This bill creates a new funding and bond program to finance salmon and steelhead habitat restoration projects identified in response to a federal court injunction in United States v. Washington. It both amends existing tax statutes (RCW 82.16.020, 82.18.040, and 82.45.230), reenacts and amends RCW 43.155.050 (the public works assistance account), and adds new sections and a new chapter in Title 77 RCW establishing dedicated accounts and bond authorization for restoration work. On taxation and deposits, the bill adds a new chapter 82.16 section imposing a special tax of 2.01053 percent on the gross income of light and power businesses, with proceeds to be deposited into a newly created "federal injunction salmon habitat restoration account." It also amends RCW 82.16.020 to change a listed light and power rate to 1.741 percent and preserves an additional tax calculation tied to RCW 82.02.030. RCW 82.18.040 collection and misdemeanor provisions are retained (including that conversion/appropriation of collected tax can be a gross misdemeanor). The real property sale tax allocation in RCW 82.45.230 is revised to specify 1.4 percent to the city-county assistance account, 84.6 percent to the general fund, and the remainder to the education legacy trust account. The reenacted RCW 43.155.050 establishes the public works assistance account and sets limits on how portions of the public works board’s biennial capital budget may be used. Procedurally and fiscally, the bill authorizes the state finance committee to issue special tax revenue bonds up to $5 billion (payable solely from the special tax receipts imposed in section 3) and requires proceeds to be deposited in the restoration account and tax receipts to be deposited in a federal injunction salmon habitat bond retirement account for payment of principal and interest. Bonds must state they are not general obligations of the state, may be tax-exempt or taxable subject to IRS rules, may be refunded, and must be structured so no debt service remains after December 31, 2075. The legislature pledges to continue imposing the special tax at rates sufficient to pay debt service and to appropriate revenues as required by the state finance committee’s bond proceedings. The treasurer and finance committee have specified duties for account transfers, subaccounts, reporting, and certification of bond payments. Important text is missing from the provided extracts: the full language of section 3 (the special tax mechanics), the complete text of section 7 and section 8 as introduced, the full details of section 11 (the restoration account uses in section 11(2)), and the beginning of some bond certification language, so precise operational mechanics and any additional limitations or program details cannot be confirmed from these excerpts. Sections 2–5 take effect January 1, 2026, and sections 7–13 create the new Title 77 chapter with an expiration trigger if the Washington State Supreme Court requires bond debt to be counted against the state’s constitutional debt limit.

If enacted, the bill will create a dedicated funding stream paid by light and power utilities — through an upward adjustment in one business tax rate and an added 2.01053 percent tax on their gross income — and direct those receipts into a new account that first must pay debt service on special revenue bonds and then fund salmon and steelhead habitat restoration and fish-passage work identified in response to the federal court injunction. The state may sell up to $5 billion in those bonds, but bond sales require prior legislative appropriation of net proceeds, must be paid off by December 31, 2075, and the legislature pledges to keep the tax in place at rates sufficient to meet debt service. The most affected parties are light and power businesses, which will face higher tax bills that they may pass on to customers or absorb, and state finance officials who must structure bond terms, certify annual debt needs, and manage new treasury accounts. Local and state agencies working on fish-passage and habitat projects stand to receive dedicated funding but will still need legislative appropriations to spend it. Important details that would affect timing and exact project scope — including the full list of eligible projects, some administrative rules, and portions of the bill that were not included in the extracted text — are not provided here and leave some implementation questions open.