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With jobless rates hovering near 9 percent in the Evergreen state, a few Washington lawmakers say they are zeroing in on a way to fire up the regional economy.
Their idea is a new way to pay for government construction projects. Sen. Derek Kilmer says the concept is simple: Issue revenue bonds, just like the state does now to pay for state highway and bridge projects with gas taxes.
But this construction package – which could be for $1 billion or more – would rely on the state’s toxics taxes, public works trust funds, and perhaps other streams of money that roll into the state’s capital budget.