Washington State lawmakers to decide on gas tax bill
It would also have an impact on your wallet.
The next meeting to determine the fate of how much it costs to fill up your gas tank is on Tuesday. If the bill passes, we will feel those impacts by summer.
The Washington State Senate is proposing a 6-cent per gallon tax increase.
It will also add $50 to electric vehicle registrations, create a luxury tax on high-end vehicles, and furlough state workers for 13 days, all to raise $3 billion to cover a transportation budget shortfall.
Drivers say prices are already too high as it is.
'People can't afford to eat and pay for gas, but they have to pay for gas to go to work, you know,' one Tacoma driver said.
Some lawmakers say that without the funds, road projects will never get done.
'It would mean a pause in final phases of Snoqualmie Pass. It would also mean not starting the Highway 18 project,' Senator Marko Liias (D), Senate Transportation Chair said.
Not everyone agrees with the tax. Many lawmakers say they want a different solution.
The bill must pass by April 27th, and if it does, the tax will hit the pumps in July.
'I feel like that's would just eat up all my money and I really don't want that to happen I want gas prices to stay low,' another driver said.
The house also proposed a bill this session for a 9-cent tax, but it stalled weeks ago.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Newsweek
a minute ago
- Newsweek
The 1600: Dems Want a Fighter. Is Newsom It?
The Insider's Track Good morning, We've got a late entry for The Craziest $#*! I Read This Week. It's a local story here in the Big Apple, but it's a good one and comes courtesy of the great journalists over at The City: A close advisor to Eric Adams, our illustrious mayor, has been suspended from his re-election campaign after she gave a reporter a wad of cash tucked inside a bag of Sour Cream & Onion potato chips. The failed payoff, which she brushed off as a cultural misunderstanding, comes as even more of Adams' associates are expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming days. If you enjoy a good trainwreck election, I really recommend following the New York City mayoral race. It's got everything. A cartoonishly corrupt incumbent polling in the single digits. A disgraced former governor attempting and failing the world's most half-hearted political comeback. A charismatic rich-kid socialist with no experience whose first real job will be running a $2T economy. And on the GOP side, a beret-wearing perennial also-ran most famous for staging vigilante subway rescues in the 80's, who now lives in a studio apartment with six cats. Greatest city in the world, baby! On the topic of elections, there have been some notable developments this week while we've spent our time together focused on geopolitics. Today, the Texas Senate will likely pass the state's new mid-cycle congressional map, after the House rammed it through yesterday. This kicks off a new redistricting war that California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to answer with his own redrawn map. The move got the blessing from Barack Obama, who weighed in from his perch in Martha's Vineyard that Newsom was taking a "smart and measured" approach ahead of the midterms. If you haven't been following, Newsom is the toast of the town at the moment—at least among liberals—for the aggressive posture he's adopted, both in policy and style. On social media, the governor has crafted this new persona as a Trump-esque troll, posting in ALL CAPS and in Trump's signature style, generating AI memes at Trump's expense, excoriating MAGA as a bunch of lemmings and essentially playing POTUS' own game against him. And it's working. He has rocketed to the top of the (very early and still meaningless) 2028 polls with this strategy, which tells you that Democratic voters badly want a fighter. I can see why Newsom is an attractive choice to go up against what will likely be JD Vance in '28. He is one of the few Dems who is able to play in the mud with Trump and come out clean. Michelle Obama was famous for that saying, "When they go low, we go high" even though it was precisely the wrong political advice for the Trump era. Newsom understands that it should actually be, "When they go low, we go lower." But he has two big problems. One is that he runs what is arguably the most dysfunctional state in the country, and that comes with a lot of baggage. The other is that he comes across as just a little too slick for his own good. As a buddy of mine put it, "Newsom looks like he'd lay off your dad and then post on LinkedIn about how difficult it was." Maybe I'm wrong. If Vance is the nominee, maybe Newsom is the perfect candidate to run against him. Both of them seem like they're willing to say or do anything to get elected, with no deep or apparent convictions. Remember, Vance called Trump "America's Hitler" not all that long ago, and now he's his VP! That's still crazy to me. Newsom is also a very good fundraiser, and there are reports this week that Elon Musk has already pumped the brakes on his brief attempt at building a third party and is now leaning toward backing Vance instead. That is going to be formidable: an incumbent veep, with Trump's blessing and Musk's unlimited cash. But I think Democrats have a way to win in such a scenario. We'll get into that tomorrow. The Rundown Thirty minutes into conversing with Ohio College Republican Federation President Spencer Mandzak, I was compelled to ask why he was a Republican instead of a Democrat. After nearly three years in Washington, D.C., I found the answer to that question generally materialized within five minutes of meeting a politico. Mandzak was different, however. He introduced himself by sharing an op-ed he'd written on the importance of curating bipartisanship online. He said that economics and foreign policy were his top political issues, and he offered no charged opinions on topics like religion or sexuality. "You're not going to get a lot of probably interesting viewpoints from me, just because I try to stay in my lane," he responded. "But I can tell you why I'm not a Democrat." Read more from Newsweek's Alex J. Rouhandeh. Also happening: Election 2028: Elon Musk is considering backing Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 presidential election, according to reports on the billionaire's political movements. The tech CEO formed a new party and pledged to contest both Republicans and Democrats at the 2026 midterms, but his relationship with Vance, who considers Musk a personal friend, may not be as damaged as it seems. Read more . Elon Musk is considering backing Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 presidential election, according to reports on the billionaire's political movements. The tech CEO formed a new party and pledged to contest both Republicans and Democrats at the 2026 midterms, but his relationship with Vance, who considers Musk a personal friend, may not be as damaged as it seems. . Immigration: A federal appeals court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration in its bid to end humanitarian protections for tens of thousands of immigrants from Central America and Nepal. The ruling puts on hold a lower court's order that had temporarily preserved Temporary Protected Status for nearly 60,000 migrants. Read more. This is a preview of The 1600—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.


San Francisco Chronicle
3 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
The Latest: California Democrats will vote on a new congressional map to counter Texas
The national redistricting battle enters its next phase with California Democrats scheduled Thursday to pass a new congressional map for voters to consider in November that would create five more winnable seats for their party, a direct counter to the GOP Texas House members imposing a new map on their state's voters at the urging of President Donald Trump. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has engineered the high-risk strategy in response to Trump's brinkmanship in Texas, where passage by the Republican-controlled state Senate and signature by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott are now all that's needed to make the maps official. California by contrast has an independent commission and only a voter-approved ballot measure can override the current map. Trump escalates threats against California over transgender policies 'Any California school district that doesn't adhere to our Transgender policies, will not be funded,' Trump said in a Thursday morning social media posting. The new warning from Trump comes after his administration sued the California Department of Education last month for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' sports teams, alleging the policy violates federal law. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department says California's transgender athlete policies violate Title IX, the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex. California has sued the Trump administration for unlawfully intimidating health care providers into stopping gender-affirming care for transgender youth. That lawsuit was filed with attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia, plus the governor of Pennsylvania. State Department press officer fired after questioning talking points on Israel and Gaza Officials said Shahed Ghoreishi, a contractor working for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, was terminated over the weekend following two incidents in which his loyalty to Trump administration policies was questioned. He and two current U.S. officials say he drew ire for drafting a response to an Associated Press query related to discussions between Israel and South Sudan about the possible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan. The draft response included a line that said the U.S. does not support the forced relocation of Gazans, something that Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff have said repeatedly. That line was rejected by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, according to Ghoreishi and the officials. He also questioned an embassy statement referring to the West Bank as the biblical 'Judea and Samaria.' The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel changes. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll sign into the law the redrawn U.S. House districts that give his party five more winnable seats. He had put escalating pressure on Democrats to come home during their two-week walkout that had delayed the vote. 'While Democrats shirked their duty, in futility, and ran away to other states, Republicans stayed the course, stayed at work and stayed true to Texas,' he said. Abbott spoke after the Texas Republicans used their majority in the House to approve the new congressional voting maps on Wednesday. Seconds later, House Speaker Dustin Burrows removed the 'call of the House.' The chamber doors were unlocked and House members are now allowed to leave.


Washington Post
33 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Thailand's suspended prime minister testifies over phone call that could get her booted from job
BANGKOK — Thailand's suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra testified in a Bangkok court Thursday on her alleged breach of an ethics law in her handling of a border dispute with Cambodia, a case that could see her forced out of her job entirely. Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of billionaire ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is accused of failing in her duties by not standing up for the country properly in a June 15 call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen to discuss tensions over territory claimed by both nations. Despite her efforts, the two countries in late July engaged in five days of armed border clashes , resulting in dozens of deaths and the displacement of more than 260,000 people. Critics said she went too far in appeasing Hun Sen, Cambodia's former leader, and damaged Thailand's image and interests by referring to him as 'uncle' while seemingly criticizing a Thai army general in charge of forces along the border. The real damage was done when Hun Sen, who had been a long-time friend of Thaksin, leaked the call, causing an uproar in Thailand . Paetongtarn apologized but said she didn't do any damage to Thailand, arguing that her comments were a negotiating tactic. The Constitutional Court, however, voted unanimously to review a petition accusing Paetongtarn of a breach of ethics and voted 7-2 to immediately suspend her on July 1 until it issues its ruling. Her testimony Thursday was heard behind closed doors. Her father Thaksin will face a legal judgment of his own Friday, when Bangkok's Criminal Court is expected to issue a verdict on whether he insulted Thailand's monarchy , an offense punishable by three to 15 years in prison. The case involved a 2025 interview he gave while in South Korea. Thaksin, who was ousted from power by a military coup in 2006, was previously convicted of charges of conflict of interest and abuse of power but avoided imprisonment by fleeing abroad. He returned to Thailand only in 2023, serving just a brief sentence in a comfortable hospital suite before being paroled and pardoned .