Valerie Ettenhofer
Staff Writer

Washington State Democrats proposed a ten billion dollar plan to pursue highway projects in late February.

The bill, which is circulating the House of Representatives, would add a total of ten cents of tax to each gallon of gas purchased over the next five years. This would place Washington State, which already has the ninth-highest gas tax in the nation, about 18 cents above the current national average.

Washington’s current tax of 55.9 cents on the gallon [including the federal standard of 18.4 cents per gallon] already has commuters feeling the pain at the pump, and their displeasure at the proposed bill was evidenced in a recent poll.

Pollster Stuart Elway questioned 412 Seattle voters and found that 72 percent opposed the gas tax changes. Of the 28 percent who would accept the gas tax, only 14 percent are directly in favor of the changes.

The tax would go into effect in increments of two cents per year in hopes to raise a total of 2455 million dollars toward road maintenance and improvement causes.

Major projects within the plan include improvements to cyclist safety, road and bridge functionality, ferry systems, state patrol, chemical cleanup and freeway maintenance.

Revenue for all of this will come from other sources as well, including three billion dollars in bonds. However, gas taxes are only one way the plan will ask citizens to pay.

Along with the ten cents per gallon, there will be a 25 dollar fee required for each purchase of a bicycle over 500 dollars. Car tab prices will also increase to 0.7 percent of a vehicle’s value, a change that was met by 62 percent negativity according to the Elways poll.

Several interest groups expect the transportation plan to cycle through legislature during this session, in hopes of quick implementation of the changes put forth in the plan.

On the other hand, several members of the House do not believe that the plan’s benefits outweigh its costs. According to the Seattle Times, Republicans have indicated that they will push for reform before agreeing to ask citizens for more money.

At a time of increased economic instability and governmental infighting, these changes will likely be debated and questioned throughout Washington in future weeks.