State lawmakers are unlikely to pause gas tax despite surging prices at the pump.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — With gas averaging $5.39 a gallon across Washington, the public has been putting pressure on lawmakers to act. However, a pause on the state’s gas tax remains a long shot in Olympia.
Washington carries the third-highest gas tax in the country at 55 cents and that burden is set to grow. A 2% increase is scheduled to take effect in July, with the same annual increase to follow every year after that.
Washington’s gas tax is a fixed per-gallon amount rather than a percentage of the sale, so the state doesn’t collect more when prices spike.
Every state has a gas tax. A few have moved to ease the burden on drivers amid rising oil prices due to the war with Iran. Georgia and Indiana have paused their gas taxes, and Utah is set to launch a gas tax holiday in July.
Washington, for now, isn’t following their lead.
The gas tax is the state’s single largest source of transportation funding. Pulling that revenue, even temporarily, would put road repairs and construction projects across the state in jeopardy.
“The gas tax is integral to the budget that we just passed here again that keeps our transportation system moving,” said state Rep. Andrew Barkis, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee.
The picture gets more complicated from there. Rising construction costs are already putting a strain on the state’s ability to fund infrastructure projects.
Barkis has pitched a potential workaround already: tapping revenue from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, which generates billions of dollars, to partially offset the gas tax. The idea hasn’t gained enough traction in Olympia.
As a business owner himself, Barkis said he’s feeling the pinch firsthand.
“It is having an impact — we’re having to watch how we plan our routes and everything else,” Barkis said about his property management company.
He worries that the added costs will get passed on to customers in many different sectors.
Barkis said if global tensions keep pushing fuel costs higher, the legislature may need to take a hard look at its options.
“If we don’t see that changing anytime soon in the Middle East, then we should be making some decisions as we roll into the summer months,” he said.
Gov. Bob Ferguson has the authority to call the Legislature back into a special session to tackle the issue, but that option appears unlikely for now.
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