Senate Transportation Committee warned of multi‑billion‑dollar shortfall in transportation budget

On Feb. 27, 2025, the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee heard a detailed briefing from Haley Gamble, budget coordinator, showing a roughly $1 billion shortfall in the 2025–27 biennium and a growing multi‑billion‑dollar gap through 2031.

Gamble told the committee the governor’s proposed budget included a $1,000,000,000 placeholder to balance accounts for 2025–27 and that, without that placeholder, a cumulative shortfall would reach about $2.6 billion by 2027 and approach $4.0 billion over a six‑year horizon. She said the gas tax forecast used for the adopted budget has declined by $332,000,000 (about 9.7%) since the forecast was produced and that the transportation budget lost roughly $2.5 billion in revenue since 2020 during the COVID period.

The projected deficits are concentrated in accounts that the presenter identified as repeatedly negative and reliant on transfers: the state patrol account, the Puget Sound capital construction…