{"id":3433,"date":"2026-02-28T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T18:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T19:09:52","slug":"a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/","title":{"rendered":"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate passed our transportation budget proposal on Friday. Now budget writers in the House and Senate will negotiate the differences between the two proposals before the final version reaches the governor\u2019s desk for his signature. I want to share what the Senate\u2019s bipartisan transportation budget has in store for my personal #1 transportation priority: our ferry system. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Senate\u2019s\u00a0proposal fulfills our commitment to build three new ferry vessels\u00a0<\/span>scheduled for delivery between 2030 and 2032.\u00a0<\/span>This gets us closer to a fully-operational fleet level of 26 boats (up from 21 today), which is the number that Washington State Ferries believes will give us reliable service: that means we will have 18 boats regularly on the water and eight on reserve or in the shop for maintenance. <\/span>The\u00a0proposal also\u00a0<\/span>directs an\u00a0additional\u00a0$31 million to fully fund the electrification of three terminals, ensuring our new hybrid-electric ferries can recharge at multiple\u00a0terminals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time since 1999, we\u2019re also committing to establishing a dedicated funding source for ferries. In last year\u2019s budget, we authorized a 0.1% distribution of the state\u2019s sales and use tax to go straight to the transportation budget. This year\u2019s proposal dedicates a significant portion of that revenue to ferry operations and construction. This is critical for ensuring the long-term stability of our fleet as we work to strengthen and expand it. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We also increased the amount of money we dedicate to ferry and terminal preservation and maintenance. It\u2019s no secret that many of our ferries are old. As they age, we have to ensure we\u2019re dedicating enough funding to preserve and maintain them so we can maximize their lifespan.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Governor Bob Ferguson committed several times in Kitsap County that he would make regular ferry services a priority.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0happy to see his focus on this critical issue for our region, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0grateful that the Senate budget proposal takes ferries seriously as the marine highways that they are.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An update on\u00a0my\u00a0bills<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SB 5906<\/span><\/a>: The SAFE Act to\u00a0help keep ICE out of\u00a0schools, daycares, hospitals and more without a warrant\u00a0signed by a judge\u00a0has passed the Senate\u00a0and\u00a0awaits consideration\u00a0by the full House.\u00a0<\/span>Learn more<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HB\u00a02532<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0ban the retail\u00a0sale of nitrous oxide, the\u00a0dangerous\u00a0inhalant\u00a0<\/span>(sometimes known as Galaxy Gas or whippets),\u00a0<\/span>has passed the House and awaits\u00a0action\u00a0on the Senate floor.\u00a0I\u00a0sponsored the Senate version of this bill. I am grateful to\u00a0Rep. Joe Timmons (prime sponsor of the House bill) and\u00a0the Suquamish Tribe and other tribal communities\u00a0for their partnership on this.\u00a0<\/span>Learn more<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please reach out with any questions\u00a0as we finish our work!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Drew Hansen<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0\u00a0 The Senate passed our transportation budget proposal on Friday. Now budget writers in the House and Senate will negotiate the differences between the two proposals before the final version reaches the governor\u2019s desk for his signature. I want to share what the Senate\u2019s bipartisan transportation budget has in store for my personal #1 transportation priority: our ferry system. \u00a0 The\u00a0Senate\u2019s\u00a0proposal fulfills our commitment to build three new ferry vessels\u00a0scheduled for delivery between 2030 and 2032.\u00a0This gets us closer to a fully-operational fleet level of 26 boats (up from 21 today), which is the number that Washington…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":3435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0\u00a0 The Senate passed our transportation budget proposal on Friday. Now budget writers in the House and Senate will negotiate the differences between the two proposals before the final version reaches the governor\u2019s desk for his signature. I want to share what the Senate\u2019s bipartisan transportation budget has in store for my personal #1 transportation priority: our ferry system. \u00a0 The\u00a0Senate\u2019s\u00a0proposal fulfills our commitment to build three new ferry vessels\u00a0scheduled for delivery between 2030 and 2032.\u00a0This gets us closer to a fully-operational fleet level of 26 boats (up from 21 today), which is the number that Washington...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. Drew Hansen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-28T18:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-28T19:09:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"akerndl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"akerndl\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/\",\"name\":\"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-28T18:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-28T19:09:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/466fea2688143dc3442d00ee9ca25027\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":433},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/\",\"name\":\"Sen. Drew Hansen\",\"description\":\"Putting People First\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/466fea2688143dc3442d00ee9ca25027\",\"name\":\"akerndl\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a87c07be6a8f50662b24d2cdf185f3a1a3dac53483017856fdbe224261e2eed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a87c07be6a8f50662b24d2cdf185f3a1a3dac53483017856fdbe224261e2eed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"akerndl\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/author\/akerndl\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen","og_description":"Dear friends and neighbors,\u00a0\u00a0 The Senate passed our transportation budget proposal on Friday. Now budget writers in the House and Senate will negotiate the differences between the two proposals before the final version reaches the governor\u2019s desk for his signature. I want to share what the Senate\u2019s bipartisan transportation budget has in store for my personal #1 transportation priority: our ferry system. \u00a0 The\u00a0Senate\u2019s\u00a0proposal fulfills our commitment to build three new ferry vessels\u00a0scheduled for delivery between 2030 and 2032.\u00a0This gets us closer to a fully-operational fleet level of 26 boats (up from 21 today), which is the number that Washington...","og_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/","og_site_name":"Sen. Drew Hansen","article_published_time":"2026-02-28T18:00:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-28T19:09:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":433,"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"akerndl","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"akerndl","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/","name":"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries - Sen. Drew Hansen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-28T18:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-28T19:09:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/466fea2688143dc3442d00ee9ca25027"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg","width":650,"height":433},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/2026\/02\/28\/a-transportation-budget-that-delivers-for-ferries\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A transportation budget that delivers for ferries"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/","name":"Sen. Drew Hansen","description":"Putting People First","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/466fea2688143dc3442d00ee9ca25027","name":"akerndl","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a87c07be6a8f50662b24d2cdf185f3a1a3dac53483017856fdbe224261e2eed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a87c07be6a8f50662b24d2cdf185f3a1a3dac53483017856fdbe224261e2eed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"akerndl"},"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/author\/akerndl\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/02\/ferry.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3441,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions\/3441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/hansen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}