By Cindy Alia February 18, 2025
Call the legislative hotline, 800 562 6000 and let your legislator know how to vote on the Road Usage Charge!
Senator Ramos, legislative district 5, has decided to be the prime sponsor on Senate Bill 5726, Establishing new sources of transportation revenue based on motor vehicle use of public roadways. This seems an audacious move for a first term senator, yet this is a session in which the majority party believes it may introduce any bill and pass it regardless of the popularity of the bill offered. If the house companion bill, HB 1921, is a measure of popularity of a bill, the public testimony as a measure of the will of the people and the popularity of a bill it is a superb failure. HB 1921 received nearly 20,000 testimonies against the bill as compared to 239 testifying in favor of the bill. Clearly, the senate should anticipate a strong majority of the public would be against the passage of the bill. If public will has any sway over legislative will, the bill should not pass.
Here are the problems with the bills for a RUC (road usage charge) system of taxation.
Privacy Sec. 18 says personally identifying information will be only what is necessary to properly calculate, report, and collect the fees unless the owner provides express written consent for the collection of additional information. Personally identifying information means any information that identifies or describes a person, including, but not limited to travel pattern data, address, telephone number, email address, photograph, bank account information or credit card number. Yet, the department of transportation will do rule-making (creating a WAC) determining what information will be covered. The department is also granted authority to adopt rules for implementation and enforcement, including using third-party tax collectors and options for tracking other than odometer readings. This department rule making will put privacy at risk!
Will this create triple taxation for private transportation? When a private individual purchases fuel, and will be charged per mile as well. That is taxation on purchase of fuel, while the RUC creates a 2.6 cent road usage charge that is meant for preservation and maintenance of highways, and a road usage charge assessment that is 10 percent of the road usage charge amount less the credit for fuel charges paid. The assessment supports rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation. This is a two-tax program which they are calling the road usage charge program.
This complicated and open ended legislation will allow the state to spend endless dollars on endless "revenue" transportation taxation schemes, additional programs, and costs to enforce and collect information about vehicle use, registration, with little assurance the state roads will be repaired or improved, while other so called transportation favorites, are supported such as rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation will be well funded.
February 19, 2025