Vote "No" On I-912
The editorial notes that the cost of the projects, that would be funded by the gas tax the initiative would repeal, will only go up over time. I-912 would not only eliminate billions in funding for large projects such as SR-520, I405 and the Alaskan Way Viaduct, but it will also do the same for hundreds of projects throughout the state.
In a separate article, Andrew Garber explores what the actual message is that I-912 proponents keep telling us they want to send to Olympia.
The authors of I-912 will tell you they want accountability. However, indications are that the WSDOT is being accountable, is performing well on projects funded by the previous gas tax hike, and accountability is actually part of the transportation bill, that funds audits with money coming in from the gas tax, to ensure that the gas tax, as restricted by the 18th amendment, only goes toward highway infrastructure.
At the end of the day, though, it isn't hard to figure out what is driving this initiative. The article doesn't really touch on a significant reason I-912 was created, by mostly ignoring the fact it was born out of discontent at the result of the gubernatorial election contest outcome. Dino Rossi supporters were miffed their guy lost, and I-912 became their way to stick it to Governor Gregoire. However, leave it to state Republican party leaders to remind us of what this is really all about:
State GOP Chairman Chris Vance says I-912 has turned into a vote of confidence on Democratic control in Olympia.That's right, Democrats just love taxing people - they couldn't possibly have a good reason to do so in Chris Vance's mind. However, 18 Republican legislators didn't agree with that assessment when they voted for the transportation bill and the gas tax. Does Chris Vance believe these 18 Republicans are arrogant? Does he believe that people like Joyce Mulliken, who had never voted for a tax increase before, are out of control tax lovers?
The state party is still angry about GOP candidate Dino Rossi's loss to Gov. Christine Gregoire and "about the arrogance of the Democrats," he said. "The voters pass I-601 and the Democrats just wipe it away. The voters said no to Referendum 51 and the Democrats just pass a huge tax increase. So they feel like this is the only way to respond."
People naturally do not like taxes. Republicans like to pride themselves on their fiscal conservatism, and are loathe to support any tax increase. So while it isn't surprising that an anti-tax initiative like I-912 is on the November ballot, the fact that so many Republican legislators felt that this particular gas tax was appropriate and necessary, should give voters pause as to why they would have supported it, and why they oppose I-912. Last week I addressed the positions of some of these Republican legislators, and I will being doing so of others in the near future.
We so easily allow partisan political thinking to sway our votes, resulting in blanket support for one party's candidates over another, or for or against one initiative or another. However, some issues require a deeper consideration of the pros and cons of a vote. Not all legislators are unscrupulous crooks, and not all taxes are unwarranted. I have devoted a significant amount of time and effort in this blog to try and persuade readers that this particular initiative will do great harm to this state's ability to fund our considerable transportation infrastructure needs. If you have historically been an anti-tax voter, I strongly urge you to save that vote for another initiative, and vote "no" on this one, because the result will either be that another, possibly larger, tax will be needed to make up for the shortfall, or billions and billions of dollars of much needed safety and road capacity improvements will not be made.
As the Seattle Times editorial put it:
Voters ought to consider and reconsider I-912, then vote "no" on an irresponsible, backward measure.
Posted at 10/09/2005 11:41:00 PM PT
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5 Comment(s):
The scary thing is people always click "pay less tax" when given the choice. They don't deal with consequences...except to yell at the politicians that come up with solutions (which they veto).
The problem with the entire debate over the gas tax increase and I-912 is that it is only a yes/no vote on the entire package. If we could get rid of the truly awful ways to spend public money, and keep the rest, that would be great. However, I think we need to vote for I-912 and trust that the legislature will figure out a way to actually fund the safety issues and abandon idiotic ideas like replacing the Alaska Way Viaduct and expanding freeway capacity throughout western Washington. The Alaska Way Viaduct should be removed completely, not replaced or buried.
The money is grouped into projects as follows (numbers from WSDOT, comments are my own):
Roadway Safety: $3.257 billion - includes partial funding for AWV replacement and SR-520 expansion, which are both collosal wastes of money. Assuming everything else is actually for safety projects, $757 million of this is spending I can support.
Preservation: $0.5 million
Ferries: $185 million - none of this is for passenger ferries, which is a mistake
Multi-Modal Improvements: $85 million - grossly underfunded
Environmental: $108 million - sound walls and the like. Might not all be necessary if we took actions to cut automobile dependancy
Freight Mobility & Economics: $541 million
Choke Points and Congestion: $2.952 billion - this is code for building more freeway lanes and ramps, and is a collosal waste of money to destroy quality of life
Taking the last item plus the $2 billion for AWV replacement plus $500 million for SR-520 expansion yields a total of $5.452 billion (out of $7.139 billion) worth of projects that are worse than useless, and that actively contribute to worsening congestion in the state.
I would vote against I-912 if the gas tax increase were about safety and improving Washington's quality of life. Unfortunately, it is mostly about building more roads to encourage ever increasing sprawl.
Vote YES on I-912.
And then there are people like Roy who are deluding themselves that a vote for I-912 is going to improve transit expenditures. There is no way it will do that, and I-912 proponents will do whatever they can to strike down any effort along those lines.
>>And then there are people like Roy who are deluding themselves that a vote for I-912 is going to improve transit expenditures.<<
I'm not saying it will. But it will keep us from further subsidizing long-distance SOV commuters at the expense of the quality of life of our metro area.
Vote no on I-912. The traffic is crazy, my dad travels 60 miles to seattle for work every day, and then 60 miles back. About 2 years ago, he spent about 1.5 hours on the road each way. Today, he is on the highway 2.5 hours each way on average. This shows that the traffic is getting worse. Our roads need to be fixed. It is outragious that in a 60mph zone, you cannot travel 60 miles in at least 1.5 hours. By the way, he drives a vanpool, so dont blame him for the congestion. Let I-912 fix our problems.
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