A Washington state bill that would create a voluntary road usage charge program as a substitute for the state gas tax has received a deluge of opposition despite support from public officials and local government advocates.
“What a Pandora's box this would be,” anti-tax activist Tim Eyman told the House Transportation Committee at House Bill 1921’s Thursday afternoon public hearing before the House Transportation Committee. “This is something the voters viscerally oppose.”
According to Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, the bill received 20,100 public comments, with 19,836 signed in opposition compared to 270 in support.
“That should send a pretty big message,” he said in a video posted on X. “We got a lot of work to do on this.”
Sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, HB 1921 would create a road usage charge that would initially be voluntary and later mandated depending on the vehicle’s gas mileage.
He told the committee that “the gas tax is a dwindling revenue source for a transportation system. It's now clear by the trends that we have in the highway system in terms of unmet needs, but also in terms of the direction of revenue from the gas tax. Our greatest need in this state is to preserve what we have, because if we don't preserve what we have, we have a situation that exists like it does today.”
Among those to testify in favor of the road usage charge was Jane Wall with the County Road Administration Board, who said “the gas tax is a fleeting revenue source. Critical preservation and maintenance programs, like the ones at the County Road Board, are at risk of losing the overwhelming majority of revenues as we phase out internal combustion engines. I am deeply concerned for the future of local preservation and maintenance programs and ultimately the work throughout our counties and state.”
Carl Schroeder with the Association of Washington Cities also testified in favor of the bill, saying “we need to have a stable transportation funding source for the state and local governments as a gas tax continues to decline with more efficient and electric cars.”
However, Kemper Development Company’s Transportation Director Mariya Frost noted that “this bill falls short of an actual constitutional 18th Amendment to more strongly protect driver revenue.”
The 18th Amendment to the state constitution mandates that all gas tax revenue can only be spent on state highway projects, a legal protection that many transit advocates have opposed for road usage charge revenue.
Puget Sound Regional Council Regional Planning Director Ben Bakkenta told the committee that “our strategy calls for a road usage charge to be flexible and able to support the entire transportation system,” adding that HB 1921 would “support rail biking pedestrians and public transit is consistent with the region's adopted policies.”
HB 1921 is not scheduled for any further committee action.
