House panel approves gas tax

Increase of 8 cents per gallon could go to voters by May

BRAD SHANNON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2002

OLYMPIA -- A House committee approved a gasoline tax increase of 8 cents per gallon and other new transportation taxes Wednesday, the first step toward putting a $6 billion package before voters.

Lawmakers are considering a public vote as early as May.

The vote, which sparked bickering between Democrats who proposed the increase and opposition Republicans, came two days after auto dealers and transit activists reached a compromise in the battle over how to pay for improvements to the state's clogged transportation system.

The car dealers and transit advocates both had vowed, for differing reasons, to oppose the tax package at the polls.

The compromise tax package would impose a 1 percent surtax on new and used car sales, while also earmarking nearly $1.2 billion for nonhighway alternatives such as passenger ferries, transit and rail.

The package includes an 8-cent increase in the state's tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as a 20 percent increase in the gross-weight fee for heavy trucks.

While Republicans condemned the sales tax surcharge on cars and said it might be doomed at the polls, Democrats hailed the measure as the first sign of fruit from two years of difficult negotiations.

The House Transportation Committee approved House Bill 2969 on a 15-12 vote along strict party lines.

"The gridlock is broken with this step," said Rep. Sandra Romero, D-Olympia, who had sat in on the negotiations between transit and car dealer representatives Monday in House Speaker Frank Chopp's office.

"Why don't we do it right the first time?" challenged Rep. Maryann Mitchell, R-Federal Way, the leading Republican on the committee. "Why don't we put something out there that can be supported, that can get the vote of the people, that can have an honest shot of passing?"

Vehicle sales tax

Mitchell hotly opposed increasing the vehicle sales tax by 1 percent, up from Democrats' earlier proposal of 0.8 percent, and she questioned the wisdom of paying a documentation fee to car dealers to win their support.

"It really pains me to have a bill before us that I cannot support. We desperately need money for transportation ... for the economy of this state. ... But this is not the bill. If we put this out there, I'm really concerned that it will go down," Mitchell said.

"I remember last July leaving here with nothing. Nothing. I remember meeting after meeting after meeting, and we got nowhere," countered Rep. Ruth Fisher, D-Tacoma, the committee chairwoman. "We have finally agreed within the Democratic side of this institution to put forward a revenue bill. ... We know it's less than we need."

Fisher noted that the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation had sought $28 billion to $150 billion in improvements.

"This is probably the first tax vote that some of you are going to take. Well, it won't be the last. Clerk, call the roll," Fisher said, drawing laughter.

In addition to the tax bill, the committee approved and sent several other transportation measures to the House Rules Committee for scheduling of a floor vote. The vote will occur Friday, said House Speaker Pro Tem Val Ogden, D-Vancouver.

The sales tax surcharge is less than what Gov. Gary Locke had sought and more than what car dealers had hoped to allow. But the agreement reached in negotiations led by Chopp includes a $35 documentation fee that the state would let car dealers collect for handling vehicle title paperwork at the time of a sale.

Alternatives

The $1.2 billion for transportation alternatives is a nod to transit activists. It's more than $400 million higher than the original House Democratic plan unveiled last week, and close to the upper limit of what some advocates think is possible, although Craig Engelking of the Sierra Club said his supporters hope to push it to $1.5 billion.

Bill LaBorde of the Transportation Choices Coalition said his group has moved from outright opposition to a neutral position on the proposal, because it increases the amount given to alternative transportation.

However, the group is watching carefully to see what amendments are made to the measure.

The environmentalists and Chopp said earlier in the week that polling reported a month ago by business groups showed that people who supported higher taxes for transportation wanted to see more money for transit.

Jim Boldt, lobbyist for the Washington State Auto Dealers Association, said his group will support the tax package if it goes to the polls. The car dealers had initially held out for a surtax no higher than 0.5 percent but agreed to a higher figure once Democrats agreed to the documentation fee.

The car tax money was needed to support transit, rail and passenger ferries, because the gas tax by law cannot be used for nonroad purposes.

"This is a monumental afternoon," Boldt said prior to the tax vote. "This is the first time a (new) funding package has cleared a community after two years. They're doing it in a down economy, in the midst of a huge budget hole."

Brad Shannon, political editor for The Olympian, can be reached at 360-753-1688 and at beshanno@olympia.gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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