Although state legislatures and governors make many of the decisions regarding transportation funding, citizens often are directly involved in the process through initiatives and legislative referendums. Twenty-four states have an initiative process, and the same number use the popular referendum process.17 Direct citizen involvement can work positively to assist with fundraising or can have an opposite effect by preventing funding or eliminating needed transportation money from the state budget.
In many instances, voters have been asked to approve tax or bond measures intended to enhance transportation resources. When voters approve such initiatives and referenda, they help inject money into the state budget for transportation projects. In 2005, for example, New York voters approved the "Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act of 2005," which authorized creation of a state debt of $2.9 billion for construction, improvement, reconditioning and preservation of transportation systems and facilities. Texas voters approved a legislative referendum that will support rail improvements throughout the state. In 2004, Rhode Island voters authorized the issuance of $66 million in bonds for transportation projects.
Voters also can negatively affect transportation funding by failing to support initiatives or by voting to eliminate transportation funding. Dramatic examples of voter effect on state transportation funding are the measures approved by Washington voters in 1998 and 1999. In two separate elections, Washington voters approved a referendum and an initiative that eliminated a state motor vehicle excise tax and most of the taxes and fees imposed on motor vehicles. If both measures had been fully implemented, Washington could have lost more than $1 billion in funding for transportation programs throughout the state. In 2000, a court ruled that one of the proposals, Initiative 695, was unconstitutional because it addressed more than one subject. However, passage of I-695 forced state lawmakers to reduce transportation spending, and legislators later passed a bill that implemented some of the proposed provisions.
In 2005, Washington voters were again asked to decide on a proposal that would significantly affect transportation spending. If passed, Initiative 912 would have repealed a motor vehicle fuel tax increase passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor in 2005. The initiative failed, however, and Washington's four-step gas tax increase will proceed as planned.