OLYMPIA, Wash. — A top Democrat in the Washington Legislature is pulling support of a proposed tax on fuel exported from the state’s five refineries that has been criticized by neighboring states.
The Seattle Times reports Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, one of the architects of a proposed $16.8 billion transportation funding measure, said Saturday he no longer backed the controversial levy.
“We’ve been hearing people and been hearing their concerns,” Fey told the newspaper. “Everything from the price of oil as it’s been, to the concern about what might transpire with what’s going on in Ukraine, to the response from the elected officials in Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.”
Democrats had proposed a 6-cent-per-gallon tax on fuel exported from the state. Nearly 40% of the fuel processed in Washington refineries goes to other states, primarily Oregon. In proposing the new tax, Democrats said it was a way for nearby states to share in the environmental burden caused by those refineries.
But the backlash was swift, accompanied by legal threats. Republicans in Idaho and Alaska threatened retaliation. And Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, called on Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to veto the tax and for lawmakers to change course. She said the tax would become bogged down in legal fights, jeopardizing cooperation between the two states on a new Interstate 5 crossing over the Columbia River.
Idaho Speaker of the House Scott Bedke released a statement Saturday after reports that Rep. Fey no longer backed the controversial levy.
“This is promising news for Idahoans,” Bedke said. “The Tacoma Democrat behind this ill-conceived gas export tax on Idahoans is pulling his support. I’m glad the Idaho House Republican Caucus was able to stand strong with our republican friends in the Washington legislature and am pleased the situation appears to be ending with a positive result.”
In place of the tax, which was estimated to raise $2 billion over the next 16 years, Fey wants to instead transfer $100 million a year for the next 15 years from the state’s public works account.
The amended plan would leave the state with $500 million less in funding for transportation projects than what was proposed in Democrats’ original package. Fey said that will inevitably mean some pieces of the measure will be cut, but he’s uncertain which.
Fey said he’d notified Democratic House members of the change and spoke to his counterpart, Sen. Marko Liias, D-Lynnwood, Saturday morning.
Liias said he was “pleased” with the progress of the package in the House and is “open to alternative ways to fund it.”
Earlier this week, Idaho Governor Brad Little and other state leaders said the exported fuels tax proposed in the Washington Legislature would essentially mean states like Idaho would be paying the bill for Washington’s infrastructure package. Little and the Idaho AG said they had legal concerns.
“I don't think it's constitutional, I don't think. I mean, the whole concept of our system is that you can't tax some other state. It violates Commerce Clause. There's all kinds of things. The easiest thing is they just not do it,” Little said.
Governor Little and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sent a letter to Washington Governor Jay Inslee asking him to stop the added fuel tax on Idahoans. The letter asked Inslee to consider how the 6% tax would impact Idahoans already struggling with inflation and rising fuel costs. They wrote, “If these proposals reach your desk, we ask you to veto them. Now is not the time for our states to turn on each other with excise tax proposals that dampen our economy and increase costs for everyone.”
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