Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, along with new Speaker of the House Laurie Jenkins, applaud gallery introductions before the governor’s annual State of the State to a joint session of the state Legislature in the House Chambers in Olympia on Tuesday. (Steve Bloom/The Olympian via AP)

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, along with new Speaker of the House Laurie Jenkins, applaud gallery introductions before the governor’s annual State of the State to a joint session of the state Legislature in the House Chambers in Olympia on Tuesday. (Steve Bloom/The Olympian via AP)

Inslee keeps it simple in final State of the State this term

He focuses on reducing homelessness and fighting climate change with a clean fuel standard.

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee pressed lawmakers Tuesday to show greater resolve in reducing the number of unsheltered people and to advance the fight against climate change by passing a clean fuel standard.

Inslee focused on those priorities in his State of the State address, a reflection of their importance to him and the political limits for one’s agenda in a 60-day legislative session in an election year.

Neither is a new challenge but in both cases the state’s past efforts aren’t making progress fast enough, he said.

Inslee is proposing to siphon $319 million from emergency reserves for a state-driven effort to cut in half the number of people living outside in the next two years. His blueprint requires cities and counties to pitch in with a goal of adding shelter beds and supportive housing, and increasing the availability of rental and other housing assistance.

About 10,000 people in the state are without shelter, and more than 11,000 live in temporary homeless housing, according to the most recent annual report from the state Department of Commerce.

“Let’s bring Washingtonians in from the cold,” he said.

Inslee acknowledged his use of the Rainy Day Fund isn’t popular with lawmakers in either party.

“But I can’t imagine there is anyone here today who doesn’t believe we need to act — and act now — to help the most vulnerable in Washington,” he said. “I will gauge our success not on where the money comes from, but how many people we can move to safe housing.”

Inslee’s other focal point Tuesday was climate change, the defining issue of his two-term tenure.

In the 2019 session, Inslee teamed with the Democratic-controlled Legislature to enact several laws, including one requiring Washington utilities to transition to a carbon-neutral electricity supply by 2030 and to obtain 100% of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045.

“While we’ve made progress, we still haven’t addressed the nearly half of our emissions that comes from the transportation sector,” he said. “This is a huge hole in our mutual efforts.”

His answer — as it was in 2019 — is enacting a new clean fuel standard requiring gasoline be produced with less concentration of carbon molecules. California, Oregon and British Columbia are already implementing such standards.

“We need what the rest of the West Coast has already built: a clean fuel standard that calls upon the oil and gas industry to give Washington consumers cleaner fuels,” he said.

House Democrats passed a bill last year, but it died in the Senate where some Democrats and all Republicans expressed concern such a standard would push gas prices higher and not reduce emissions very much or very quickly.

Inslee seemed to take aim at opponents Tuesday.

Washington “is not a state of climate denial. It is a state of climate science acceptance,” he said. “For those who say we shouldn’t take action, I say climate inaction is just as deadly as climate denial.”

Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, opposed the bill and it died in his committee. He said Tuesday he knows climate change is real, but he said a clean fuel standard is the least effective way to reduce carbon emissions, based on findings of a nonpartisan analysis done in California.

Hobbs said he’s drawn up a plan to reduce emissions, as well as fund the removal of fish passage barriers and deal with the damaging effects of stormwater runoff. It raises the money by imposing a fee on carbon emissions — an idea Inslee has championed but voters have rejected — and hiking the gas tax. His transportation package proposal did not advance out of the committee last year.

Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, criticized a clean fuel standard when he delivered the Republican response to Inslee’s address.

“Do the governor’s priorities match up with things that are important in your everyday life, or does it sound like he’s trying to make his priorities your priorities – instead of the other way around?” he said. “The changes he supports would dramatically drive up the cost we all pay at the pump. But unlike the gas tax, it wouldn’t do a thing to improve the quality or quantity of the roads across our state.”

Afterwards, Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, embraced the governor’s proposal and said “a lot” of Democratic caucus members want to find a way to make it happen this year.

“Climate change is hitting us hard. There was urgency in the past. There’s extreme urgency now,” he said. “There’s no time to wait.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@herald net.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Cars move across Edgewater Bridge toward Everett on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edgewater Bridge redo linking Everett, Mukilteo delayed until mid-2024

The project, now with an estimated cost of $27 million, will detour West Mukilteo Boulevard foot and car traffic for a year.

Lynn Deeken, the Dean of Arts, Learning Resources & Pathways at EvCC, addresses a large gathering during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Cascade Learning Center on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Everett Community College in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
New EvCC learning resource center opens to students, public

Planners of the Everett Community College building hope it will encourage students to use on-campus tutoring resources.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman announces his retirement after 31 years of service at the Everett City Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett police chief to retire at the end of October

Chief Dan Templeman announced his retirement at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He has been chief for nine years.

Boeing employees watch the KC-46 Pegasus delivery event  from the air stairs at Boeing on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Boeing’s iconic Everett factory tour to resume in October

After a three-year hiatus, tours of the Boeing Company’s enormous jet assembly plant are back at Paine Field.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Teen boy identified in fatal shooting at Everett bus stop

Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15, was shot at a Hardeson Road bus stop earlier this month. Police arrested two suspects.

Lynnwood
Fatal 2-car crash closes off roads in Lynnwood on Sunday

Police closed off Highway 99 between 188th Street SW and 196th Street SW while they investigated.

Mike Bredstrand, who is trying to get back his job with Lake Stevens Public Works, stands in front of the department’s building on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Lake Stevens, Washington. Bredstrand believes his firing in July was an unwarranted act of revenge by the city. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Lake Stevens worker was fired after getting court order against boss

The city has reportedly spent nearly $60,000 on attorney and arbitration fees related to Mike Bredstrand, who wants his job back.

Chap Grubb, founder and CEO of second-hand outdoor gear store Rerouted, stands inside his new storefront on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Gold Bar, Washington. Rerouted began as an entirely online shop that connected buyers and sellers of used gear.  (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Used outdoor gear shop Rerouted finds a niche in Gold Bar

Seeking to keep good outdoor gear out of landfills, an online reselling business has put down roots in Gold Bar.

Naval Station Everett. (Chuck Taylor / Herald file)
Everett man sentenced to 6 years for cyberstalking ex-wife

Christopher Crawford, 42, was found guilty of sending intimate photos of his ex-wife to adult websites and to colleagues in the Navy.

Most Read