Klicker introduces bill increasing littering penalties

By on Monday, January 27th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

OLYMPIA โ€“ Rep. Mark Klicker (R-Walla Walla) along with some House of Representatives Republican colleagues have introduced a bill to tackle the litter in Washington state.

Klicker said currently, Washington has 42 percent more litter per mile than the national average, with about 73,000 pieces of litter, totaling nearly 1,600 pounds last year. In 2024, 38 million pounds of litter were dumped, and only 6 million pounds were cleaned.

โ€œThe problem is bad everywhere, and itโ€™s mostly along our interstates and our state highways.โ€ Klicker said. โ€œIt endangers animals and the environment.โ€

Klicker explains what House Bill 1293 actually does to address the litter problem.

โ€œThis bill would bring a civil infraction from an infraction three up to an infraction two,โ€ he said. โ€œIt would cause us to pay $125 every time weโ€™re fined for littering.โ€

The bill also creates a task force that will look into why Washington is amassing so much garbage out on the highways.

โ€œThis task force would set a precedence of what we can do,โ€ Klicker said.