Washington Can Make Polluters Pay without Boosting Highway Construction

Unlike Oregon, the Evergreen State can use our carbon pollution revenue for things other than roads. | After last week’s article, readers may be worried that Washington’s Constitution, like Oregon’s, protects all revenue from taxes and fees on gasoline for the State Highway Fund. Washington’s State Constitution, like Oregon’s, does dedicate revenue from taxes and fees on motor vehicle fuels to highways, roads, and bridges. But unlike Oregon’s, Washington’s constitutional provision is narrow. Wisely, the Evergreen State constitution’s 18th Amendment requires revenue from fees “intended to be used...