OLYMPIA, Wash. – A proposed tax on fuel that’s refined in Washington and then exported to neighboring states is drawing fire from interest groups and states it would affect.
The proposed tax is part of a $16 billion transportation package proposed by Democrats in Olympia.
It would add six-cents to a gallon of fuel refined here and sent to Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.
Dana Bieber with the group Affordable Fuel Washington says there’s no other tax like it in the nation.
“It opens the door for politicians in Washington to put an export tax on other products,” said Bieber. “Today, it’s fuel. But tomorrow it could be wine or apples. That puts our manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage and it makes it ripe for retaliation.”
Her group says it would add to already-painful inflation of food and other prices.
Idaho’s governor and attorney general have written to Governor Inslee asking that he get the tax tossed out of the bill.
To listen to the full interview with Bieber, visit our Podcast page.