This bill creates a new public-private partnership (P3) chapter in Title 47 RCW (new Sections 101–118) and establishes a statutory framework governing when and how the Washington State Department of Transportation (department) may use P3 delivery for eligible transportation projects. It authorizes the department to develop policies and adopt rules (after consulting its office of equity and civil rights), to accept federal and other funds, to solicit and evaluate private proposals after a required public-interest finding, and to negotiate comprehensive partnership agreements that address maintenance, labor protections, risk allocation, compensation limits, confidentiality, eminent domain, and financing. The bill allows a wide range of financing mechanisms and permits project revenues to be pledged as security, but states those pledges are not a general obligation of the state unless the legislature expressly authorizes that status. It also creates a public-private partnerships account for project receipts and expenditures. The act modifies existing law in several places. It amends RCW 47.56.030 and 47.56.031 to give the department full charge of planning, design, operation, and maintenance of toll facilities while preserving the transportation commission’s sole authority to set or adjust toll rates; it prohibits imposing tolls on state highways or bridges without specific legislative authorization or, where applicable, a majority vote of the empowered local electorate. It revises procurement and project delivery rules—encouraging use of design-build, progressive design-build, and GC/CM methods for larger projects, adding procurement flexibilities for ferries, and changing certification and approval procedures related to alternative contracting (including new consultation requirements with the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board for certain large projects until June 30, 2031). The Joint Transportation Committee is directed to evaluate an “alliance contracting” procedure and report to the legislature. The bill also repeals numerous sections of chapter 47.29 RCW and amends or affects other statutes cited in the bill header. Sections 101–118 and Sec. 401 are stated to take effect July 1, 2026. The text excerpts provided are incomplete in places: some subsections are cut off mid-sentence (including the provision identifying the required reviewer or approver for agreements that could materially affect the state's debt capacity or credit rating), several referenced sections and procedural details are not shown, and cross-references to other sections of the bill are missing, so certain approval steps, financial limits, and other procedures cannot be fully confirmed from the extracted material.

If enacted, the bill creates a new public-private partnership framework that gives the Washington State Department of Transportation new authority and responsibilities to evaluate, negotiate, and finance transportation projects with private partners, establish P3 policies and rules, accept federal and private funds, create a public-private partnerships account, and pledge project revenues as security for financing (without creating a general state obligation unless the legislature says so). The department will lead planning and toll facility operations, must make public-interest findings and offer public comment before soliciting P3s, and must protect federal DBE requirements or state small-business requirements depending on funding used. Projects estimated to cost under $500 million can be considered for P3 delivery; projects at or above $500 million require explicit legislative authorization, and any new tolling needs legislative approval or a local vote while the transportation commission retains sole authority to set toll rates. The groups most affected are the Department of Transportation (expanded duties and new financing options), the transportation commission (toll-setting and standards), state and local policymakers (new approval points and potential fiscal exposure), labor and contractors (maintenance and wage protections required in agreements), disadvantaged and small-business programs (continued inclusion tied to funding source), and private partners (new opportunities and contract conditions such as profit caps, risk sharing, and public reporting). The state may incur upfront evaluation and negotiation costs that are expected to be repaid from project financing when available, may use eminent domain for project needs, and faces potential but unspecified impacts on debt capacity or credit risk (the bill text is incomplete about the required reviewer for agreements that could materially affect state debt or credit, and some procedural details about account disbursements and later cross-referenced sections are not fully shown).