The Legislature has passed a final supplemental transportation spending budget (SB 6005) and sent it to the Governor for signature. It also passed a supplemental transportation resources bill (HB 2711), addressing revenue generation for the budget.

Budget highlights

• Local project legislative appropriations
  • $180 million temporary diversion of existing legislative appropriations to local projects; assumes delay in delivery of projects
• Safe Routes to Schools grants
  • $34 million increase
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety programs & grants
  • $33.4 million increase
• Assistance for 2025 weather events recovery
  • $15 million to assist cities in the form of forgivable loans

City impacts

Funding for city and town transportation systems remains largely the same as in the initial proposals. The final budget makes some significant and welcome increases to safety, multimodal, and electric vehicle programs, such as Safe Routes to Schools grants and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program.

Legislative appropriations for local projects

The provision temporarily diverting legislative appropriations of state dollars for local projects, administered by the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Local Programs division, unfortunately remains in SB 6005. Assuming that not all local projects with legislative appropriations will be ready to move ahead this year, budget writers redirect $180 million in anticipated project underruns through Local Programs to fund state preservation projects instead.

This amount is far more than the $100 million limit to the diversion that AWC and others requested and could jeopardize the viability of dozens of projects that cities are already planning, potentially causing project delays and cost increases with cascading effects on the businesses contracted to conduct the work.

The budget indicates that the Legislature intends to return the funding over the next two biennia as the local projects become ready. It also provides flexibility for Local Programs to maintain project delivery timing by authorizing the Office of Financial Management to modify the legislative appropriations as needed, with certain stipulations.

Recovery from 2025 weather events

The spending budget provides funding assistance for cities and counties recovering from the weather events in late 2025 to be administered by the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB). The covered costs are for work of a temporary or permanent nature that restores roads and bridges to a pre-emergency condition and may include reconstruction to current design standards. The work must be beyond a city’s normal scope of work repairing damage from seasonal or other natural conditions and beyond typical maintenance. The assistance will be in the form of loans against the requested receipt of federal funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Highway Administration for emergency project costs. Upon receipt of federal funds covering those costs, the city or town must pay back the loan within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the TIB. If federal reimbursement is not provided, the loan amounts will be forgiven by the state.

Transportation studies and plans

SB 6005 funds a range of studies of direct and indirect interest to cities.

• The Joint Transportation Committee is directed to:
  • Review options for long-term financial sustainability for the transportation budget;
  • Study and recommend options to streamline and enhance reporting and data sharing between WSDOT and the Legislature;
  • Evaluate and review other state laws on transportation-related liability issues, including laws related to failure to wear a seatbelt, state defenses involving claims for injury or wrongful death, and minimum liability insurance requirements;
  • Review the existing methodology for designating WSDOT’s freight and goods transportation system (FGTS) and the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board's strategic freight corridors and submit recommendations for improvement; and
  • Consider options for long-term, financially sustainable vessel preservation and replacement, terminal improvements, and ferry asset management.
• WSDOT is directed to develop an implementation plan for a megaproject for safety program to advance transportation safety and mobility goals on Washington’s main street highways. It must define how projects will be planned, identified, prioritized, and evaluated and identify a method for enabling multi-jurisdiction partnerships to develop corridor safety strategies and for guiding land use development consistent with a safer land use approach.
• WSDOT Local Programs is directed to develop a regional connections action plan for the statewide development of active transportation infrastructure that connects population centers, supports mode shift, and improves safety performance.

Refer to AWC’s budget matrix for more details on impacts to funding for local governments.

Budget overview

Budget writers’ primary focus this year was to address the state’s preservation and maintenance needs. SB 6005 spends a total of $16.6 billion in the current biennium, an increase of $1.2 billion from the biennial budget adopted last year. It balances all transportation accounts for the 2025-27, 2027-29, and 2029-31 biennia and accounts for the reduction in projected transportation revenue collections per the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s February 2026 transportation forecast.

Importantly, the final budget includes a new bond authorization sufficient to provide financial capacity for adding $1.53 billion in new maintenance and preservation funding through the 2029-31 biennium. It provides $445 million in preservation and maintenance dollars for the state’s highway and bridge system in the 2025-27 biennium and $580 million each in the following two biennia. Funding for ferry system preservation increases by $28 million over the next three biennia ($4 million, $8 million, and $16 million, respectively).

The spending budget also attempts to meet existing obligations on current state capital projects and makes a variety of increases to spending on the Washington State Patrol, traffic safety programs and initiatives, transit and multimodal projects, and carbon-reduction efforts.

Supplemental transportation budget proposals increase safety funding for cities, temporarily divert direct appropriations for local projects

March 2, 2026

The House and Senate released their respective supplemental transportation budget proposals (HB 2306/SB 6005) on February 23 and quickly passed them out of committee the same week. The full Senate passed its version shortly thereafter.

City impacts

Funding for city and town transportation systems is largely maintained at the same level as adopted in last year’s biennial budget, with some significant and welcome increases to safety, multimodal, and electric vehicle programs, such as Safe Routes to Schools grants and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety program. Both also provide funding assistance for cities and counties recovering from the weather events in late 2025.

However, AWC is concerned about proposals in both budgets that could impact city transportation projects funded by the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Local Programs division.

The proposals assume that not all local projects with direct appropriations of state dollars will be ready to move ahead this year. They take a general amount of money that budget writers assume will not be ready to distribute to project owners now and redirect that money to fund state preservation projects instead.

The House would redirect $227 million in anticipated underspend through Local Programs while the Senate would redirect $100 million. The budgets indicate that the Legislature intends to return the funding over the next two biennia as the local projects become ready. This method has been referred to as “resource smoothing.”

AWC understands that a limited amount of funding for local projects may be available for this purpose and temporarily diverting it would not cause significant disruption to city projects. We also recognize and thank the Senate for providing flexibility in its proposal for funds to be released when needed. However, we know that any delay in funding potentially jeopardizes projects and increases costs for cities, with cascading effects on the businesses contracted to conduct the work.

We ask legislators to limit any resource smoothing to $100 million and to ensure that funds will be made available when needed as local projects proceed.

AWC encourages any cities with transportation projects funded through Local Programs to get involved. Let legislators know that delaying more than $100 million for this purpose could jeopardize the viability of dozens of projects that cities are already planning and ask them to ensure that the final transportation budget does not cause local project delays.

Budget highlights

• Local project legislative appropriations
  • House: $227 million temporary diversion of existing legislative appropriations to local projects via WSDOT Local Programs; assumes delay in delivery of projects
  • Senate: $100 million temporary diversion of existing legislative appropriations to local projects via WSDOT Local Programs; assumes delay in delivery of projects
• Assistance for 2025 weather events recovery
  • House: $3 million to assist counties and cities
  • Senate: $15 million to assist cities
• Safe Routes to Schools grants:
  • House & Senate: Increases funding by $34 million
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety programs & grants:
  • House & Senate: Increases funding by $33.4 million

Refer to AWC’s budget matrix for more details on impacts to funding for local governments.

Proposed budgets overview

HB 2306 spends a total of $16.5 billion in the 2025-27 biennium, an increase of $1.1 billion from the biennial budget adopted last year. The bill includes $335 million in new investments in preservation and maintenance for the state’s road and bridge network and lays groundwork for the future of the state’s ferry system.

SB 6005 spends a total of $16.9 billion in the current biennium, an increase of $1.5 billion from the biennial budget adopted last year. It includes $405 million in new preservation and maintenance spending for the state’s highways.

Notably, the Senate proposal relies in part on the issuance of $1.1 billion in new bonds to fund the increase to the biennial budget, whereas the House proposal relies on revenue from existing funding sources. Both account for the reduction in projected transportation revenue collections per the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s February 2026 transportation forecast. Revenues are now expected to decrease by $101 million for the 2025-27 budget period and by $86 million in 2027-29.

Both budgets attempt to meet existing obligations on current state capital projects. They also make a variety of increases to spending on the Washington State Patrol, traffic safety programs and initiatives, transit and multimodal projects, and carbon-reduction efforts.

Next steps

HB 2306 passed out of the House Transportation Committee on February 25 and now awaits a vote on the House floor.

SB 6005 passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on February 26 and the Senate floor on February 27.

Budget leaders now begin in earnest to negotiate a final transportation budget reflecting the priorities of each chamber before the session ends on March 12.