Washington Gas Tax Increase Advisory Vote No. 12 (2015)

Advisory Vote 12
Type	Advisory question
Topic	Taxes
Status	Repealed d

Washington 2015 ballot
Initiative 1366 - Sales taxes
Initiative 1401 - Animals
Advisory 10 - Spill taxes
Advisory 11 - Marijuana
Advisory 12 - Gas taxes
Advisory 13 - Business taxes

All 2015 U.S. measures

The Washington Gas Tax Increase Advisory Vote was on the ballot in Washington on November 3, 2015, as an advisory question. On the ballot, it was referred to as Advisory Vote No. 12. A majority of voters voted in favor of repealing the bill.

Voting "repealed" would have advised removing a gas tax increase of 11.9 cents.

Voting "maintained" would have advised leaving current gas tax laws unchanged.

Election results

Washington Advisory No. 12
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Repealed		928,324	64.37%
d Maintained		513,742	35.63%

Election results via: Washington Secretary of State

Text of Measure

The official ballot title was:

“

The legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, additional taxes on motor vehicle and special fuels costing an estimated $3,707,000,000 in the first ten years, for government spending. This tax increase should be: ( ) Repealed ( ) Maintained

”

Fiscal impact

The Office of Financial Management released a 10-year cost projection.

Fiscal Year	Fuel Taxes
2016	$170,405,500
2017	$348,640,400
2018	$392,850,800
2019	$395,375,700
2020	$396,977,500
2021	$399,134,200
2022	$399,920,400
2023	$400,581,200
2024	$401,185,500
2025	$401,708,300
Total	$3,706,779,500

Background

See also: Washington Initiative 960

A provision of a 2007 ballot measure, Initiative 960, directly led to the placement of advisory votes on taxes on the ballot. Under that approved measure, a statewide advisory vote is required on all tax increases passed by the state legislature. Initiative 960 was sponsored by Tim Eyman and originally required a two-thirds supermajority vote in the legislature or a legally binding vote of the people to approve any tax increases or eliminations of tax credits. Though the supermajority requirement was struck down by the Washington Supreme Court in 2013, the advisory vote clause was left intact.

Support

Supporters

The following officials support SB 5987:

• Sen. Curtis King (R-14)
• Rep. Judy Clibborn (D-41b)
• Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-9)
• Sen. Mike Baumgartner (R-6)
• Sen. Mark Mullet (D-5)
• Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-42)
• Rep. Jessyn Farrell (D-46b)
• Gov. Jay Inslee

Gov. Jay Inslee

Arguments in favor

The following arguments were made in support of SB 5987, which contains the gas tax increase.

Gov. Jay Inslee stated:

“

I've been fighting to get a transportation package since my first day in office and now is the time for the Legislature to act. The state needs a transportation package and lawmakers have negotiated a bipartisan proposal that is nearly ready to be voted on.

”

Andrew Austin, policy director of Transportation Choices Coalition, said in a statement:

“

While this 16 year, $16 billion investment is far from perfect, it is a legislative compromise and we applaud its passage. With millions of dollars of new state transit investments and $15 billion of Sound Transit 3 authority, this deal will go a long way to give Washingtonians more transportation options. While we lament that the state transit investments are not higher and the restrictive language on the clean fuels authority, we commend legislative leaders and the governor for striking a deal that will help maintain local streets and highways, finish the west side of the 520 bridge, commit hundreds of millions state dollars to transit, and allow voters in the Puget Sound Region to choose their own transportation future. We look forward to working with the Sound Transit Board to craft a bold, equitable, and forward-thinking Sound Transit 3 proposal to take to the voters in November 2016.

”

Rep. Jessyn Farrell

Rep. Jessyn Farrell said in a statement:

“

This package will help maintain our roads and bridges and make investments in multimodal and transit infrastructure. The package injects over $16 billion in our transportation system, creating jobs and helping to grow our economy. Additionally, the measure gives Sound Transit authority to ask voters to approve $15 billion for much needed transit for the Puget Sound Region. I was successful in fighting to make sure that the additional $500 million in taxes that Sound Transit will pay under this plan will be reinvested back in the Puget Sound area.

”

David D’Hondt, executive president of the Association of General Contractors of Washington, or AGC, said:

“

This is an enormous victory for AGC. Not only will it provide thousands of jobs for highway contractors, the economic expansion it will spur will create thousands of more jobs in the private-construction sector. Thanks to the many AGC members who met with legislators, made calls, sent emails and letters to keep sending the message that the transportation package will ease congestion, facilitate economic growth, improve the environment and enhance the quality of life in the state.

”

Sen. Curtis King

Sen. Curtis King, who sponsored the legislation, argued:

“

Nobody likes to have a gas tax increase, but we haven’t been as diligent on maintenance and preservation as we’ve needed to be. We need to invest in that to get caught up. If we don’t do it in the next two or three years, those repairs, it’s going to cost us three or four times more.

”

Rich Stolz, director of civil rights group OneAmerica, said in a statement:

“

We are disappointed that the Senate Majority insisted on placing the interests of big oil over the health of our communities, who also face higher levels of transportation-related pollution in Washington state. We hope that there will be an opportunity in the near future to work with state leaders and our allies on all sides of the aisle to find alternate paths to curbing greenhouse gas emissions to ensure that everyone has equal access to opportunity and a healthy environment. For now, the transportation package presents an opportunity to fully fund Sound Transit 3 at $15 billion, extending light rail service to underserved communities in Puget Sound, to implement groundbreaking provisions to create equitable transit-oriented development around light rail stations including $20 million in funding for affordable housing, and to invest over $600 million in funding for transportation projects that will make our communities safer and more connected.

”

Opposition

Opponents

The following legislators oppose SB 5987:

• Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34b)
• Sen. Brian Dansel (R-7)
• Rep. Pat Sullivan (D-47b)
• Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34)

Sen. Brian Dansel

Arguments against

The following arguments were made against SB 5987, which contains the gas tax increase.

Sen. Brian Dansel argued the bill hurts drivers in rural districts:

“

It might not seem like a lot, but an extra 12 cents a gallon adds up quite a bit for folks who have to drive greater distances and fill up their rigs more often.

”

Grassroots organization 350 Seattle argued:

“

I urge you to REJECT the current transportation package; it’s a bad deal made much worse by language that blocks public transit funding if Inslee adopts low-carbon fuel standards. But even before that language was added, these bills were bad news: we shouldn’t be building for a future we don’t want by funding massive highway expansion. The transportation bills now on offer would dramatically worsen global warming, and make a mockery of Washington’s status as an environmental leader, even as they failed to fund necessary safety and infrastructure repair. Legislators need to go back to the drawing board, and give us something that takes Washington into a clean energy future, not something that locks us into business as usual.

”

Sen. Sharon Nelson

Sen. Sharon Nelson stated:

“

There are some factors in this underlying legislation which are uncomfortable. Rolling back environmental permitting. That’s tied to this legislation.

”

The Sierra Club said in a statement:

“

In short, these are the huge negatives for the transportation proposal: The transportation revenue package spends too much on new highway expansion that would lead to more sprawl and increase GHG emissions; a trade-off between executive authority to develop Clean Fuels standards and new funding for transit and nonmotorized programs is not acceptable; maintenance of the existing system is shortchanged by the emphasis on new projects.

”

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon said:

“

I’m not going to trade progress on climate change for any transportation project.

”

Alex Epstein, field manager of clean energy nonprofit Climate Solutions, said:

“

Let’s be clear: we need more transit funding AND cleaner fuels. Across the state, wildfires are raging, asthma rates are rising, and transit service is not keeping pace with demand. Washington needs a transportation package that cuts the pollution that hurts our health AND increases public transit options to get people to work and school. Lower income communities, who often live closer to highways and dirty air, are especially harmed by this false choice.

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing ballot measures in Washington

The measure was sent to the ballot via the aforementioned Initiative 960.

SB 5987

The bill that Initiative 960 referred to the ballot as an advisory question is Senate Bill 5987.

The bill was passed on the Washington House of Representatives on June 30, 2015, in a 54-to-44 vote. In the Washington State Senate, the bill was approved 37-to-7 on July 3, 2015. The Washington Governor signed the legislation on July 15, 2015.

House vote

June 30, 2015, House vote

Washington SB 5987 House Vote
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		54	55.1%
No		44	44.9%

Senate vote

July 3, 2015, Senate vote

Washington SB 5987 Senate Vote
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		37	84.1%
No		7	15.9%

State profile

Demographic data for Washington
	Washington	U.S.
Total population:	7,160,290	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	66,456	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	77.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.6%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	5.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	12%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	32.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,062	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	14.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Washington. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Washington

Washington voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Washington, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Washington had four Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 2.21 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

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See also

Suggest a link

• Washington 2015 ballot measures
• 2015 ballot measures
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External links

Washington 2015 General Election Voters' Guide