This bill creates new wildlife habitat connectivity duties and funding mechanisms and adds new sections to existing Revised Code chapters. It directs state transportation and fish and wildlife agencies to develop an integrated wildlife habitat connectivity strategy to implement and periodically update the Washington wildlife habitat connectivity action plan, consulting with tribal, federal, nonprofit, and academic partners. It creates two new state treasury accounts named the Washington wildlife corridors account and the Washington wildlife crossings account, specifies the kinds of expenditures allowed from each account (land protection and landowner assistance, feasibility studies, planning, design, construction and monitoring of crossing structures, and related administrative costs), requires biennial spending plans consistent with the integrated strategy, and requires joint expenditure and needs reports by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Fish and Wildlife by December 1, 2026 and every even-numbered year thereafter. The law text adds new sections to chapters 47.04 RCW, 77.36 RCW, 46.68 RCW, and 77.04 RCW; funds in the new accounts may be used only after appropriation. The chunked text is incomplete: the identity of the agency referred to as “the department” is not explicitly defined here, and one provision (Sec. 5(3)) is cut off, so the remainder of that subsection and any related limits on department authority are unknown. The act also reenacts and amends RCW 43.84.092 to establish a treasury income account that receives all investment earnings on surplus treasury balances, directs the Office of Financial Management to determine CMIA (Cash Management Improvement Act) amounts and to direct transfers as needed, and makes CMIA refunds and payments for purchased banking services a priority to occur before monthly distributions of earnings. Monthly, the state treasurer must distribute earnings and credit the general fund except that a long list of specified accounts and funds (including the new Washington wildlife corridors and crossings accounts) receive a proportionate share based on average daily balances. The provision affirms conformity with Article II, section 37 of the state Constitution (no allocations of earnings without an affirmative statutory directive). The text provided is fragmentary: the list of accounts is extensive but appears truncated, some numbered sections are repeated in the source, and several sections of the act are given expirations and effective dates tied to RCW 74.76.040 and to dates in 2028–2029, but the substantive contents of those referenced sections and the complete allocation rules are not included here.

If enacted, the bill directs state transportation and fish and wildlife agencies to plan and prioritize corridors and crossings, creates two new state accounts (one for corridors and one for crossings) that can receive appropriations and private donations, and allows those accounts to pay for land purchases, easements, landowner assistance, restoration work, and feasibility/design/construction/monitoring of wildlife crossings. The departments (including DOT and WDFW) will need to prepare an integrated strategy, biennial spending plans, and joint reports (first due Dec. 1, 2026 and then June 30 of even-numbered years) showing expenditures, staffing needs, and matching funds; agencies should expect new administrative and staffing costs to implement projects and run outreach to private landowners, tribes, counties, nonprofits, and academic partners, while actual project spending will wait for legislative appropriation. The bill text is incomplete about the identity of “the department” and cuts off a provision that appears to limit new regulatory authority over land, leaving some uncertainty about how far outreach versus enforcement powers extend. The act also centralizes investment earnings into a newly created treasury income account and sets a monthly distribution rule that credits most earnings to the general fund but directs many specifically named accounts (including the new wildlife corridors and crossings accounts) to receive a proportionate share of earnings based on average daily balances. OFM and the state treasurer will have added duties to implement federal CMIA transfers and to prioritize required federal refunds and banking service payments before monthly distributions; those federal-related payments do not need separate appropriations. Several sections have expiration or staggered effective dates tied to other statutes, so the permanence and timing of some changes are unclear.