WA Dems are blowing it. Export fuel tax plan is horrible, and so is raiding public works

With gas prices soaring, Washington state Democrats are looking at a variety of ways to fund their proposed $16.8 billion transportation package without adding to the gas tax.

While that’s a commendable goal, they’ve unfortunately botched the process.

Now, heading into the final week of the session, their plan will be $2 billion short over the next 16 years if they don’t figure a way to fill that hole.

And so far, their ideas on how to make up that gap have been terrible.

Early on they said taxing exported fuel was the answer. Washington has five oil refineries and nearly 40% of our processed fuel goes elsewhere.

Oregon and Idaho have no refineries and Alaska only has one, so the Democrats proposed putting a 6-cent-per-gallon tax on that exported fuel.

Well, you can imagine how well that went over. Our neighbors, indignant at the thought of taking such a hit, wasted no time bashing the plan.

Idaho state lawmakers approved a joint memorial urging Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to speak out against the tax and veto it if it comes to his desk. They also pledged to “take any and all actions necessary” to block it if it was approved.

In Alaska, lawmakers immediately began discussing retaliation, and there already is a proposal to add 6-cents per pound on exported fish if Washington goes through with the controversial proposal.

And Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, complained about taxation without representation and said in a tweet, “Washington taking unilateral action to increase gas prices for Oregon families and businesses is unacceptable.”

In a Seattle Times op-ed, Brown urged Inslee to “put this bad idea back on the shelf, where it belongs.”

While we don’t think getting into a tariff war with other states is a good idea, we would point out that Brown’s objections, at least, have raised eyebrows.

After all, Washington residents who work in Oregon pay that state’s income tax without having any say. And as the Vancouver Columbian pointed out, Oregon is planning tolls along Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 which would inequitably impact Washington drivers who use those highways on a regular basis.

Nevertheless, the exported fuel tax isn’t worth the risk.

The backlash from our neighbors and others has been so fierce that one of the original supporters of the idea has now backed away from it.

Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, has abandoned this horrible plan and has come up with one that isn’t any better.

Instead of implementing the exported fuel tax, he wants to raid the state’s public works account for the next 15 years.

This too, is a completely unacceptable idea.

Kathryn Gardow, the chair of the state Public Works Board, called it a short-sighted proposal that will hurt local communities.

According to Gardow, legislators already have been diverting $150 million a year from the Public Works Assistance Account to cover public education costs thanks to the McCleary lawsuit.

In 2017, lawmakers pledged the diversion would be temporary and would end in June of 2023, but now Fey is talking about ignoring that promise and continuing the state money-grab.

Local governments look to the public works account to support sewer and storm waters projects, and infrastructure for clean drinking water. This fund is critical for public health and needs to be refunded.

Republican lawmakers have a better plan that makes sense and should be considered by the Democrats: take half of the sales tax collected on vehicle sales.

That money now goes into the general fund, and with $898 million more in revenue forecast for the 2021-2023 budget cycle, this seems like a reasonable suggestion.

Currently, the House has removed the fuel export tax from its transportation proposal, but the Senate has not. With so much opposition to it, Senate Democrats ought to trash the idea as well.

But raiding money for public works is also not an answer.

Time is running out and transportation issues are too important to rely on controversial money-grasping ideas.

Democrats need to listen to their Republican counterparts and include them in the process over the next several days to get a package together everyone can live with.

This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 12:08 PM.