Three ways to respect Washington voters while rebuilding trust in Sound Transit

Since the November 2019 election it has become clear that Washington citizens expect the Legislature to deal with the aftermath of Initiative 976. The courts have placed a hold on the $30 car tabs initiative.

Now that the 2020 session has begun, lawmakers need to enact car-tab relief immediately. We should send a strong signal to the people of Washington that we are paying attention to what they want.

Regardless of how the courts decide, legislators can stand with the voters and commit to a dramatically lower rate of car-tab fees. We should follow the example of former Gov. Gary Locke and legislators serving in 2000 who, after a court struck down the original $30 car-tab initiative, decided to approve relief themselves.

Second, the Legislature should approve reforms to improve how Sound Transit operates. If that had happened earlier, there likely would have been no need for I-976.

Following the passage of the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure in 2016, many citizens within the regional transit authority contacted their legislators and asked for fairness in the valuation formula used to calculate car tabs.

Pierce County Sen. Steve O’Ban proposed legislation to use the Kelley Blue Book instead of the higher-cost Manufacturers’ Suggested Retail Price as the basis for valuation. He also proposed changing the Sound Transit board to a directly elected body – instead of continuing to have its board members be appointees representing local governments. Neither bill passed.

There is no reason to gut the agency or to end the dream of regional transit, but there is clearly a need to rebuild trust and accountability that are badly lacking.

Finally, we should direct new money into the state transportation budget using an existing revenue source: sales taxes on cars.

A new proposal by Sen. John Braun, following on an earlier bill by Sen. Phil Fortunato, would phase in the transfer of these sales taxes from the state operating budget to the transportation budget over a 10-year period, starting in July 2020. Funds could be spent on transit and other congestion-relief projects, and they couldn’t be bonded.

Over a 20-year period, we could expect to see more than $30 billion from this revenue source – roughly twice the amount of the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation investment package.

This is a common-sense and constructive way to move forward. Unlike the transportation budget, which depends heavily on the state gas tax in a time of improving fuel efficiency, the operating budget is growing by leaps and bounds.

In 2011, my first legislative session, the state operating budget was less than $32 billion; today, it’s in excess of $52 billion with a healthy surplus already available for a supplemental budget in 2020.

The bottom line: We can afford to begin a gradual shift of sales taxes on cars into the transportation budget.

If we do these things, the Legislature can turn an uncertain transportation-funding situation into a win-win outcome. We can maintain faith with voters, rebuild trust in Sound Transit and infuse new money into the state transportation fund.

Let’s seize this opportunity presented by the recent election, work across party lines and take positive action that people can get behind, no matter how they voted on I-976.

Sen. Hans Zeiger , R- Puyallup, represents the 25th Legislative District and serves on the Washington Senate Transportation Committee.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 3:00 PM.