In an effort to ease privacy fears for drivers throughout Washington, Rep. Jesse Young has introduced two bills, along with two constitutional amendments, that would set the bar for legislation for a road usage charge [RUC].

“Constituents across the state have made it clear they don’t want their privacy invaded with GPS tracking or by any other means,” Rep. Young, R-Gig Harbor said. “My amendments would remove these concerns by prohibiting any type of tracking technology being used for the basis of taxation.”

House Bill 2854 would prohibit the tracking of the movement of individuals or vehicles for the purposes of determining taxes or fees to be assessed.

House Bill 2855 would limit the manner in which a road usage charge may be implemented.

House Joint Resolution 4213 would amend the state constitution so that road usage charges are limited in relation to how they may be implemented.

House Joint Resolution 4214 would amend the state constitution so that tracking individuals for the purpose of determining taxes or fees is prohibited.

“Washingtonians are worried. They don’t want to be double-taxed with a road usage charge and a gas tax. And they don’t want to be tracked,” noted Young. “If the majority party is sincere in its desire to simply transition to a more stable form of taxation, then let’s remove any anxiety that Washington state citizens have concerning their personal privacy and double taxation.”

This session House Republicans have proposed making transportation a priority. They’ve introduced a number of bills that would help fund transportation by other means, instead of creating a new taxing system at a huge cost to Washingtonians.

The 2020 session is scheduled to run for 60 days and concludes on March 12.