WA lawmakers pump higher gas taxes into their empty budget tank

Washington state lawmakers say they’ve agreed on a 6-cent gasoline tax increase starting July 1, along with other revenues that would avert cutbacks in promised highway and ferry construction.

Over six years, the plan would add $3.2 billion to the transportation budget, which has been shellacked by runaway inflation this decade.

Senate Bill 5801 passed the Senate on a 31-17 vote Friday evening and includes compromises with the House, virtually assuring final passage this weekend. Both the yea and nay votes were bipartisan for a package that features the first gas tax boost in nearly a decade.

By Saturday morning, committee leaders are scheduled to hammer out the updated transportation spending budget, which lists the projects — including new vessels to replace deteriorating ferries — to be funded and those that will be delayed or ignored. And the public should learn whether Washington will increase its $4 billion outlay to replace state road culverts blocking salmon habitat, a program that’s deep in the red.

The legislative session ends Sunday.

Washington drivers already pay above-average fuel prices ($4.29 per gallon this week including tax), and soon the state gas tax will hit 55.4 cents per gallon, the third-highest behind California and Pennsylvania. Starting in mid-2026, the gasoline tax will rise 2% annually. These numbers don’t include any carbon fees, paid by polluters under the state’s Climate Commitment Act to fund green projects, that trickle down to the public. The federal government adds 18.4 cents a gallon, unchanged since Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s.

Fuel taxes on diesel will also rise, by 3 cents this July and another 3 cents in July 2027, followed by 2% hikes annually in 2028. Five cents of each new fuel-tax dollar will be shared with local governments, said a summary by House Democrats.

In addition, vehicle weight fees will increase by $10 to $24 per year starting Jan. 1, based on size, for passenger vehicles and trucks when license tabs are renewed, according to marked-up legislation. Another boost is scheduled in 2029.

The 0.3% special sales tax on motor vehicles will rise to 0.5%.

Luxury taxes will be imposed, at 8% for vehicles worth over $100,000 and 10% on aircraft worth over $500,000.

Transportation spending will also siphon off a 0.1% piece of the state’s 6.5% sales tax, which would seem to mean less money for other state expenses. But that’s less than some proposals that would have grabbed three times as much sales tax.

Gov. Bob Ferguson has already projected a $15 billion shortfall between expected taxes and planned spending the next four years and enumerated $4 billion in spending reductions, including furlough days for state workers.

As budget writers zeroed in on compromise plans for transportation revenue, they sent a few disputed ideas to the wrecking yard: a 10% tax on electric bike sales, higher fees for electric cars and registration fees for transit buses to compensate for the fact that they don’t pay highway tolls.

Also discarded was a road usage charge that drivers would pay by the mile. Mileage-fee concepts have circulated in various flavors for two decades without taking hold, and are a favored cause by House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey, D-Tacoma.

“Washingtonians expect us to deliver on our promises — to finish long overdue projects, repair aging infrastructure, and ensure our transportation systems can support the needs of a growing state,” said an announcement by Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias, D-Edmonds.

In the same statement, Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, declared that “Raising fees and taxes is not something we take lightly, but we determined it was the only solution to address our state’s transportation challenges.”

The last time Olympia raised the gasoline tax was a total 11.9-cent boost in 2015 and 2016. Since then, legislators, especially Liias, have taken pains to avoid higher gas taxes by ratcheting up a legion of less-visible fees that motorists pay. Until now.

Recent bids have soared faster than general inflation, breaking the Legislature’s past spending lists. The most dramatic case is the final segment of the Highway 520 replacement, where Washington State Department of Transportation signed a $1.4 billion construction deal that’s 72% higher than the state engineering estimate. Pilings are now being driven into Portage Bay for a concrete-girder bridge, to open by 2031.