Debate opens on transportation fees

OLYMPIA – A package of new fees on oil, vehicles and studded tires began its long journey through the Legislature Tuesday with opponents saying some aren’t fees at all but taxes. Some supporters said the package is needed to boost jobs, but others said it doesn’t spend enough on mass transit or bike lanes.

The biggest source of new revenue in the transportation package proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire is an extra $1.50 per barrel levied on oil refined in the state.

Washington is the sixth-largest oil-refining state in the country, Greg Hannon of the Western States Petroleum Association said. But not all of those products go to Washington; about 40 percent are sent to Oregon and California.

The extra charge will make Washington-refined products less competitive in the world market, he said. And since it will be levied on oil shipped out of state, where the people who pay it won’t benefit from the road maintenance projects, and on jet fuel, which is used by planes that don’t contribute to road wear and tear, it’s not a fee at all, Hannon added: It’s a tax.

That assessment was echoed by other representatives of the petroleum industry and Tim Eyman, the sponsor of initiatives to require supermajorities in the Legislature for tax increases. Fees can be increased by a simple majority.

“You’re twisting yourselves into pretzels” to call it a fee, Eyman said.

Other fees in the package include a $5 per tire charge on all new studded snow tires sold in the state, a $100 fee on electric cars, an extra $15 fee on passenger vehicles and a 15 percent increase in license fees for large trucks.

Environmental groups said they will support the fees to fix what April Putney of Transportation for Washington called “a broken system.” But some said more money needed to be spent on transit, bike lanes or storm water systems.

Both the Senate and House Transportation committees held hearings on the bill Tuesday, but neither is ready to vote on it. Several legislators questioned whether the money from the fees is adequately protected to keep them from being shifted from transportation projects to other items in the state’s budget, and whether more petroleum products will be shipped into Eastern Washington from out of state to avoid the fee.

Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, asked representatives of the oil industry for a list of the owners of the state’s refineries, and their profit statements for the last several years, before the House panel votes.