Republican lawmakers in Washington and California have written to their states' Democrat governors, urging them to protect their citizens from increased gas taxes.
Washington state Republican senators sent a letter to Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson requesting that he call a special legislative session to pause two climate initiatives, arguing that they increase gas prices by as much as 60 cents a gallon.
In the letter sent Tuesday, nine Republican state senators allege that two climate programs, the cap-and-trade carbon tax and the “so called” low-carbon fuel standard, have resulted in a 60-cent per gallon price increase in the state:
“Governor, we believe the Democratic cap-and-trade carbon tax is adding around $0.55 to the cost of every gallon of gas. The so called low-carbon fuel standard program is now adding another $0.05, for a total carbon-tax impact of $0.60/gal on Washingtonian’s gas costs.”
These Republicans are not alone in calling out the effects of climate policies on gas affordability.
A few weeks ago, anticipating California’s scheduled gas tax increase, California’s Republican Congressional delegation asked Democrat Governor Newsom to suspend that increase. In their letter, Republicans allege a total surcharge of $1.15 a gallon due to California’s climate policies.
State and local taxes, along with regulatory programs such as the LCFS, Cap and-Trade, and the State Underground Storage Tank Program, are significant contributors to these elevated costs, collectively adding approximately $1.15 per gallon, or roughly 20 percent of the total price.
The Washington letter, while not calling for a pause to the state’s general gas tax, comes amid the first installment of a perpetual annual two percent increase in the state’s gas tax.
Last year, Governor Ferguson signed SB 5801, a law mandating a two percent yearly increase in the state’s gas tax, to begin July 1, 2026, without a scheduled end date. On July 1, Washington’s gas tax rose from 55.4 to 56.5 cents per gallon in accordance with it.
At the time, Republican State Representative Ed Orcutt offered an amendment to remove that part of the bill, though it was voted down in Committee by a voice vote.
In that hearing, Orcutt voiced the public’s opposition to the bill:
“[T]ime and time again, people have said ‘no we don’t want an automatic inflator in there, we want the legislature to come back and make the case, make the arguments each time they wish to raise this, so that the public has a chance to weigh in.’”
Gas prices in Washington have become so onerous that many drivers in Eastern Washington are resorting to filling their tanks in Idaho, recording great savings.
Roughly one in four bus drivers from Spokane's East Valley School District travel across the border into Idaho to fill up on diesel, according to that district’s interim transportation director, Michelle Monzingo, as reported in The Chronicle. According to reporting from the same source, one bus saved around $100 on a 55-gallon fill-up by going across the border.
AAA data Friday puts Idaho’s diesel price at $4.669 a gallon, while recording Washington’s at $5.681 per gallon. A 100-gallon tank would therefore take an additional $120 to fill up in Washington, compared to Idaho.
