Washington state drivers could be charged per mile under proposed bill

The future for Washington drivers may include a pay-per-mile system. Some state lawmakers are seeking to offset declining gas tax revenue, as cars get more fuel efficient and electric vehicles get more popular.

Officials in Washington have been revving up an idea, called a road usage charge, for more than a decade. Despite the measure previously stalling in the state Legislature, some lawmakers in Olympia are ready to put it in gear once again.

"With all the studies that have been done, it's time to move forward and get started," Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma) said at a press event Tuesday.

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Fey introduced the new road usage charge bill this week. House Bill 1921 would begin the process of reshaping the state's method of taxing travel on Washington roads.

The state has historically relied on gas taxes to pay for transportation infrastructure and maintenance, but this revenue has been dwindling year after year. A handful of Democratic lawmakers argue that a road usage charge could make up for the lost revenue.

"As we are facing, once again this year, a shortfall in transportation revenue, if we don't begin this, the strong likelihood is we will continue the pattern we've been in, with having shortfalls more frequently in our transportation funding, longer wait times for critical infrastructure to be built, and a gas tax that will disproportionately impacts low-income drivers," Fey said.

Washington lawmakers are attempting to fill a $12-$16 billion gap in the state's operating budget this session. But the separate transportation budget faces its own set of problems as costs for major infrastructure projects balloon.

Currently, drivers pay a tax on each gallon of gasoline they pump into their vehicles, about 49 cents a gallon.

But automobiles have become increasingly fuel efficient, and many drivers have embraced hybrid vehicles that use far less gas. Electric vehicles (EVs) don't fuel up at all. (EV and hybrid owners pay an annual registration fee to make up for the lack of gas tax.) It all means that less gas tax revenue gets pumped into the system.

The state has known about this is a problem for more than 10 years, and has been testing ways of making up lost revenue. The road usage charge has emerged as the favored solution by some lawmakers, as neighboring Oregon and other states like Utah and Virginia have implemented similar programs.

At Tuesday's press event, Rep. Fey argued that the current gas tax system is inequitable. His example: Drivers with cars getting 15 miles per gallon pay about $33 per 1,000 miles driven, while cars getting 40 mpg pay $12.

But the idea has faced reluctance from some drivers who raise concerns over privacy and the potential for the state to monitor where they drive. The state's own surveys over the years have shown that Washington drivers did not prefer a road usage charge, until the most recent survey in 2023 with 56% in favor (up from 31% in 2017).

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Fey said his proposal would not require tracking drivers or their locations. While a GPS or other electronic device could be an option, he said, a road usage system will rely on self-reported miles based on a car's odometer.

So how would it work anyway?

A road usage charge, as proposed in HB 1921, would phase in such a system over the next decade, and establish a 2.6 cents-per-mile charge for every mile driven.

The gas tax would not go away, but drivers of gas-powered cars would have their eventual road usage charge cut down based on how much of the gas tax they already paid. The state would calculate that based off a vehicle's fuel efficiency rating and their odometer readings when the owner renews their registration each year.

The bill would also cancel annual registration fees for EV and hybrid cars ($225 for EVs and $75 for hybrids). Fey said the Department of Licensing, which would facilitate the program, would develop a process for people to claim out-of-state miles to get a credit. Drivers would also get a "standard mileage deduction" of 200 miles off of the distance they travel annually.

Under the bill, the implementation of this system would happen in phases:

• 2027-2029: Drivers of EVs and hybrids could volunteer to pay the road usage charge. Their registration fees would be waived.
• 2029-2031: All EV and hybrid drivers would be required to pay the road usage charge. The charge would be voluntary for fuel-efficient gas cars (20 mpg or more).
• 2031-2035: All gas vehicles getting 20 mpg or more will be required to pay the usage charge.

What's next

The bill is slated to be heard in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday. But it likely faces a tough road ahead.

Some Democratic leaders have said they support making a change to a more "stable" revenue source for transportation as gas tax money declines, but they said they still have some concerns about how the usage charge could work.

Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond), the deputy leader for Senate Democrats, said she worries about what the change could mean for drivers who have long commutes and work service jobs.

"I worry about the landscapers, the gardeners, the baristas who have to drive into my district, while many of our more affluent people have the luxury of working from home," Dhingra said. "So I think that's where the details are going to be important, because we don't want to continue adding more regressive taxation to our already very regressive tax structure."

And at a legislative preview event in early January, Sen. Marko Liias (D-Everett), who chairs his chamber's transportation committee, said the path toward a road usage charge must be a bipartisan one.

"This needs to be long-term successor to the gas tax, and that means we need Republicans and Democrats, rural and urban, Eastern and Western Washingtonians to agree to the framework to pay for that," Liias said at the time.

But the concept is not well liked by Republican leaders.

"Well look, there's another regressive tax," Rep. Chris Corry (R-Yakima) said about the bill Tuesday. "If preservation and maintenance is a priority we can do it within existing resources."

Republicans have previously suggested that the state should move more tax money from the sales of cars and trucks to the transportation budget to address the budget concerns there, instead of creating a new system to tax drivers.

Fey says he is hopeful that his bill will get people talking, even if its not fated to become law this year.

"I feel I need to raise this issue, to come up with a specific proposal that people can react to," Fey said. "How far it gets in the legislative process, we'll see, but I would like to see some level of action on this."

This is not the first time Fey has attempted to push through a road usage bill. A similar proposal he introduced in both 2023 and 2024 just targeted EVs and hybrids but never made it past the House Transportation Committee. A Senate bill for EVs and hybrids also failed to make it out of committee in 2021 and 2022.