This bill amends existing law (RCW 82.42.090) to change how aircraft fuel taxes and related sales or use tax receipts are transmitted and allocated. It requires the director to transmit moneys collected from the aircraft fuel excise tax to the state treasurer to be credited to the aeronautics account. It also requires moneys collected from consumers under the retail sales tax or use tax on aircraft fuel to be transmitted to the treasurer and distributed so that from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027 an amount equivalent to imposing a 0.5 percent tax is credited to the aeronautics account, and beginning July 1, 2027 an amount equivalent to a 1.0 percent tax is credited to the aeronautics account; the remainder (6.5 percent minus the amount credited to the aeronautics account) is credited to the state general fund. The bill creates procedural and reporting requirements for the Department of Transportation’s aviation division. Beginning July 1, 2025 the aviation division must track additional funds awarded for airport projects through the airport aid grant program and produce annual reports to the legislature’s transportation committees for 2025–2031 (and thereafter as needed) that list each funded airport project and state, federal, and local match amounts. At the close of each biennium beginning June 30, 2027, the aviation division must report to the Senate Ways and Means, House Appropriations, and transportation committees the estimated amount of funds returned to the general fund, taking into account sales and business and occupation taxes generated by the funded airport projects. The act is declared an emergency measure and takes effect July 1, 2025. Affected parties named include the Department of Transportation (aviation division), the state treasurer, the aeronautics account, the state general fund, legislative committees, airport sponsors, and federal and local matching fund providers. The text provided does not include surrounding RCW sections or the precise formula or tax base used to calculate the “amount equivalent to imposing” the 0.5% or 1.0% taxes, nor does it specify exact due dates for the annual reports within each calendar year.

If enacted, more of the taxes tied to aircraft fuel will be directed into the state aeronautics account rather than flowing entirely to the general fund: starting July 1, 2025 a share equal to a 0.5 percent tax (rising to an amount equal to 1.0 percent on July 1, 2027) will be credited to the aeronautics account, and the remaining portion of the current 6.5 percent sales/use tax on aircraft fuel will go to the general fund. That change should increase predictable, dedicated funding available for airport projects and reduce the portion of those specific fuel-related tax dollars going straight to the general fund. The Department of Transportation’s aviation division will need to track additional grant awards from the airport aid program and report annually to legislative transportation committees from 2025–2031 (and as needed afterward), and begin biennial fiscal-close reporting to budget committees in 2027 estimating how much tax revenue the projects return to the general fund. In practice this creates ongoing administrative and reporting work for the aviation division and means airport sponsors, federal matchers, and project grant amounts will be publicly itemized; the bill does not define how to calculate the “amount equivalent” of the percentage credits or give exact report due dates, which leaves some implementation details unclear.