
April 28, 2025 That’s a wrap on the 2025 legislative session After 105 long days, the Legislature adjourned on Sunday having voted on the three biennial budgets—operating, capital, and transportation. Attention now shifts to the Governor, who has until May 20 to take action on the bills sent to him. You can find out more information on Governor Ferguson’s bill action webpage. 2025 was a mixed session for cities. It brought new funding tools for public safety (HB 2015) and modest sharing of the new gas tax, along with adoption of a long-awaited producer funded recycling proposal (SB 5284). Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in revising the property tax cap, and the Legislature still swept significant amounts from the Public Works Assistance Account to balance the budget (though we were able to preserve future funding to the account). Today’s issue of the Legislative Bulletin isn’t a full recap of the session—instead, it focuses on some of the final action and budget outcomes. Watch for our recap edition coming out on May 27 and join us for a comprehensive session recap briefing on May 22 (registration information below). Thank you to all who engaged with us and your legislators throughout the session. Your work is the most important part of our advocacy efforts. We appreciate everyone who sent emails, testified on bills, and met with your legislators all throughout session. The city voice is impactful and is the reason for our successes this session. Candice Bock Government Relations Director Legislature reaches budget deal in final days A deal on the state budget for 2025-27 was announced in the final days of the session and released and passed over the weekend. The final deal includes less new revenue and more program cuts than the initial proposals released in March. While the budgets provide significant new funding for public safety, housing, and behavioral health, they still rely on sweeps from the Public Works Assistance Account. More New public safety funding mechanism passed by Legislature, awaits Governor’s signature The Legislature successfully landed HB 2015 on the desk of Gov. Ferguson, creating substantial new pathways for cities to grow their public safety funding, with $100 million allocated towards a new grant program. The legislation sets up two processes for cities and counties to obtain funding for co-response, new officer hires, and other public safety purposes. Read about the new grant program and councilmanic sales tax to learn how your city can prepare to access these funds for local public safety. More City advocacy helps keep PWAA intact, Legislature diverts $288 million to general fund but backfills with bonds The 2025-27 state budgets contain good and bad news for the PWAA: the operating budget transfers $288 million from the account to the general fund in the next biennium, while the capital budget backfills the account with $100 million in state bond revenues and appropriates another $265 million, for a total of $365 million in new spending authority. Critically, PWAA supporters successfully stopped SB 5804, which would have redirected the account’s primary revenue streams indefinitely to fund state-owned culvert removals. Thanks in part to the advocacy of city officials across Washington, the PWAA can continue to fund critical local infrastructure projects in the coming years. More Final transportation budget relies on gas tax increase, shares new revenue with cities On the final day of session, the Legislature adopted a 2025-27 transportation budget, which raises the state motor fuel tax by six cents per gallon. The additional six cents will increase by 2% annually, to account for inflation, and cities will receive a modest 2.5% of the new revenues. Diversions from the Public Works Assistance Account to the Move Ahead WA Account remain through 2038, with a temporary redirection to the general fund in the coming biennium. Funding for state culverts remains in the transportation budget after the Senate proposal to shift responsibility to the capital budget failed. Read on to learn more about the final transportation budget and city impacts. More Register for AWC’s 2025 legislative session recap May 22 \| Online Join the AWC Advocacy team for a full recap of city-related issues from the 2025 legislative session. Hear AWC’s team of lobbyists provide an overview of outcomes on AWC’s legislative priorities, summarize the impacts of passed legislation on cities, and talk through the adopted state budget. Register now. AWC Annual Conference: Essential insights for city leaders June 24-27 \| Kennewick The AWC Annual Conference is where over 400 municipal leaders from across Washington come together to connect, learn, and discover opportunities to leverage limited resources. Check out the session lineup we have so far. This year's sessions are just as diverse as our cities and towns, offering essential training on topics such as legal requirements and roles and responsibilities; budget and finance; infrastructure, land use, and technology; safe, healthy, and thriving communities; and leadership skills and development. Learn about scholarship opportunities and register today. Visit AWC’s bill tracker for easy access to the bills you’re most interested in and to filter by the information you’re looking for, whether it’s a brief description of a bill, the status of bills you’re tracking, or AWC’s comprehensive coverage. Tip: Don't forget to bookmark the tracker and check it regularly for the latest updates. This week’s bill highlights: Affordable housing Condo construction insurance reform proposal heads to Governor for signature (HB 1403) More Budget & finance State budgets pass in final days (SB 5167) More Hopes dashed yet again—property tax revision unlikely to get spotlight again soon (HB 2049) More Environment & natural resources Recycling Reform Act passes the Senate and heads to Governor for signature (SB 5284) More General government Governor set to sign new funding method for local public libraries (SB 5365) More HR & labor relations PFML job protection bill sent to Governor (HB 1213) More Cities encouraged to ask Governor for partial veto of bill restricting grievance settlements (SB 5503) More House and Senate agree on final version of UI benefits for striking workers (SB 5041) More Human services Co-response bill clears House and Senate, awaits action from Governor (HB 1811) More Open government AWC urges Governor to sign bill clarifying PRA exemption on investigation records (HB 1934) More Public works & infrastructure Updates to “Dig Law” adopted by Legislature and sent to Governor for signature (SB 5627) More New subcontractor licensing requirement adopted by Legislature (HB 1633) More Transportation Legislature increases cap to relocation assistance payments requirement (SB 1733) More Understanding the impact of federal directives on local funding. Several federal agencies recently issued new directives and have cancelled federal funding. More Rulemaking notice: Public Works Board seeks input on broadband emergency funding draft rules. Review the draft rules and submit public comment by May 27 and attend the public hearing online May 28. More Session is just the tip of the iceberg Remember, advocacy is a year-round job—and the end of the session marks the beginning of the next phase of your advocacy outreach. Now is the time to contact legislators to thank them for their work and invite them to provide a session recap for you and your council. For more ideas on what to do during the interim check out our advocacy tools. CityVoice Podcast: Advocating for your city outside of legislative session, with Carl Schroeder AWC Deputy Director of Government Relations Carl Schroeder discusses strategies that city and town leaders can use to strengthen relationships and secure support for their communities' priorities between legislative sessions. Communication, coalition-building, and inviting state legislators into local budget processes are all methods of building bridges to future success in Olympia. Listen here. Then download the Strong cities advocacy guide to see why session is just the tip of the iceberg and to find practical advice on year-round advocacy.
wacities.org/Advocacy \| Legislative issues AWC’s mission is to serve our members through advocacy, education, and services. © Copyright Association of Washington Cities, 2025 Subscribe \| Unsubscribe