Eminent Express Toll Lane Financial Disaster on #405ETL

Watch the video below.  The call to action is simple:
1.  Go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder to find the phone numbers of your 2 state Representatives and 1 state Senator.
2.  Call each of them and demand they vote against HB 2132.
3.  Share this with 3 friends that you care about.

Remember: your legislators are just your neighbors who decided to represent you in Olympia.  They work for you, they are your employee, so don’t be shy.  If it is after hours, you can leave them a message.  Feeling really lazy?  Call the main line at 1-800-562-6000 and the person who answers will help you figure out who your legislators are and let you a message for all 3 people at once. It is incredibly effective if even just a few hundred people call.

Do you need more convincing before you will call them?  Keep reading…

Some legislators are trying to pass a bill to bond the toll lane revenue.  In other words, they want to take out a loan against the expected future revenue collected from the toll lanes.  Doing so will let them spend all the toll money now and then collect it later.

“Spend-then-Tax”

This document published by the State of Washington shows 70% of all money collected for highway funding is being used to pay back loans on money already spent.  And half of that money is just going to pay the interest on the loans.

In this same official document it states:

DISADVANTAGES OF BONDING
Bonding increases debt and obligates future revenue. Once revenue is committed to debt service payment, it is not available to fund new projects on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Debt service not only includes paying on the principal amount, but also includes paying interest over the term of the bonds, issuance costs, debt covenants, and burdening of future generations with debt.

But worse is that when a lien is placed against the toll revenue, WSDOT will not be permitted to reduce congestion because toll revenue depends on congestion.  WSDOT would not get the toll money needed to pay back the loan.

There are other really bad parts to this bill as well, including removing the speed requirement for the toll lanes.  Read the summary here.  Get all the details at the leg.wa.gov website.

OK, you read this far and you still haven’t called.  Maybe you think this doesn’t affect you because you don’t drive the north end of I-405.  Guess what:  The plan is to CONVERT ALL HOV LANES TO TOLL LANES.  Still doesn’t affect you?  These bonds will be paid by all of us for the next 35 years.  Call now.  1-800-562-6000.