Thanks to the passage of anti-tax Initiative 1185 in November, Washington state lawmakers must approve any road or bridge toll hike - a task it had previously delegated to the state's Transportation Commission.

The change was confirmed in a letter sent Friday by Office of Financial Management Director for Legal Affairs Julie Murray.

The letter's recipient was Republican Sen. Pam Roach of Auburn. Roach said it means that lawmakers must approve any toll increases before they can take effect.

A January letter sent to Roach by the state Attorney General's office, however, notes that such approval needn't be "legislation specifying a particular dollar amount."

In her proposed 2013-2015 transportation budget, outgoing Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed granting the Transportation Commission the authority to raise ferry fares as needed for the budget.