This bill amends RCW 47.66.140 to change the statewide transit support grant program’s eligibility, allocation, and reporting rules. It is a modification of existing law that adjusts program procedures and criteria rather than creating a crime or changing penalties. Under the amendment, the department must run a grant program that funds transit operating and capital expenses only, prorates grants based on operations spending as reported in the department’s "Summary of Public Transportation," and caps any single agency’s share at 35 percent. Fuel type cannot be used in selecting grantees. To be eligible, transit agencies must have maintained or increased their local sales tax authority on or after January 1, 2022, and may not have delayed or suspended voter-approved sales taxes approved on or before that date. Agencies also must have adopted at minimum a zero-fare policy allowing passengers 18 and under and students enrolled in degreeor certificate-seeking programs at community or technical colleges to ride free on all modes; agencies needed to submit documentation of this policy by October 1, 2022 to qualify for the 2023–2025 biennium (later submissions make agencies eligible for the next biennial distribution). The department must require grantees to report the number of trips taken under the program, and agencies are directed, to the extent practicable, to align youth and qualifying student zero-fare implementation with equity and environmental justice principles consistent with recommendations from the environmental justice council and to ensure low-barrier accessibility. The statute lists which entities qualify as "transit agency" (various city, county, regional, and special purpose transit entities). The extracted text does not name the specific department responsible, does not include the definition of "community or technical college" (referenced to RCW 28B.50.030), does not describe the environmental justice council’s authority or recommendations, and contains no funding amounts, appropriation details, or an effective date for the amendment.

If enacted, transit agencies that want money from the state transit support grant will need to keep or increase their local sales tax authority, avoid pausing voter-approved sales taxes from before Jan. 1, 2022, and adopt a zero-fare policy that lets people 18 and under and students at community or technical colleges ride free. Agencies had to document that policy by Oct. 1, 2022 to get money in the 2023–25 biennium, otherwise they wait until the next biennial distribution. Grants can be used only for operating and capital costs, will be prorated based on each agency’s reported operating expenditures, no agency can get more than 35 percent of the total, and fuel type won’t affect award decisions. Agencies that take the free-ridership route will likely lose some youth/student fare revenue but can get offsetting grant funds depending on their reported operations; they will also need to track and report trip counts for the state’s public transportation summary, which creates additional administrative work. The people most affected are local transit providers (city systems, county authorities, metropolitan and benefit-area systems, and special purpose transit districts), the department that runs the grant program, and youth and qualifying college students who would ride free. The department must set up the program and require reporting and, where practical, align youth fare rollouts with environmental justice council recommendations. Important details are missing from the provided text—such as which state department runs the program, total funding amounts, the exact legal definition of community or technical colleges, and the content or authority of the environmental justice council guidance—so the precise financial gains or losses to individual agencies and the program’s overall cost are unclear.