Image of the capitol building in Olympia on a green background with a blue fade overlay. Text reads "Dispatch from Olympia: Your guide to the Washington State Legislative Session"

Dear friends,

The budget dominated conversations in the Washington State Legislature last week, including how to address a roughly $10 billion deficit in the transportation budget over the next 10 years. Legislators are considering both how to prioritize current projects, as well as potential sources of new revenue. 

One exciting development is the potential introduction of a Road Usage Charge bill to help secure better long-term transportation funding. Years ago, it became clear that the gas tax revenue that makes up the largest chunk of Washington’s transportation funding would continue to decline as people adopt more electric and fuel efficient vehicles. We’ve been actively engaged on this issue for years, and one of our top priorities is ensuring that any new long-term transportation funding is not restricted to funding highways like the gas tax has been. We’re excited that a Road Usage Charge bill seems to be taking shape this session, and we’re working now to ensure that it can meet the full needs of our multimodal transportation system.

Another conversation we’ve been following closely concerns the continuation of the Green Transportation Bill, which provides funding for zero-emission buses and bus facilities. The Green Transportation funding and zero-emission bus incentives are set to expire at the end of the fiscal year, so legislators are looking at renewing them this session.

Finally, we’ve added several priority bills we’re keeping a close eye on to our 2025 Bill Tracker — take a look. We’ll continue to update this throughout the legislative session. Keep reading for updates on what to expect this week, opportunities to take action, and what happened last week. 

Ride on!

 Transportation Choices

What's Coming Up This Week

Today, Monday, Jan. 27

  • A bill to add two voting members that are transit users to the governing body of public transportation benefits areas (HB 1418) will be heard in the House Transportation Committee at 4 PM. 
  • A bill to include tribal representation in certain transportation activities (SB 5374) will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee at 4 PM. This bill would:
    • Require certain local and regional transportation planning efforts to work in coordination with affected tribal governments to assess impacts on affected tribal areas.
    • Add a tribal government representative to the Cooper Jones Active Transportation Safety Council at the Traffic Safety Commission.
    • Require the Traffic Safety Commission to establish a Tribal Traffic Safety Coordinator Program to assist tribes in implementing traffic safety strategies. 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 28

  • A bill to eliminate driver’s license requirements for jobs when driving isn’t an essential function (HB 1402) will be heard in the House Committee of Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM. This bill is being led by our partners at Disability Rights Washington and would help ensure nondrivers are not unfairly barred from job opportunities. Join us in signing in “Pro” on HB 1402.
  • A bill to promote transit-oriented housing development (HB 1491) will be heard in the House Housing Committee at 4 PM. This bill would require cities to allow more density near light rail and bus rapid transit stops. Learn more about it from our friends at The Urbanist here. Join us in signing in “Pro” on HB 1491

What Happened Last Week

  • The House Transportation Committee held a work session on the enforcement of traffic safety laws with an update from the WA State Patrol. They also discussed safety initiatives related to the built environment, with an update from the WA Department of Transportation. 
  • The Senate Transportation Committee held a work session to hear from cities, counties, ports, transit agencies, and metropolitan and regional planning organizations.
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