Senate Bill 5825 would primarily expand and authorize tolls on I-405 and SR 167, and would make the unpopular tolls permanent. It was amended and voted out of the Senate Transportation Committee yesterday.

Originally, the bill intended to shift toll revenue from the 18^th amendment protected Motor Vehicle Fund (MVF) to the general state treasury, allowing lawmakers to spend the money taken from drivers on non-highway purposes. This would have impacted I-405 tolls only because they are currently in the protected fund, while SR 167 tolls are not.

The bill was successfully amended in committee to keep I-405 tolls in the MVF, which is a key protection for drivers because it ensures their money is spent on projects that provide a direct benefit to them.

The original bill would have also removed an important speed requirement that puts needed pressure on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to make sure the toll lanes are moving drivers at reliable, fast speeds, or face the potential shutdown of the lanes. Removing the speed requirement, which was used to justify the need for the project in the first place, would break an important promise to the public and allow the toll lanes to continue to fail without consequence.

Fortunately, a second amendment was passed that keeps the speed standard in place.

A third amendment was proposed but failed that is worth mentioning here. It would have prevented I-405 or SR 167 toll revenues from being bonded against. As Washington Policy Center recently wrote in a memo to the legislature, tying tolls to debt would make traffic congestion worse for decades to come. Bonding against toll revenue would create a perverse incentive for WSDOT officials to not expand I-405 to reduce traffic congestion, as this would potentially reduce toll revenue needed to repay the bonds.

The two amendments that did pass made major corrections that represent good policy and bring us back to the status quo, but nothing is set in stone until session is over. There is still House Bill 2132, which would allow the issuance of $1.5 billion in bonds backed by tolls and the full faith and credit of the state. It also removes the 45mph speed requirement, which conflicts with Senate Bill 5825 in its new amended form. The bill has been scheduled to be voted out of committee twice, but with no action taken - which does raise some eyebrows about what might be happening behind closed doors. 

These details aside, whether transportation officials should expand tolls that have failed the traveling public for the last three years is still a question that begs a real answer. Legitimate alternatives have not yet been considered or evaluated and should be. Senate Bill 5825, even as amended, still glosses over whether keeping and expanding the tolls is the right thing to do in the first place.