Sen. Curtis King says support is growing in Olympia to raise the gas tax to fund transportation infrastructure investments, according to a recent report by King 5.

A transportation funding package is critical to the success of businesses across the state.

Just ask Schnitzer Steel in Tacoma. A spokewoman told King 5 that completing State Route 167 between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma would more efficiently move Northwest metal to its recycling yard for export to Asia. And that could lead to future expansion and new jobs.

The Washington State Legislature has failed the last three years to pass a funding package to maintain the state’s aging roads and complete long-overdue projects, like SR 167.

“It is frustrating in that we feel like we’re not preserving the investment we made last century in this really great transportation system we’ve been able to build our business on top of,” the Schnitzer Steel spokeswoman said in the King 5 story.

Sen. King, who is chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, told King 5 he supports an 11.5-cent gas tax increase and believes it can find support in the Legislature if reforms are part of the package.

Will 2015 be the year lawmakers avoid getting caught in the gridlock that has derailed transportation funding in the past? We hope so.