PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA             Item No.      6b 
Date of Meeting    October 11, 2011 
DATE:    October 6, 2011 
TO:       Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Mike Merritt, Manager, Government Relations, Puget Sound/Washington 
SUBJECT:  A Port of Seattle Commission Motion opposing the passage of Initiative
1125  entitled the "Protect Gas-Taxes and Toll-Revenues Act and Protect
the 18th Amendment to Washington's Constitution" 
ACTION REQUESTED: 
Request Commission adoption of a Port of Seattle Commission motion: 1) opposing
passage of Initiative 1125, entitled the "Protect Gas-Taxes and Toll-Revenues Act and
Protect the 18th Amendment to Washington's Constitution"; 2) expressing the Port
Commission's position that toll revenues are an important component of state
transportation funding and that the authority of the Washington State Transportation
Commission ensures a stable and predictable process to provide revenues sufficient for
transportation projects, to set tolls, and to provide appropriate security for bondholders;
3) urging the state's voters to reject Initiative 1125 on November 8, 2011; and 4) 
directing the Chief Executive Officer to disseminate this motion broadly to state and local
government officials, regional organizations, and interested business, community labor
and environmental groups. 
SYNOPSIS: 
Initiative 1125 is a measure that will appear on the ballot statewide November 8, 2011.
The initiative would make significant changes in state law concerning the process for
setting vehicle tolls on state transportation projects.
Among the changes sought by the initiative is to put toll-setting authority in the hands of
the State Legislature. Today that power rests with the non-partisan Washington State
Transportation Commission. Concern has been expressed by State Treasurer Jim
McIntire and the independent Public Resources Advisory Group that subjecting tollsetting
to the uncertainties of the political process of the State Legislature will result in
higher bonding costs. 
Further, the initiative would prohibit congestion pricing, a tool used to increase efficiency
and reliability and reduce congestion by setting higher tolls during peak demand periods.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
October 6, 2011 
Page 2 of 2 
The initiative also would end toll collection once bonds for a project have been retired.
Passage of this initiative would remove an important source of funding that would be
necessary for maintenance and future improvements of state transportation projects. 
The State possibly would be prohibited from utilizing lanes on state highways funded by
gasoline-tax or toll revenues for non-highway purposes, such as high-capacity rail
systems. This would run counter to the voter-approved plan to construct Sound Transit
light rail across Interstate 90 between Seattle and Bellevue. 
This initiative is of concern to the Port of Seattle due to the potential loss of funding, and
higher costs, for transportation projects important to the Port for access to our marine,
cruise and fishing terminals and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, such as the
replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the extension of SR-509 and SR-167. Loss
of toll revenue could also affect the replacement of the aging SR-520 span across Lake
Washington. If that span is not replaced and it fails, the resulting transportation
disruption would likely impede the flow of vital cargo through the Port. For the nation's
most trade-dependent state, loss of toll revenue is likely to affect other transportation
projects in the state's transportation system which are essential to the flow of exports and
imports transiting Puget Sound ports and the anchor for thousands of jobs in King County
and throughout the state.
OTHER DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS REQUEST: 
A Port of Commission motion expressing the Port Commission's opposition to
Initiative 1125 and urging the state's voters to reject the measure at the general
election November 8, 2011. 
Initiative 1125, entitled the "Protect Gas-Taxes and Toll Revenues Act and
Protect the 18th Amendment to Washington Constitution."