Committee hears bill to create state match account, expand grant tools to help communities win federal funds

House Bill 1057 was presented to the Technology, Economic Development and Veterans Committee as a package of measures aimed at helping Washington communities access federal grant dollars by offering state matching support and expanded technical assistance.

Department of Commerce staff told the committee the bill would require Commerce to create scoring criteria to prioritize state matching funds, expand an existing grant‑writer recruitment program to include more local economic development organizations and rural and frontier counties, expand the FundHubWA website to list all federal economic opportunities by July 1, 2026, and create a “matched account” that would reserve state funds for approved applicants until they receive a federal award, are denied, or withdraw their application. For the record, Martha Whaling, staff to the committee, summarized the bill’s components and noted the account would expressly bar state funds when they would replace private investment.

The bill’s prime sponsor emphasized the gap in federal funding capture and the role of matches in enabling communities to compete. Representative Barnard, the bill’s prime sponsor, said, “Washington greatly underutilizes federal grants,” and noted a 2023 analysis placing Washington well below national averages in federal grant capture.

Supporters who testified said matching funds and technical assistance are especially important for smaller ports, rural counties and local economic development organizations that lack the staff or budget to prepare competitive federal applications. Cassie Hammond, director of government affairs at the Port of Benton, described her port’s experience securing a $9,560,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant that required a $2,100,000 local match and said, “providing state matching dollars can help rural communities like ours compete for transformative federal funding without overwhelming our local budgets.” Gary Belew, vice president of economic development for Greater Spokane Incorporated, and other regional economic development leaders told the committee they routinely face matching requirements for Tech Hubs, NSF Engines and other federal programs and cited Oregon’s state match program as a comparative example.

Proponents pointed to returns on previous state matches: testimony cited Commerce examples where relatively small state match dollars leveraged millions in federal funding and created jobs, innovation clusters and infrastructure investments. The bill would also expand a Commerce program that subsidizes grant‑writer recruitment from associate development organizations (ADOs) to include economic development organizations (EDOs), frontier counties and rural counties.

Committee staff and members asked clarifying questions about prioritization criteria, timing for the FundHubWA expansion and fiscal constraints in a tight budget year. Multiple testifiers and the prime sponsor acknowledged the state’s constrained budget but argued a modest pool of matching funds would leverage much larger federal awards and could be structured so allocated funds are only dispersed upon a federal award.

The committee held the bill as a hearing; no committee vote was recorded at this meeting. The hearing record now moves to follow‑up and amendment work in advance of any executive action.

Ending: The committee closed the hearing on House Bill 1057 after testimony from the sponsor, Commerce staff and several local economic development and port representatives.