Transportation Committee talk through Initiative 2117, start curb pricing convo
For a bulk of the Chamber’s October Transportation Committee meeting, our advocacy members received an update on Initiative 2117 from Morgan Irwin, the Government Affairs Director for the Association of Washington Business (AWB). Irwin began by discussing the alternative revenue sources that the state is considering beyond a gas tax, including road usage charges (RUC), tire taxes, or gross vehicle weight fees.
“This is getting after the EVs a little bit,” he said, “And making sure that they're properly compensating the state infrastructure system for the weight of those vehicles and the damage that they can do to the roads … [An] average Tesla Model S weighs a little bit more than a Ford F-150.”
Despite the outcome of I-2117, there is already a $2 billion funding gap in the transportation infrastructure package passed this last year, and on top of that, Irwin brought attention to the underfunding of maintenance and preservation projects, estimating that $20 billion will be needed over the next 10 years just to address our already-existing bridges, roads, and the like.
He also mentioned that the Interstate Bridge Replacement project — concerning the I-5 bridge between Vancouver, WA, and Portland, OR — recently received $1.5 billion in federal funding, but the project will need another $4 billion to complete, with costs to be shared between the two states.
“Budgets in Washington State are going to be tight,” said Irwin. “One of the other sources that's being talked about is diversion of the sales tax on new vehicles from the General Fund to the Transportation Fund, while generally the Operating Budget does not have a direct impact on the Transportation Budget.”
“This can be [a] very difficult year to do that, based on revenue forecasts and current spending forecasts, depending on how you look at it …The state is already going to be operating at somewhat of a deficit, which could mean new taxes outside of transportation.”
The Transportation Committee also took a look at the East King Chambers Coalition’s (EKCC) Policy Position paper for the upcoming legislative session, which will be made public in the coming weeks as our Policy Council makes final touches, and were briefed by the Chamber’s Jodie Alberts on an upcoming issue: Curb pricing.
At the most basic level, the City of Bellevue is struggling to enforce parking, particularly in downtown, as the program isn’t currently generating any revenue. Thus, they are considering instituting a city-wide curb pricing model, with folks looking at different alternatives, such as a paid on-street parking program, load-and-unload fees, micro-mobility permits, and more. The Transportation Committee plans to engage on this issue with the community in coming months so as to be prepared for meetings with City staff in early 2025.