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Staff describe temporary suspensions of transportation fund transfers in proposed substitute bill
Summary
A substitute for Senate Bill 5802 would delay or suspend several planned transfers and sales‑tax deferrals that support the transportation budget, producing short‑term general fund gains but long‑term transportation revenue changes; public testimony urged protecting general fund services and warned of long‑term impacts.
A substitute to Senate Bill 5802 would temporarily suspend or accelerate a series of transfers and sales‑tax deferrals that have funded the state’s transportation programs, Ways & Means staff and Transportation Committee staff told the committee at a briefing and public hearing on April 16.
Brian Moore, staff to the Senate Transportation Committee, outlined a set of items that together shift timing and permanence of transfers originally tied to the 2016 Connecting Washington and 2022 Move Ahead packages. He told the committee that some transfers scheduled for the 2023‑25 and 2025‑27 biennia would be canceled or deferred, and that one provision would make a 0.1 percent portion of the 6.5 percent sales and use tax a permanent transfer to the Multimodal Transportation Account.
Jeff Mitchell, committee staff, explained that items include pausing Connecting Washington annual transfers, suspending Move Ahead transfers for the 2023‑25 biennium, accelerating certain repayment schedules (including Tacoma Narrows and SR 520 deferral paybacks), and suspending annual transfers from the Public Works Assistance Account for the 2025‑27 biennium. Moore presented summary totals that staff said amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in state general fund gains in the near term but would reduce transportation resources in future years when the deferrals or transfers resume or are made permanent.
In public testimony, Katie Durkin of the Washington Federation of State Employees said the transportation plan “could make those cuts worse” for operating budgets and warned against creating holes in the next biennium’s operating budget. Andrew Villeneuve of the Northwest Progressive Institute urged the committee to remove future general fund transfers and prioritized education funding, calling the proposed $304 million annual transfers unacceptable given projected deficits.
Transportation staff told the committee estimated totals and timing: staff noted that a set of items would provide a near‑term gain to the general fund across a three‑year window, but permanent changes (the 0.1 percent sales and use tax dedication) would reduce general‑fund support for transportation in later years. Staff directed the committee to a fuller bill report and fiscal note for line‑by‑line amounts.
Why it matters: The substitute would move hundreds of millions of dollars between the general fund and transportation accounts, smoothing the near‑term budget while shifting costs and revenue timing for transportation in later biennia. Witnesses framed the policy trade‑off as protecting operating budgets versus long‑term stability for transportation projects.
The hearing record remains open for written testimony through the committee portal.
