Earlier this year, Rep. Clibborn introduced a 10-year, $10 billion transportation package called Connecting Washington. (I wrote about the details of that proposal here.) Since then, less expansive transportation budgets have been passed by the House and Senate. Last week, Clibborn introduced a revised version of her plan, which would spend $8.4 billion over 12 years. The House Transportation Committee has passed the revised (and further amended) SHB 1954, SHB 1955, SHB 1956, and SHB 1975. (I haven’t yet seen an official new total spending number, incorporating amendments to each bill.)

As amended, SHB 1954 would

• Increase the gas tax by 10 cents (5 cents in FY 2014, 3 cents in FY 2015, 2 cents in FY 2016);
• Impose a freight project fee (15 percent of current gross weight fee);
• Increase gross and passenger weight fees (4,000 pound vehicle license fees would be $53; 6,000 pound fees would be $73; and 8,000 and 10,000 pound fees would be $93);
• Impose service fees of $5 per vehicle registration renewal and $12 per certificate of title transaction; and
• Increase the fee for enhanced driver’s licenses to $54.

These provisions are estimated to increase revenues by $5.4 billion over 2013-2025. Also, beginning with FY 2016, the gas tax would increase by up to an additional 3 cents per gallon unless there is sufficient funding to complete construction on SR 520 between I-5 and the floating bridge.

Additionally,

• Transportation benefit districts may impose a local vehicle fee of up to $40;
• Counties with populations of at least 1 million (King) would be able to impose local motor vehicle excise taxes of up to 1.5 percent annually on the value of every vehicle registered to a resident of the county (if approved by voters); and
• A public transportation benefit area in a county with at least 700,000 people (King, Pierce, Snohomish) that also contains a city with at least 75,000 people may impose a sales and use tax of up to 0.3 percent (if approved by voters).

SHB 1955 would make appropriations to various accounts, totaling about $850 million. Of that, $340.1 million would go to the connecting Washington account, including $9.2 million for SR 509/I-5/SR 167. An additional $120.0 million would go to the connecting Washington account for ferry construction and terminal replacement. It would also appropriate $50 million for certain transit projects and $116.5 million for pedestrian and bicycle safety.

SHB 1956 would authorize $3.7 billion of general obligation (GO) bonds. It also authorizes $1.3 billion of GO bonds for projects or improvements on SR 520, between I-5 and the floating bridge—unless the secretary of transportation certifies that sufficient funding for the project is available.

SHB 1975 would authorize $650 million in toll revenue bonds for the Columbia River Crossing project (these would not be GO bonds).

Notably, the the revised proposal would spend $911 million on maintenance, operations and preservation, while the original Connecting Washington package would have spent only $631 million on maintenance and upkeep. A summary of the revised proposal includes a project list and the financing plans for SR 167/Puget Sound Gateway, I-405, SR 520 Corridor, and the Columbia River Crossing — all of which include funds from tolling.