Senate panel advances supplemental transportation budget with eight amendments

The Senate Transportation Committee advanced substitute Senate Bill 6,005 on Feb. 26 after adopting eight amendments that adjust appropriations, reporting deadlines and program implementation dates across multiple Department of Transportation accounts.

Brandon Popovac, staff to the committee, briefed the substitute and the eight amendments in alphabetical order. "Before you is, proposed substitute Senate Bill 6,005, the 2006 supplemental transportation budget," Popovac said, and he walked members through technical corrections, funding reallocations and program timing changes.

Why it matters: The bill and adopted amendments change how state transportation dollars are allocated for a mix of safety, rail, ferry and electrification projects, and they include both small net fiscal changes within the biennium and reappropriations that affect multi-biennial project funding and reporting obligations.

Key amendments and fiscal effects

- Amendment A (technical corrections): Popovac said this mainly makes internal reference fixes and includes a provision adjusting funding tied to substitute SB 6,155 (parking privileges for persons with disabilities). That adjustment results in a $63,000 reduction to the State Highway Safety Account; Popovac described this as the only subpart with a near-term fiscal impact.

- Amendment B (joint by Senators Lius and King): This amendment reallocates $500,000 between the Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Fuel Institute (to the sustainable aviation fuel account) and the multimodal transportation account; clarifies that documentary service fee revenue under SB 6,354 can be used for electric vehicle rebates targeted to vulnerable populations; and funds a study on uninsured motorists with a $315,000 appropriation (resulting in a $185,000 reduction to the multimodal account). B also extends reporting deadlines and legislative intent for several Traffic Safety Commission programs and tribal traffic safety grants and moves implementation and rulemaking dates for the mobile driver's license/ID program earlier to align with program rollout.

- Amendment C (Wahkiakum ferry): Adds $986,000 to operate the Wahkiakum County ferry, charged to the State Motor Vehicle Account.

- Amendment D (King County Metro electrification): Re-targets central campus electrification funding at King County Metro; Popovac said there is no net fiscal impact in this biennium.

- Amendment E (Fruit Valley track extension): Adds $1.2 million to the multimodal transportation account for the Fruit Valley track extension.

- Amendment F (Longview Junction–Kalama third mainline track): Adds $3 million to the multimodal transportation account.

- Amendment G (interstate yard storage tracks): Adds $8 million to the multimodal transportation account.

- Amendment H (Bingen/Walnut Creek/Maple railroad crossing): Adds $2.2 million to the Connecting Washington account.

Other technical and programmatic language in the substitute clarifies pass-through accounts, reporting deadlines (including a one-year delay for certain wrong-way driving reporting), and administrative fund transfers assumed but previously omitted. The substitute also includes a $3,174,000 appropriation from a bond retirement account exclusively for prepayment of outstanding transportation debt.

Committee action

During an executive session the committee moved to adopt each amendment by voice vote; the chair announced each motion carried with no recorded opposition. The committee then voted to roll the adopted amendments into substitute SB 6,005 and gave the substitute a due-pass recommendation to the Rules Committee, subject to signature.

What’s next: Substitute SB 6,005 was advanced to the Rules Committee with a due-pass recommendation and will proceed through the signature and rules process.