District 26 Sen. Jan Angel said Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed transportation plan announced earlier this week is a “can of worms.”

On Dec. 16, Inslee unveiled a proposal he said would address the state’s most pressing transportation needs — fixing bridges and roads and boosting the ferry system while cleaning the air and water, reported The Associated Press (AP).

Inslee hopes to fund the $12 billion plan with bonds, fees and a carbon charge on the state’s industrial polluters. The market-based carbon pollution charge will generate $7 billion over 12 years, he said.

The fee will generate the equivalent of a 12-cent gas tax without hurting consumers.

“Transportation pollution paying for transportation solutions,” Inslee told AP. “It’s not our children’s lungs that should be burned. It should be polluters. It’s a pretty elegant solution for the state of Washington.”

Angel (R-Port Orchard) said Inslee’s proposed carbon pollution fee is not protected by the state’s 18th Amendment that cover transportation.

“I think it’s a can of worms,” Angel said during a Dec. 16 interview. “Who are these polluters? Are they industries and businesses that then will leave the state with no revenue and how any jobs will we lose.”

Angel said Inslee is trying to find a way to get carbon charges and fees.

The senator said that she recently signed two bills that are incentives to businesses who put a lot of people on state highways.

“If you give incentives to the businesses that have to do that now anyway if they are able to put a couple of more vans on the road that carry a dozen people to work,” she said. “Instead of having 12 vehicles on the road, just have one. That’s a smart thing to do.”Angel said the governor wants to bring in vehicle miles traveled and reduce the gas tax and be revenue neutral.

“You can’t mess with the gas tax that is debt service for all the current transportation projects,” she said.

The AP reported that Inslee said the state will face a 52 percent drop in its maintenance budget, and 71 bridges will become structurally deficient, if the Legislature is not able to pass a transportation budget in the 2015 session.

“What’s needed to resolve this barrier is a vision that transcends old divides and recognizes there are no Democratic or Republican bridges,” Inslee told AP. “They all need to be safe.”

He hopes to connect all of Washington through a “bipartisan spirit” that aims to “reduce the hours we spend on the roads away from our families.”

His “Let’s Move Forward” plan includes 50,000 construction jobs that will ensure projects are completed and traffic congestion reduced.

“We better start looking at the economy of the ‘polluter’ or whoever they are,” Angel said. “What jobs does that affect? Is Boeing a polluter? Is Microsoft a polluter? We don’t know because we don’t know what the definition of a polluter is. He is saying $4.8 million will come from polluters. Who are the polluters? We don’t know. How are the polluters deemed to be a polluter?”

High on his wish list will be the completion of the Highway 520 bridge — at a cost of $1.4 billion. He also wants to spend $1.3 billion on Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton and $2 million for work on state highways 509 and 167, he said.

Inslee hopes to improve the water-commuter experience by funding a fourth ferry, freezing ferry rate increases and improving ferry reliability.

He wants to see the ferries contribute to his clean-air vision by moving from diesel to cleaner natural gas, he said.

Inslee also wants more funding for projects that will improve safety on the road, including adding rumble stripes, guardrails, improved signals and money for Washington State Patrol.

The governor says more than half the state dollars will go toward new construction and economic development. A quarter will be aimed at maintenance, operations and preservation, and 20 percent goes to clean transportation and public transportation.

Key to making all of these visions work is accountability, he said. The state will track projects to make sure they are completed on time and on budget, he said.

All of this can be done with “a new and bold idea that will breathe new life” into the state — the polluter’s fee, he said.

“We can clean our air and water at the same time we are fixing our air and our roads,” he said. “It is indeed a two-for.”

Angel said Inslee will present his recommendations on the budget to the Senate, but they need “some numbers with it.”