WA Legislators Mulling Delivery Fees on Online Purchases

The WA State Senate Joint Transportation Committee (SJTC) recently heard information about a potential fee that could be placed on WA State consumers.

  Legislators consider a fee on all those online purchases you make

Over the years, endless legislative transportation packages have driven through Olympia, setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars reportedly to upgrade roads, bridges, and other transportation-related issues.

SJTC Chairman, Senator Marko Lias, commented the state has too many potholes and too much traffic.

However, depending upon what part of WA you live in, not a lot of visible improvements have been made, but now legislators are mulling the idea of tacking a delivery fee onto your online purchases. The SJTC heard the results of a study showing how similar fees have worked in Colorado and Minnesota, the only other states with similar delivery fees.

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The fee would reportedly generate millions of dollars that legislators say would go toward fixing city and county roads.

If enacted when a consumer makes an online purchase, the vendor or retailer collects the delivery fee and then hands it over to the state. It would then be up to legislators how to spend the money.

It would apply to online purchases such as Amazon, or freight delivered by companies like UPS.  The creators of the study and legislators say it is not a formal policy proposal, only a look at how it would or could work. Legislators said the fee could not be applied to non-taxable items such as medical supplies or food.

Logistically it would be a tall undertaking as the state would have to work with any and all vendors who participate in online retail in the state.