Rep. Spencer Hutchins renews push for Inslee emergency declaration on ferries with budget amendment

Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-Gig Harbor, stresses the need for urgency to fix the state ferry system as he speaks to an amendment to the House supplemental operating budget from his seatmate Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor. The amendment is identical to House Bill 2498 cosponsored by Hutchins, and Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, the assistant and ranking Republican members of the House Transportation Committee, that called on Gov. Jay Inslee to exercise his emergency powers to declare an emergency regarding ferry procurement to cut through the bureaucracy and expedite the procurement of at least two new nonhybrid electric ferries that could be on the water in two years, rather than the decade it will to get the governor's hybrid electric boats in service. Hutchins noted, many in Washington live in parts of the state where their only transportation option to get to work, school, shopping and more is ferry transportation leading to stress and uncertainty in their communities.