OLYMPIA [By: Cassie Diamond] – Sens. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, and Curtis King, R-Yakima, rolled out their bipartisan supplemental transportation budget Feb. 23, emphasizing its focus on preservation and maintenance, job creation and safety.
Liias, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the supplemental budget prioritizes the preservation and maintenance of the state’s highways, bridges and ferries, as well as responding to infrastructure damages caused by the December 2025 flood.
The proposal introduces $1.5 billion in new spending and balances the state’s transportation accounts through 2031.
Liias and King highlighted that no new taxes will be introduced to pay for these investments. Instead, funding would come from a $2 billion bipartisan bond proposal.
King, the lead Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, said he is hopeful the lack of new taxes in the budget proposal “will help garner some votes from [his] side of the aisle.”
The budget proposes an additional $1.7 billion in funding for the preservation and maintenance of Washington’s aging infrastructure over the next six years.
According to Liias, a survey from Senate Committee Services found this investment would translate into up to 34,000 new jobs for Washingtonians.
“Our investments in preservation are fundamentally investments in jobs,” he said.
The proposal would increase spending by $100 million for ferry system preservation. Liias added there is a specific focus on improving the preservation capabilities of a ferry maintenance facility located in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island.
The budget would also devote funding to build three new ferries. Liias said they have not committed to building more ferries beyond these first three, but there will be more discussions about next steps in 2027.
Liias and King both expressed interest in potentially adding hydrogen ferries to Washington’s fleet. The budget dedicates $250,000 to the Joint Transportation Committee to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with leasing hydrogen or hybrid hydrogen ferries.
To address flood damages, the proposal invests $15 million into state highway recovery and $45 million into local highway recovery.
Liias noted that while it is taking longer to get a response from the federal government on the requests for flood recovery aid than he hoped, he is confident Washington will receive those funds.
In the meantime, he said the budget is focused on getting cities and counties the resources they need to reopen their roads as soon as possible.
“We want to make sure that the people of Washington can have their infrastructure in good working order, and then we’ll sort out how we pay for it and the federal split and all that later,” Liias said. “But let’s get the work done now.”
The proposal further allocates $100 million for safety preservation along routes with high traffic accident rates in an effort to reduce fatalities on Washington’s highways.
The Washington State Patrol is also set to receive $2.7 million to fill vacancies in its staffing, which Liias and King said will improve road safety.
Looking ahead, the budget proposes the creation of a mobile driver’s license program. This would allow Washingtonians to access a digital version of their license on their smartphones starting in 2028.
The House released their own transportation budget proposal Feb. 23 as well.
The House version of the budget proposes $1.1 billion in new spending, slightly below the Senate’s proposed $1.5 billion. Unlike the Senate proposal, the House proposal does not include plans for new bonding.
In a written statement, Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, the House Transportation Committee chair, emphasized that bonds should be used responsibly and with caution.
“We don’t need to authorize more bonds to invest more in preservation and maintenance; at least, not now,” Fey said in the statement. “By using existing bond capacity and smoothing funds across biennia, we are able to add $335M to preservation and maintenance this biennium, and $435M in 2027-29. Bonding can help deliver major infrastructure projects, but it must be used carefully.”
Both chambers have until March 12 to decide on and pass a final version of the supplemental budget before they adjourn for the session.
The Washington State Journal is a nonprofit news website operated by the WNPA Foundation. To learn more, go to wastatejournal.org.
Author: Washington State Journal
