Todd Myers says gas taxes aren’t the only thing pushing Washington’s gas prices higher as the rest of the country enjoys falling prices

Todd Myers
Washington Policy Center

Today, Washington’s gas taxes increase by six cents per gallon. Washington has the third highest gas tax in the nation, behind only California and Pennsylvania. In spite of those high taxes, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics ranks Washington 43rd in the nation in the percentage of roads with an “acceptable” rating. Washington has high gas taxes but poor road quality. One benefit of gas taxes is that the state constitution requires that they are used for “highway purposes,” which includes construction, maintenance and repair of highways. Although drivers can have some assurance that the money goes to highways the use of those gas taxes has been poor.

Gas taxes aren’t the only thing pushing Washington’s gas prices higher as the rest of the country enjoys falling prices. Washington’s CO2 tax, known as the CCA, increased by six cents per gallon in just the past four months, jumping to about 46 cents per gallon earlier this month. The tax level is set quarterly at an auction of CO2 permits. The cost of those permits is passed along in the form of higher prices for gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and other greenhouse gas emitting forms of energy. Projections show the CO2 tax will continue to increase.

As the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy recently noted, Washington is “literally the only state that is above where it was one year ago” with regard to gas prices. This increase has been driven primarily by a near doubling of the state’s CO2 tax. The gas tax increase will push Washington’s already high prices even higher.

Todd Myers is the vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center.

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