Note: The following e-newsletter was sent to Sen. Jeff Wilson’s subscribers Feb. 13, 2025. To subscribe to Sen. Wilson’s e-newsletters, click here.
I charge for free in the legislative parking lot, but let me point out I write a check to the state treasurer.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Every morning when I drive my Chevy Bolt to the Capitol, I park at one of the charging stations on the Capitol campus and I plug in my car. My car gets charged, but I don’t.
Believe it or not, this is a matter of state policy. The power is free – or rather, provided at taxpayer expense. It is the result of a 2015 law declaring that it is in the state’s interest to encourage the use of electric cars. Therefore it says the chargers at state offices should be free to all – official state vehicles, vehicles owned by employees for commuting purposes, and vehicles owned by members of the public who have business inside.
This has always made me feel uncomfortable. Each year I write a check to the state treasurer for the power I use. I sometimes wonder if I am the only one. I hope this will do something to pull the state out of its budget crisis – created in some small part by generous giveaways like this one.
Why should the taxpayers pay for the electricity I use in my own car? Why should they pay for anyone’s fuel? We don’t pay for anyone’s gas or diesel when they visit state offices, and I don’t think electricity should be any different. We shouldn’t be playing favorites with fuel.
That’s why I have introduced Senate Bill 5750, requiring the state to charge for charging. We would still make chargers available to the public at state office buildings, but we would collect a fee to compensate for the electricity cost, just as at any commercial charging station anywhere in the state.
The bill would put the money in the state motor vehicle fund, to be used for road and highway maintenance. Not only can we restore a bit of equity to this situation, we can fill potholes at the same time.
Reminder: Hearing Friday on bill restricting the governor’s emergency powers
So far, nearly 3,000 people have registered support for bill – still time to make your opinion known
Thanks to all of you who have gone online to register your opinion on one of the most important bills of the 2025 session, a proposal to place reasonable limits on the governor’s emergency powers. Nearly 3,000 people have signed in. If you have not yet registered your opinion, you still have an opportunity to do so before the hearing takes place tomorrow.
Senate Bill 5434, sponsored by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Wooley, and proudly co-sponsored by me, gives the Legislature the ability to end a declared state of emergency, either by a vote of the House and Senate or by an agreement of Republican and Democratic leaders. Currently only the governor has the power to declare an emergency and end it.
Earlier this year, our new governor, Bob Ferguson, signaled his support for reasonable limitations on emergency authority, making this a bipartisan issue. The bill gets a hearing tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, where I am the ranking member. A big show of public support will be important if we are going to make a deadline next week for the passage of bills by committees.
By 10 a.m. today, 2,833 people had signed in to register their support for the bill. Only 54 were opposed, and six signed in as “other.”
You can register your opinion on this issue before the hearing begins by clicking on this link.
If you wish to testify, in person, remotely or in writing, use this link.
You can see this hearing on TVW, live or for streaming after the event, by using this link.
Thanks for reading!
Sen. Jeff Wilson
19th Legislative District
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Contact me!
Telephone: (360) 786-7636
Email: Jeff.Wilson@leg.wa.gov
Mailing address: P.O. Box 40419 /Olympia, WA 98504
Leave a message on the Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000
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