Gas-tax foes turn in signatures two days early

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Foes of Washington state’s 9.5-cent gas-tax increase are one step closer to getting the issue to voters.

Sponsors of Initiative 912, which would give voters a chance to ditch the gas-tax increase, turned in petitions bearing about 232,000 signatures Wednesday. They have until Friday to turn in the 50,000 additional signatures they say will give them the cushion needed to ensure I-912 is on the November ballot. A total of 225,000 valid signatures is required.

“This is another example of the fact that Olympia is disconnected from citizens and the rest of the state,” said Brett Bader, spokesman for NoNewGasTax.com.

Nothing in the gas-tax-financed transportation bill would ease traffic congestion, Bader told reporters after the signatures were turned in to the secretary of state’s office.

It’s not that tax-payers aren’t willing to pay, but they want a plan that works, he said. Policy-makers need to go back to the drawing board, Bader said.

Supporters of the increase say congestion isn’t the issue; safety is.

The tax was levied to pay for road maintenance, to make sure drivers can rely on the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle and U.S. 12 in Walla Walla, said Lily Eng, spokesperson for Keep Washington Rolling.

“This plan has never been to say that you’re going to get off the road 15 minutes earlier,” Eng said; the intent is to catch up on badly needed maintenance.

“It seems as if there’s a lot of blowing of air out there,” Eng said of the signatures turned in two days before the deadline.

In other developments, a letter was filed Friday with the office of state Attorney General Rob McKenna asking for an investigation of Keep Washington Rolling. Richard Pope of Bellevue wrote that the Keep Washington Rolling Web site lists the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Port of Seattle and other ports as supporters.

McKenna’s office said Wednesday that the matter had been referred to the Public Disclosure Commission. PDC officials said they will investigate.

Eng said she hadn’t heard about Pope’s letter. She said she understood that Keep Washington Rolling had erroneously listed some government agencies as sponsors and, when the problem was pointed out, immediately removed them, Eng said.

None of the agencies were listed on the Web site Wednesday.

The first 3 cents of the gas-tax increase went into effect Friday, on top of the state’s existing 28-cent-per-gallon levy. The rest will be phased in over the next few years: three cents in 2006, two cents in 2007 and 1.5 cents in 2008.

The ambitious $8.5 billion, 16-year transportation program would help finance “mega-projects,” such as replacing the rickety Alaskan Way Viaduct and building a new state Route 520 bridge across Lake Washington. It also would provide cash for hundreds of highway and bridge projects, rail, ferries and other improvements.

Tolls, local taxes and weight fees on cars, light trucks and SUVs also are planned as the state whittles away at a $50 billion backlog of projects.