Ex-WSDOT accountant blames Inslee's policies for high gas prices, preps lawsuit

SEATTLE - A former Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) employee is threatening to sue the state. Whistleblower Scott Smith claims he was retaliated against and eventually pushed out of his job for telling the truth about the state’s hotly contested cap-and-trade program.

Jackson Maynard is counsel for Smith, whose claims are front and center in a bombshell demand letter sent to state leaders this week.

"As my client said, this was a matter of sixth-grade math," said Maynard. "It was just a matter of adding things up, and they didn’t want him to provide that accurate information."

Detailed in the document are allegations that superiors deliberately told Smitt to "omit the impact of Washington State’s cap-and-trade program on fuel price estimates starting in January of this year. You will recall that during this time, the Governor was repeatedly claiming there was no impact on fuel prices from this program and was instead blaming the fuel industry for the increased costs."

Governor Jay Inslee is on the record saying, "This is going to have a minimal impact – if any. Pennies. We are talking about pennies. Potentially, not all of this would be passed off to the consumer and what they would, would be pennies."

Featured

article

Analysis finds Washington drivers could continue to see rise in gas prices after new law in 2023

A potentially dramatic hike in the cost of gasoline has Gov. Jay Inslee at odds with an analysis released Tuesday by the conservative-leaning Washington Policy Center (WPC).

The Governor’s cap-and-trade program promises to cut down on carbon emissions by making pollution more expensive for companies. Frustrated drivers filling up at the pump argue that they’re paying more than ever because of it – arguing big oil has passed the burden onto them.

"What did the Governor know and when did he know it?," questioned Jackson. "He was running around at the time saying that this program was having no impact on gas prices."

FOX 13 asked the Governor’s Office to comment on the accusations. Since the release on Thursday, investigators have ascertained the following preliminary, tentative findings:

"The OFM individual named in the letter has expressed surprise and no recollection of events matching Mr. Smith’s claims regarding how his analysis would be used. He does not recall ever talking with this individual about the Climate Commitment Act and does not recall needing to "approve" or review reports from Mr. Smith.

There is a quarterly meeting to review the assumptions of the forecast that includes staff members from the Legislature as well as multiple state agencies. The OFM individual named in the letter does not recall the issue of CCA prices coming up during the quarterly meetings.

Regarding the role Mr. Smith held at WSDOT prior to his November retirement: The Legislature passed HB1838 earlier this year that would eventually move the essential functions that were performed by Mr. Smith from WSDOT to the Economic Revenue Forecast Council. His position was not eliminated by WSDOT and the decision of where to house the role was made by lawmakers.

Mr. Smith previously told the agency he had plans to retire in June 2024. This past summer, he requested that he be authorized to work out of state until his planned retirement. Initial records indicate WSDOT initiated their internal process for Mr. Smith to be considered for out of state telework and prepared to make a good-faith effort to consider his request, but Mr. Smith did not finalize the process for further consideration. 

Mr. Smith claims he was denied leave to spend time with his mother around Thanksgiving, and that this denial was tied to some vendetta. In reality, Mr. Smith was the expert presenter at a meeting that conflicted with his date requests."