MYTHS REGARDING
HB 3181 / SB 6851
MYTH: This legislation addresses the critical environmental problem of stormwater management.
FACT: This proposal is much more about closing the general fund budget gap than about any environmental action. For at least the first three years, two-thirds of the revenue generated goes not to any environmental program but directly into the general fund. Given the legislature’s history of raiding voter-approved environmental accounts, how realistic is it to think that the money will ever leave the general fund?
_____
MYTH: This tax increase is the only way to generate enough money for local governments to complete their stormwater upgrade projects.
FACT: The existing Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) generates more than enough money to support these projects. The legislature has raided these accounts for a total of $180 million over the last two years, with another $80 million targeted this session. Those figures dwarf the $70 million that HB 3181 / SB 6851 generate for stormwater-related projects and activities. Simply using the existing funds as voters had intended would provide enough money to do the job.
_____
MYTH: The existing (MTCA) tax has not increased since its inception.
FACT: MTCA tax collections have grown steadily and significantly over time. According to the Department of Revenue, the tax generated $23 million at its inception in 1989. In 2009, it generated $127 million. That’s a 452 percent increase!
_____
MYTH: This tax hike will barely be felt at the pump.
FACT: The state Department of Revenue estimates that the effect of the tax increase proposed in HB 3181/SB 6851 “works out to be about 3 cents per gallon of gasoline.” (DOR Memo February 5, 2010). With Washington motorists already paying one of the highest gas taxes in the nation, the increase will be felt.
_____
MYTH: This is a “painless” tax increase because the tax will be paid by big oil companies.
FACT: This tax increase will be felt in large measure in higher consumer prices or lost jobs or both. And the MTCA tax impacts many other products, including fertilizers and pesticides that are crucial to the health of our agricultural industry, as well as many home and garden products.
________
MYTH: Washington's refineries will never leave.
FACT: That's what previous legislatures said about the timber industry, aluminum industry and aerospace industry. We can’t risk losing any more of Washington's dwindling manufacturing base.
Read more Myths and Facts here.
A growing coalition of business and taxpayers has joined together to oppose HB 3181 and SB 6851 and similar bills that arbitrarily increase taxes and fees on fuel consumers. 
