Many of our community members rely on online shopping and delivery services. I often see drivers dropping off food and household supplies to handicap neighbors, seniors, and remote workers.
So, why are Olympia Democrats considering a new delivery FEE on every packaged delivered in the State of Washington?
The Washington State Joint Transportation Committee recently met and considered a presentation about a new fee on all your deliveries. The fee discussed ranged from $0.25 to $0.75 per delivery. According to the consulting firm CDM Smith, a $0.30 fee would result in an additional $112 million per year in added revenue.
The Flip side is that a $0.30 fee would result in an additional $112 million removed from households across Washington and your community. It could also result in a drop in deliveries, which would impact many “gig economy” workers.
“The proposed delivery fee is a regressive tax and hidden cost that many working families and fixed income residents can’t afford. What will happen if Olympia Democrats pass a delivery fee? Higher prices and less jobs. We can’t afford any more of these tax-and-spend schemes.”
Rep. Peter Abbarno (R-Centralia)
After the City of Seattle added a $5 delivery fee to food delivery services, food delivery orders dropped 30% and significantly impacted local restaurants and their employees.
As reported in a KOMO news report, at a recent Seattle City Council meeting, Spice Waala Owner Uttam Mukherjee reported the fee led to fewer orders, and his three restaurants have lost roughly 30% of their delivery business. “I think we need to understand what the fees are by the delivery partners, how much commission they’re charging the restaurants, how much the drivers are actually earning nowadays, and then how much money is actually being spent by consumers,” he explained.
Unlike the City of Seattle fee on food delivery, the proposed Democrat fee is on every package delivered in the state!
According to a Washington Policy Center article, Senator Marko Liias (D), Chair of the Joint Transportation Committee claimed during the presentation that the tax revenue was needed to fix the poor state of the roads in Washington. Just like the false claims Senator Liias made that a repeal of the CCA would impact transportation infrastructure (FALSE), this statement is also false!
“Legislative Democrats who hold the majority in both the State Senate and State House continue to prioritize transit, charging stations, and multimodal projects to the detriment of roads, bridges, and infrastructure maintenance. Washington state does not have a revenue shortfall, it has a spending problem.”
– Rep. Peter Abbarno (R-Centralia)
Learn more at www.ElectPeterAbbarno.com. Support our candidates at www.HROC.us.
