The bill creates a new Washington state supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program by adding sections to chapter 47.04 RCW. It directs “the department,” working with the Department of Commerce, the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, the Washington Public Ports Association, federally recognized tribal governments with port operations, and other supply chain stakeholders, to set priorities and operate a grant and revolving loan program that can provide grants and loans to public ports and federally recognized tribal governments with established public port operations. The department may adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW to implement the program. The bill establishes a state treasury account called the supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program account to receive legislative appropriations, bond proceeds when authorized by the legislature, and principal and interest on loans; money in that account may be spent only after appropriation and only for purposes set forth in section 5 of the act. The bill lists programmatic goals that projects must align with, including port-related transportation infrastructure, efficient freight movement, sustaining international trade, agricultural and industrial market access, freight distribution integration, and mitigation of freight impacts on communities, and it states the legislature’s intent that grant funds be appropriated using existing transportation accounts. The bill requires a collaborative stakeholder process to develop performance metrics and evaluation criteria, directs that the collaborative process produce a list of eligible project types, makes the department the governing agency for the grant and loan program, and requires that all eligible projects be included in a port’s freight development plan as defined in RCW 53.20.055. For purposes of the act, “public ports” are defined as those authorized under chapter 53.04 RCW. The provided text does not identify which agency is meant by the term “the department.” The bill reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish or clarify a treasury income account for earnings on invested surplus balances, to require monthly distributions of those earnings, and to direct the Office of Financial Management to determine CMIA (Cash Management Improvement Act) transfers and to direct transfers as needed. It requires refunds or allocations to the federal government and payments for purchased banking services to occur before distributing earnings, allocates earnings from certain permanent funds to their beneficiary accounts, and provides for proportionate allocation of earnings to specified named accounts and to agencies that deposit funds under agreement with the state treasurer based on each account’s average daily balance. Section 7 of the act expires July 1, 2028, and section 8 takes effect July 1, 2028. Important gaps in the provided text: the identity of “the department” is not specified; the full text of section 5 (the permitted uses of the supply chain account) is not included; the list of accounts and funds affected by the RCW 43.84.092 amendments is truncated; and other captioned dates or provisions referenced in the bill are missing from the extracted facts.

If enacted, the bill creates a new state program that can make grants and loans to public ports and federally recognized tribal governments that run ports to pay for freight-related infrastructure projects that support trade, reduce community freight impacts, and improve market access. A new treasury account will hold legislative appropriations, authorized bond proceeds, and loan repayments, but money can only be spent after the Legislature appropriates it; the program will be run by an unnamed “department” working with the Department of Commerce, the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, ports associations, tribes, and other freight stakeholders, who must develop performance metrics and a prioritized list of eligible projects and require all funded work to appear in a port’s freight development plan. The bill also changes how investment earnings in the treasury are handled — directing monthly distributions, prioritizing federal CMIA-related transfers and banking service payments, and allocating proportionate earnings to many named funds and depositing agencies. The groups most affected are public ports and tribal port operators, who could gain new funding options but may also take on loans and must meet the program’s planning and eligibility rules; transportation agencies and the Office of Financial Management and State Treasurer will face new administration and cash-management duties. The state’s fiscal exposure depends on future appropriations and any bonds the Legislature authorizes, so costs and actual funding levels are uncertain; the bill does not identify the administering department by name, does not list specific funding amounts, and leaves some implementation details to rulemaking. Sections of the treasury provisions expire or take effect in mid-2028, which affects timing of the financial changes.