OLYMPIA — The Senate released its bipartisan 2025-2027 supplemental transportation budget, which prioritizes increasing investments in preservation and maintenance, creating jobs, strengthening the state’s ferry system, improving traffic safety, and advancing the state’s climate goals.
The supplemental budget balances the state’s transportation accounts through 2031, and it includes a combined increase of $1.5 billion over the 2025 enacted budget.
“When we wrote the biennial transportation budget last session, I committed to delivering a bipartisan plan for Washingtonians. This supplemental budget continues that spirit of bipartisanship, and it’s a plan that will deliver for communities large and small across the state,” said Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “I’m proud our plan prioritizes funding for preservation and maintenance — investments that will help repair our aging infrastructure and create thousands of good-paying jobs at a time when Washington needs an economic boost.”
“As we roll out the 2026 supplemental transportation budget, I want to recognize Chair Liias for his willingness and efforts to make this a bipartisan budget. He has worked hard to accommodate many of our requests. This budget is focused on maintenance and preservation, with bonding and no new taxes. I feel this budget is a step forward to address the challenges of our current transportation system,” said Sen. Curtis King (R-Yakima), the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee.
Preservation and maintenance for the state’s aging infrastructure are a key investment in the plan, totaling an additional $1.7 billion over six years. Estimates from Senate Committee Services indicate this investment alone would create up to 34,000 jobs for Washington as it aims to increase statewide preservation and maintenance for the transportation system.
Funded through a $2 billion bipartisan bond proposal, the state would direct $1.215 billion for road and bridge preservation, $225 million for maintenance and facilities, $100 million for ferry system preservation, and an additional $100 million for high-risk corridor safety preservation. The budget also invests in repairing damage from the December 2025 flooding by allocating $15 million for state highway recovery and $45 million for local highway recovery.
As the Senate continues to prioritize expanding and strengthening the state’s ferry fleet, the proposal fulfills the funding commitment to build the three new ferry vessels and directs an additional $31 million to fully fund the electrification of three terminals. It also dedicates a significant portion of the 0.1% distribution of the 6.5% state sales and use tax approved in last year’s budget to ferry operations and capital construction. To help spread costs more evenly for new hybrid vessels, the proposal authorizes the state to explore alternative financing solutions, such as certificates of participation.
Increasing transportation safety is another key commitment of the supplemental budget, especially considering Washington’s high traffic fatalities. The proposal creates a $1 million pedestrian safety grant program for cities and towns to install illuminated crosswalks, and it directs $250,000 to the Washington State Department of Transportation to develop a safety program to help advance statewide safety goals and direct investments to communities that are disproportionately affected by traffic-related injuries and fatalities on state highways. It also directs the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission to create a safety awareness program for older drivers.
Building on the state’s work to reduce emissions, promote active transportation, and increase access to affordable public transit, the supplemental budget continues investments in key programs funded through the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), including free transit and ferry fares for youth under 18, Tribal Transit Mobility Grants, and the Safe Routes to School Program. The proposal also allocates an additional $40 million of CCA funds to help advance the state’s electrification goals, including $30 million for EV charging infrastructure grants for gas stations, convenience stores, and multifamily and residential homes.
The proposed supplemental budget accounts for the 1.1% transportation revenue decrease, totaling $101 million, projected in last week’s forecast by reprioritizing some of the spending decisions in last year’s biennial budget and leveraging the remaining capacity of previously authorized bonds.
Though the biennial budget increased transportation revenues by about $4.4 billion over six years, decreased fuel tax projections have offset some of these projected revenue increases. Fuel tax collections represent 40% of the state’s forecasted transportation revenue, and as Washingtonians continue to use less fuel, the associated decline in fuel tax revenue continues to be an ongoing concern for future transportation budgets.
Two of the bills comprising the bipartisan supplemental transportation budget — an appropriations bill (SB 6005) and bonding bill (SB 6225) — will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The budget’s revenue bill (SB 6352) was heard in committee Feb. 19 and is scheduled for executive session Friday.
