This bill amends state sales and use tax statutes to redirect and phase in deposits of the portion of sales and use tax collected on each new and used retail vehicle sale or use (excluding retail car rentals) into a newly created transportation preservation and maintenance account. It amends RCW 82.08.020 and RCW 82.12.020 to require phased deposits beginning July 1, 2026 (16.66%) and increasing in roughly 16.66% steps annually so that 100% of those specified vehicle-related tax receipts are deposited to the new account by July 1, 2031. The bill leaves in place separate deposits for retail car rentals (currently deposited to the multimodal transportation account) and retains the historical 0.16% dedication for performance audits. The act creates a new transportation preservation and maintenance account in chapter 46.68 RCW. All receipts from the sales and use tax on new and used vehicles must be deposited to that account as provided by RCW 82.08.020 and 82.12.020. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation and only for preservation and maintenance of highways, roads, and bridges. The statutory definition of “vehicle” for these deposit provisions references RCW 46.04.670 and expressly excludes certain items (farm tractors/vehicles except when used in marijuana production, off‑road vehicles, nonhighway vehicles, bicycles, snowmobiles); retail car rentals taxed under RCW 82.08.020(2) remain deposited to the multimodal account. The act also reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish and govern a treasury income account that receives all earnings from investments of surplus treasury balances, prescribes monthly distribution rules and proportionate shares to many named accounts (including the new transportation preservation and maintenance account), and directs the Office of Financial Management to implement federal Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA) transfers and certain pre‑distribution payments. Sections 1 through 4 of the act take effect July 1, 2026; Section 4 expires July 1, 2028; Section 5 takes effect July 1, 2028. Important text is missing from the provided material (including the full text of subsection (1) referenced by the phased deposit provisions, the remainder of RCW 82.12.020(6)(b), and the full contents of the reenacted RCW 43.84.092), so some implementation details and complete cross-references cannot be confirmed from the extracted facts.

If enacted, a growing share of state sales and use tax paid when new and used vehicles are sold or used in Washington will be routed into a newly created transportation preservation and maintenance account instead of remaining in the current distribution streams. The shift happens in steps starting July 1, 2026 and reaches 100% by July 1, 2031 (retail car rentals remain taxed and handled separately). Money in the new account can only be spent for preserving and maintaining highways, roads, and bridges and only after the Legislature appropriates it; the state treasurer will handle monthly earnings distributions and the Office of Financial Management will continue to manage federal cash-management transfers and related payment priorities. The groups most directly affected are buyers, sellers, and users of vehicles (whose tax payments will increasingly fund the maintenance account), transportation agencies that receive maintenance funding (which will have a dedicated revenue stream for preservation and maintenance), and the state treasurer and OFM (which will have new deposit, distribution, and CMIA-related duties). Existing recipients of vehicle-related tax revenue and accounts that share treasury investment earnings may see the allocation and timing of funds change as vehicle tax receipts are reallocated. Some text is missing from the provided material (including parts of the use-tax subsection and certain reenacted provisions), so precise effects on every listed account and the full administrative mechanics cannot be fully confirmed here.