State gas tax to head higher
OLYMPIA – Breaking a legislative logjam on Sunday, state lawmakers approved a 9.5-cent increase in the state gasoline tax that will start with a 3-cent rise in July.
Much of the 16-year, $8.5 billion spending package will be spent on “mega-projects” in the Puget Sound area, including replacement of Seattle’s Alaskan Way viaduct, repairs to Interstate 405 and work on the state Highway 520 floating bridge.
Gov. Christine Gregoire called lawmakers who voted for the package “courageous,” braving a tough tax vote to fix some of state’s most serious hazards. It undoubtedly helped that Gregoire had threatened Sunday morning to veto any bare-bones, no-new-taxes transportation budget that didn’t include money for the mega-projects.
“How would I have felt in a year or two if the viaduct had collapsed and hundreds of lives had been lost and the economy of the state had literally come to a stop?” she said. “On the brink of disaster, I cannot stand by and do nothing.”
Asked if she worries that unhappy motorists will take revenge in the next election, Gregoire said she can’t worry about that.
“I didn’t come here to be shy,” she said. “I didn’t come here to do the politically correct thing.”
Sunday’s vote, on the session’s final day, capped hours of closed-door meetings, arm-twisting and heavy lobbying by proponents and foes. Gregoire spent much of Sunday morning meeting separately with Republicans and Democrats.
“I just did some brokering,” she said. “I simply asked them to stand up and do the right thing.”
It worked. Without a word of debate, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, opened the electronic voting machine in the House of Representatives. The bill – which had failed on Saturday – passed, 54-43.
Among area representatives, it was strictly a party-line vote. Spokane Democrats Timm Ormsby and Alex Wood voted for the increase. Voting “no” were Republican Reps. John Ahern, Larry Crouse and John Serben of Spokane, David Buri and Don Cox of Colfax, Joel Kretz of Wauconda, Lynn Schindler of Otis Orchards and Bob Sump of Republic.
Many local lawmakers were unhappy with the list of projects, saying that too much money would be spent in the central Puget Sound area.
“It’s not just King County-centered. It’s Seattle-centered,” said Kretz. Yes, the improvements need to be made, he said, but with gas at record high prices, it’s a terrible time to boost the tax, particularly for rural motorists.
“For a lot of us, it’s 40, 50 miles to town,” he said.
Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient, said he is upset that money for a bridge in his 7th District disappeared in the final version of the budget.
“If you come to the beautiful city of Omak, bring your swimsuit if you want to cross the Okanogan River,” he told lawmakers, angrily describing concrete crumbling away from rebar.
The spending package also includes new “vehicle weight fees” of $10 to $30 per year based on the weight of cars and small trucks. It also raises the cost of driver’s licenses, permits, license plates and related fees.
The gas tax will be phased in over four years. The state gas tax is 28 cents per gallon now.
“I don’t know how the people out there are going to be able to afford the extra tax,” said Schindler.
Proponents cited studies indicating that the Seattle viaduct and the approaches to the 520 bridge are in danger of failing during an earthquake.
Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Kingston, voted against the bill Saturday only to reverse herself and vote for it Sunday.
“If the Alaskan Way viaduct ever fell down, I could never live with myself,” she said. “We have a duty to each other as a community.”
She said her stepsister just missed being on the two-tier Bay Area bridge that pancaked in the 1989 quake.
Crouse agreed that the work needs to be done, saying the Puget Sound area’s infrastructure is critical to the state’s economy. But he voted against the bill, saying the state could come up with billions of dollars in savings rather than new taxes.
“If you don’t think we can’t find an extra billion dollars a year, you’re wrong,” he said.