Transportation taxes

After more than a year of legislative bickering about paying to fix the state's transportation woes, House Democrats on Thursday proposed $5.6 billion in transportation taxes over the next decade - and said they have more than enough votes to pass it.

"We're here to announce the end of legislative gridlock on transportation," said House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

Voters, however, would get the final say on the plan, which would be placed on a special June 20 ballot. If the new taxes were approved, they'd kick in almost immediately.

"We're in this together as a state, and we need to move forward as a state," Chopp said. He said the measures would cost a typical driver about $50 a year, and that the fixes are badly needed.

"We can't afford not to do this," he said.

Some Republicans are skeptical that voters will OK new taxes, especially with the prospect of other tax hikes looming.

"I think this package, in my personal opinion, will go down in flames," said House Minority Leader Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee.

Both Gov. Gary Locke and the state Senate are pushing for the taxes to be imposed in Olympia, without a public vote, but that could dramatically diminish the deal's support in the House. Rep. Maryann Mitchell, R-Federal Way, said the response of her fellow House Republicans would be a "`no' and a `hell no.'"

Most lawmakers in both parties, however, acknowledge that something must be done to fix the state's worsening traffic and rail congestion, as well as aging bridges and ferries.

Rep. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said he doesn't think voters in his Palouse district would vote for such a plan. He thinks a smaller tax hike would stand better odds.

"If this thing fails, we're all in trouble," he said. "I don't think anybody believes that doing nothing is an option."

The taxes, all of which would be phased in over two years, include:

* Boosting the state's 23-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax by 8 cents. The change would make Washington's gasoline tax one of the highest in the nation.

* A new 0.8 percent sales tax increase on new and used vehicles,

* And a 20 percent increase in weight fees for trucks over 10,000 pounds.

The plan includes $50 million for the North Spokane Corridor, a project linking U.S. 395 with Interstate 90. It also includes $35 million to widen Interstate 90 from Argonne Road to Sullivan Road, and $25 million to add a lane in each direction to SR-270, better known as the Moscow-Pullman highway.

"For us, it's just about everything we could have asked for," said Rep. Alex Wood, D-Spokane, a member of the House Transportation Committee. "It looks pretty good."

Chopp said House Democrats have the minimum 50 votes needed to pass the bill, and that they hope to get 5 to 10 Republican votes as well.

One key element of the bill: It would set aside 1 cent of the gasoline tax - some $333 million over the next 10 years - for city, county and other local transportation projects. The rest would go to highways and other major fixes.

In a nod to urban concerns, it also includes nearly $700 million for things other than cars: railroad projects, ferries, van pools, buses and park-and-ride commuter lots. Environmentalists and mass- transit activists said it was far too little.

The rest of the package consists of $3.7 billion for roads, $595 million for the ferry system and $148 million for freight projects.

Some House Republicans had proposed a similar plan, with a 7-cent gasoline tax, 0.5 percent new sales tax on vehicles, 10-cent diesel tax and 15 percent truck-fee hike. It totals about the same: $5.5 billion over a decade.

Locke - who praised both plans - had earlier called for an $8.5 billion tax package, based on a 9-cent gasoline tax increase.

Rep. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, said lawmakers will fan out "to every Rotary and Chamber and Kiwanis across the state" to sell the plan.

"Once people see what they'll be getting for their money, they'll vote for it," he said.

Rep. Ruth Fisher, D-Tacoma, predicted that 30 percent of Washingtonians will never vote for any new taxes, no matter what.

"We have to appeal to the other 70 percent," she said.

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