Referendum 51 is a user fee. Not everyone will have to pay it, only those who are driving on the roads. What more fair way is there? The new revenue generated by R-51 is not going into the general fund; it will be placed in a transportation account that is protected from alternative uses by the state Constitution. R-51 will not fix traffic problems in Western Washington, but you may rest assured that rejecting R-51 will make traffic a whole lot worse in the coming years.
Defeating R-51 in the polls will not make the department of transportation a leaner, meaner animal that will do more with less. WSDOT is run on seniority, and when the ax falls on them, the best and brightest new engineers who still believe that this problem can be fixed will be the ones who will lose their jobs. (The civil service reform act passed last year will change this, but not until 2005). The money generated by R-51 will not just disappear into a hole in the ground. It will pay the wages of several thousand new construction related jobs throughout Washington. These people in turn will spend money locally; buy houses, raise families, and re-invest in our economy.
If passed, the gas tax will rise 5 cents a gallon in 2003 then another 4 cents a gallon in 2004. Texaco, Shell and Exxon have raised gas prices nearly 50 cents a gallon in the last 4 years, people have continued buying it and we have been given nothing in return. I am not in favor of all of the projects the Legislature intends to fund with R-51 money, but throwing our collective hands in the air and turning our backs on the problems that face us is a sure bet for continuing the downward spiral of our economy. Western Washington has grown fat from a prosperous economy during the 1990s. Now it is time for us to re-invest in our infrastructure and make ourselves strong again. There really is no alternative.
Lynnwood
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