KGMI News
By Tracy Ellis
BLAINE, Wash. – When Governor Inslee signed the state transportation bill into law, he vetoed the I-5-Exit-274-interchange project for Blaine.
It would have added a new I-5 off-ramp and made other improvements.
Now the three Republican lawmakers who represent Blaine in Olympia are crying foul.
“He has picked me, and Whatcom County, as a place where he wants to throw a temper tantrum and try and get his revenge.”
Senator Doug Ericksen says other than pure politics, none of Inslee’s reasons for vetoing the project make sense.
“I’m mad. I am really mad at this governor and what he’s doing to our county, what he’s doing to our good paying jobs, and the way he is doing it is just wrong. It’s immature. It’s like a back-bencher from the United States Congress trying to be a governor.”
Representatives Vincent Buys and Luanne Van Werven issued a joint statement that says “Residents in rural areas of our state don’t have time for the governor’s partisan temper tantrum.”
When he vetoed the project, the Governor says there wasn’t enough information about the scope and cost.
His office responded to the legislator’s assertions by reiterating that the project is not included in the adopted transportation plan, does not have any identified funding and, importantly, there was no scope or further detail provided.