Making sure tolls are not a tax
GUEST EDITORIAL
SEATTLE - Olympia still doesn't get it.
Four times the voters have approved initiatives making it tougher
for state government to take more of the people's money. Four
times.
GUEST EDITORIAL
SEATTLE - Olympia still doesn't get it.
Four times the voters have approved initiatives making it tougher for state government to take more of the people's money. Four times. Last year's I-1053 required a two-thirds legislative vote to raise taxes and majority legislative vote to increase fees. Yet despite voters giving it a huge 64 percent yes vote, Olympia wasted no time violating it. Initiative 1125 closes loopholes they put in I-1053, reinforcing the message that tax hikes must be an absolute last resort especially during these tough economic times.
I-1125 requires transportation taxes only be used for transportation. Our state imposes one of the highest gas taxes in the nation, collecting billions every year. Before the government double-taxes us with burdensome tolls - forcing us to pay twice - I-1125 stops transportation revenue from being diverted to non-transportation purposes.
I-1125 ensures accountability and transparency.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected a state income tax last year. How did Olympia respond? They started pushing "anything goes" tolls imposed on existing roads, bridges and highways - costing families thousands of dollars every year - which would be even worse.
In July, the Seattle Times reported: "After years of acting gingerly, the House Transportation Chair said the state may be ready as early as next year for tolled highways as a grid-like, interconnected system instead of being implemented piecemeal. This approach - toll all the major roads - was in a recent report for the Seattle Mayor."
In a newspaper editorial by the liberal Seattle Weekly entitled "Tim Eyman Finally Finds an Initiative That Makes Sense," they wrote: "People of all political stripes are bound to feel under assault from the battery of tolls that are now under discussion. To bureaucrats, tolling seems to be like alcohol or pie: once they get a taste, they can't seem to stop."
But what they're calling "tolls" are actually taxes by another name.
In the entire history of our state, tolls have always expired after the project is paid for. For nearly 100 years, whether it was the original I-90 bridge, 520 bridge, or Hood Canal Bridge, once a project was paid for, the toll was taken off. But in 2008, Olympia repealed that protection, creating for the first time tolls that will continue forever. That radical change was imposed with little public notice. I-1125 prohibits never-ending tolls, requiring (again) that tolls expire once the project is paid for.
Tolls aren't taxes and I-1125 keeps it that way:
* I-1125 (just the way it's always been) prohibits never-ending tolls, reinstating the 100-year-old protection where tolls expire once the project is paid for.
* I-1125 (just the way it's always been) ensures that tolls will be used for highway purposes, prohibiting toll money from being diverted to general fund spending or other non-highway purposes. By stopping diversions, I-1125 keeps the toll as low as possible.
* I-1125 (just the way it's always been) requires that tolls be the same for everyone - uniform and consistent. Socially engineered variable tolls - charging different people different prices - aren't fair because they really hit poor and working class taxpayers the hardest. All of us paid for our roads with our state's sky-high gas tax - so all of us, not just rich people, deserve access to our transportation system.
It's certainly not a surprise that politicians don't like I-1125 because it makes it tougher to raise taxes. The opponents of 1125 are the same forces that pushed last year's state income tax and opposed last year's tougher-to-raise-taxes 1053. It makes sense. I-1125 simply reinforces last year's voter message: that taking more of the people's money has to be an absolute last resort.
In these tough times, the idea of government taking thousands of dollars per year out of family budgets is really scary. People are hurting, and yet Olympia is nonetheless sneaking forward with "tolls" that are just taxes by another name.
I was born and raised in Yakima and went to WAZZU so I know the values of the people on the eastside of the state. You and I don't trust Olympia, especially when it comes to taxes and spending. They need to be kept on a short leash. I-1125 reinstates I-1053's voter approved protections, closes loopholes, and reinforces existing statutory and constitutional protections. Citizens have to follow the law and abide by the state Constitution - the government should too. That's what I-1125 requires them to do.
Before this year's session began, Governor Gregoire said: "I'm not gonna let 1053 stand in the way of me moving forward for what I think is right." Voters approved Initiative 1053 by a huge margin - don't let Olympia get away with putting loopholes in it. Vote YES (again).
With our taxpayers and economy struggling, it's more important than ever to approve Initiative 1125.
Tim Eyman is one of the co-sponsors of "Son of 1053" I-1125 and can be reached at www.VotersWantMoreChoices.com.