return to complete their work on the state budget. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
(AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
According to Washington state’s Governor Jay Inslee, the Legislature hasn’t done its job yet.
A special session in the Legislature begins May 13, and Inslee told Seattle’s Morning News that DUI laws, gun control, and transportation taxes are all still on the table.
The governor said that a compromise on a new DUI bill is about 95 percent nailed down. “This is a really important step for the state. We’ve seen the tragedies that happen if we don’t crack down on impaired driving.”
His favorite part of the current DUI legislation being drafted is that repeat offenders will have to wear a bracelet that will require them not to drink. And if they drink while wearing it, they’ll spend time in the “pokey.”
Inslee also said it’s time to close the gun show loophole.
“I can’t understand any rational argument on this green earth to say that a felon can’t buy a gun at the store, but they can walk into a gun show and buy 20 of them. So apparently we’re going to keep working on this.”
When the state’s leaders gather in Olympia in a few weeks, the results may hit your pocketbook. A possible 10-cent per gallon gas tax is still on the table. There are literal “bridges to nowhere” according to Inslee, and he said we have to pay for them somehow.
If support for a tax can’t be mustered up, freight fees and tolling is on the table as well.
“We’ve got to be competing for the replacement of the Boeing 777,” said Inslee. “We want to build the next generation of jet. Our economy depends on that. Our ability to compete with South Carolina and anywhere else that Boeing may want to build its jets is depending on us maintaining a robust transportation system, so we can move those engines and people back and forth in Western Washington. It’s an imperative.”
