Contact: Carl Gipson, Deputy Communications Director
(360) 956-3482

Facts about the new state transportation plan

You’ve heard the old adage: "The devil is in the details." This is too often true of legislation, and the new state transportation plan is no exception.

Last November, voters said "No" to Referendum 51—the proposed $7.8 billion transportation spending package. Why? Because it lacked all the key elements of a successful transportation plan: a congestion relief index, clearly defined and prioritized projects, accountability measures, and efficiencies. Voters could see right through the legislative promises to the reality beyond.

The $4.1 billion transportation spending plan recently approved by legislators is, essentially, a Referendum 51-lite. It, too, fails to provide the necessary elements for true congestion relief . . . and it has a few ugly little details.

1. Ten-year tax increase? Make that 35 years . . .
Primary funding for the plan is touted as a temporary ten-year, 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase. In reality, the tax increase will have to stay in place for at least 35 years to pay off interest on borrowed funds. Over ten years, the gas tax increase will raise $1.7 billion in revenue. State officials plan to sell 25-year bonds to raise another $2.6 billion. At the end of ten years, taxpayers will still have more debt to pay off on the projects than the total amount collected by the gas tax.

2. Project list subject to change.
Lawmakers have made many glowing public comments about the projects that will be funded by the new transportation revenue, but their actual legislation does not include a project list. This means the dollars they collect are not legally bound to any specific project. Further, their tentative project list does not include start and completion dates and there is no guarantee that roads will take precedence over things like studies. Legislators are operating with no binding framework.

3. There are no meaningful efficiencies.
"Best practices" are not considered in the transportation plan and no provisions are made for competitive bidding or the repeal of costly prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements.

4. There is no congestion relief index.
The legislature has not taken time to clearly identify which projects are needed to address the state’s worst congestion choke-points, and projects are not prioritized accordingly. This means millions of dollars may be spent on projects that will not significantly affect congestion over the next ten years.

5. There are no accountability measures.
Legislators passed a bill to allow what they call transportation performance audits, but the provision amounts to little more than a license to conduct self-audits. Under the legislation, the Legislative Transportation Committee will determine the audit standards and criteria. This is business as usual in the face of an obvious need for reform. Lawmakers should instead give auditing authority to the independently-elected state auditor; if not the auditor, then another independent entity.

6. Transportation revenue bill is unconstitutional.
Article 2, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution reads: "No act, law, or bill subject to referendum shall take effect until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was enacted." Legislators made their funding package—which includes gas and automotive taxes, as well as a ‘license retention fee’—effective July 1, three weeks before the constitutional window opens.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org