OLYMPIA - Just 18 days after its initial unveiling, Senate lawmakers have passed a $15 billion transportation package that includes an 11.7-cent increase to the state gas tax over the next three years.

That package now moves to the Democrat-controlled House where Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said that the package won’t be considered until lawmakers address education funding, which they are under order from the state Supreme Court to substantially increase.

“In the end, our goal is to pass a transportation budget,” Sullivan said. “But we can’t do that until we get the...