The most important question will likely be answered by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen: Is the charge a fee or a tax?
There’s a legal difference. Fees typically are supposed to benefit whoever is paying them, while taxes can have a more general purpose. State lawmakers can raise fees with majority votes, but under voter-imposed handcuffs, they need to find supermajorities for taxes or ask voters for their endorsement.
Democrats argue it’s a fee. Gregoire’s office said oil companies benefit from a transportation system that keeps drivers on the roads and ferries in the water, all using gas and oil. They also contribute to pollution, and some of the money would go to clean up stormwater.
“Our oil companies are getting all the profit and leaving us with the bill,” Gregoire said.
The oil industry said it’s a tax. There’s no tie between a barrel of oil and how much the state’s highway system is being used, they say, especially when about half of the oil they refine is headed out of state.
“We expect that there will be a coalition of folks that see this as in essence a hidden gas tax, and that we’ll continue to oppose it as such,” said Dave Fisher, a consultant for the Western States Petroleum Association.

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