The Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific and Guemes Island Ferry Workers, a bargaining unit of the IBU, urge voters to vote no on Initiative 2117.
If approved, I-2117 would remove 25 percent of the funding for new ferries to replace Washington State Ferries’ aging fleet; and would eliminate 100 percent of the shore power project funding for the new Mark II ferries. I-2117 would also eliminate funding for the Guemes Island Ferry replacement project.
As stated in materials IBU members have been distributing, chronic underfunding of the state ferry system for more than a decade led to deferred maintenance and reduced investment in new ferry construction. This, in turn, has resulted in transportation service delays and canceled sailings that ferry-dependent communities have experienced with increasing frequency.
These issues were partially addressed when the Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act of 2021, which requires the state’s largest polluters to buy credits to offset the pollution they create. Some of that revenue is earmarked for construction of next-generation ferries – cleaner, more efficient and more reliable vessels to address the growing transportation needs of our ferry-served communities.
I-2117, if passed, would strip this dedicated funding source away from our state’s ferry-served communities, halt progress on the delivery of new ferries, and compromise the construction of infrastructure needed to accommodate new ferries put into service.
Vote no on 2117 to keep our ferry-served communities connected and thriving.
Sincerely,
Richard Walker, union steward
Guemes Island Ferry Workers
A bargaining unit of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific