This bill (S-0084.1; Senate Bill 5013, prefiled 12/04/24, read first time 01/13/25, referred to Committee on Transportation, 69th Legislature, 2025 Regular Session) adds a new section to chapter 47.01 RCW requiring the referenced department to develop and maintain a publicly available map showing all locations statewide where temporary political campaign signs are permitted along any main-traveled way of the interstate, primary, or scenic highway systems. The map must show department-owned or managed land, locations where signs are prohibited because of a state highway right-of-way, any adjoining private or public land where signs are not prohibited due to proximity to those highway systems, and any department-owned or managed land where signs are permitted. The map must be posted prominently on the department website, and the department may not remove a sign unless the map indicates the sign is placed in a prohibited area. The text in the provided facts uses key terms such as "temporary political campaign signs," "main-traveled way," and "department-owned or managed land" but does not define them in the excerpt. This is a new-law, procedural change establishing a public mapping requirement and tying sign removal authority to that map. Important implementation details are missing from the provided text: the specific department name is not stated, no definitions for the key terms are included, no effective date or deadlines for creating or updating the map are specified, and there is no information about map format, update frequency, how permitted versus prohibited locations are determined, or any enforcement, penalty, or appeal procedures.

If enacted, the agency referenced in chapter 47.01 RCW (not named in the provided text) would have to create and keep a public map showing where temporary political campaign signs are allowed or prohibited along interstate, primary, and scenic main-traveled ways and on department-managed land, and post that map prominently on its website. That will give people and groups placing campaign signs a single, publicly accessible source to check whether a sign is allowed, and it will limit the agency’s ability to remove signs to only those places the map marks as prohibited. The department will take on the new responsibility and associated staff time and costs to develop, publish, and maintain the map, and its sign-removal decisions will be tied to whatever the map shows. People who put up signs will likely face fewer arbitrary removals and clearer placement options, but key details are missing here — the bill text doesn’t name the department explicitly, doesn’t define the key terms used, and doesn’t set deadlines, technical requirements, update frequency, or an appeals/enforcement process — so the timing, cost level, and real-world clarity of the map and its uses remain uncertain.