Last week, The Seattle Times published our op-ed on the mileage tax, where we highlighted our concerns that public officials are pursuing a new revenue source that circumvents 18^th amendment revenue protections and gives government unrestricted power over how drivers’ tax money is spent.

The Washington State Transportation Commission responded with an op-ed of their own, stating that “the Legislature remains the ultimate decision-maker on tax and transportation policies. Contrary to the opinion expressed by the Washington Policy Center, a potential future road-usage charge is not a matter of political ideology – it is simply an option to replace our aging gas tax.”

We are very excited to hear the Washington State Transportation Commission commit to making the mileage tax a replacement for the gas tax, rather than use it for social engineering or to circumvent 18^th amendment protections for drivers.

This is the only conclusion we can draw from their response, since our op-ed raised those specific concerns and the state chose not to address them.