Governor Ferguson signs supplemental budgets
Three distinct budgets make historic investments in housing, infrastructure while also maintaining core services for Washingtonians
 OLYMPIA – Governor Bob Ferguson signed Washington’s supplemental budgets into law this week. Washington state has three budgets: Operating, Capital and Transportation. These budgets are distinct, and money cannot move between them.
In the final Transportation and Capital budgets, the state made important investments in affordable housing and improving Washington’s long-neglected roads and bridges.
The Operating Budget maintained critical funding for core services, such as K-12 education, while also responding to harmful policies of the Trump Administration. Despite a continued budget shortfall, the final Operating Budget signed by Governor Ferguson allows Washington to maintain core services, while ensuring the state lives within its means.
Video of today’s bill signing for the Capital and Operating budgets is available here. Video of the bill signing for the Transportation Budget is available here. Photos of both signings are available here.
Transportation Budget makes historic infrastructure investments
The Transportation Budget invests $1.5 billion over the next six years in maintenance and preservation of roads and bridges across Washington state — without raising taxes. This historic investment represents a 36 percent increase in preservation funding.
The budget, Senate Bill 6005, includes $164 million for 600 miles of paving projects this summer. It also includes funding for other infrastructure projects, such as replacing the Interstate-90 Hansen Road overpass in Moses Lake and slope control in Washington’s mountain passes and other places vulnerable to landslides.
Delaying preservation and maintenance can lead to costly emergency repairs, which are three to five times more expensive than timely resurfacing and rehabilitation.
“I want to be clear: While this budget is historic, our state has neglected our infrastructure for decades,” Governor Ferguson said. “This budget represents a down payment – and we need to sustain our commitment. I will continue to make taking care of our roads and bridges a key focus of my administration.”
Capital Budget makes historic housing investments
After signing a slate of bills to improve housing, Governor Ferguson signed a bipartisan Capital Budget that includes the largest state-funded housing investment of any supplemental budget in Washington history.
In his State of the State address in January, Governor Ferguson called on the Legislature to build on the momentum started last session to address the affordable housing crisis. The Legislature delivered on that commitment.
Specifically, the budget bill — Senate Bill 6003 — invests more than $200 million in affordable housing across our state. That brings Washington’s total affordable housing investment for this biennium to $960 million, the largest ever in a single biennium.
“A few months ago, in my State of the State address, I said we must continue to be bold and make historic investments in housing — both in policy and in dollars. We accomplished both,” Ferguson said. “This Capital Budget was a tall order for a short legislative session, but the Legislature delivered.”
These historic investments build on Washington’s progress toward building a million new homes by 2044. The Capital Budget includes:
- $123 million in additional funding to the Housing Trust Fund, an 82 percent increase over the current biennial budget, which will help build or preserve approximately 3,000 units of housing. Of those funds, $45 million is dedicated to preserving and repairing affordable housing. It can be used for flood-damaged homes.
- $9.3 million for farmworker housing.
- $63 million to develop approximately 1,600 new affordable rental units.
- $63 million to build approximately 600 units for first-time homebuyers.
Moreover, the Capital Budget makes other investments across Washington, including:
- $71 million to modernize buildings for small school districts and tribal compact schools.
- $30 million for Tribal clean energy and climate resilience projects using Climate Commitment Act funding.
- $46.3 million in flood response and prevention, including assistance for victims of the historic flooding we experienced in December 2025.
Operating Budget
Going into the 2026 legislative session, Governor Ferguson made clear that the state’s Operating Budget must be balanced and maintain core services, such as K-12 education, without raising taxes on hardworking Washingtonians.
The Operating Budget, Senate Bill 5998, delivers on those commitments.
Specifically, it maintains funding for K-12 education and expands access to early childhood education. It also:
- Invests $55 million in the Cascade Care program to provide assistance on health care premiums to low-income individuals.
- Increased the State Home Energy Assistance Program by $30 million, helping low-income residents pay utility bills and upgrade to energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
The Operating Budget also confronts the harm done by the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans, including responding to the Big Betrayal Bill that made cuts to essential services, like Medicaid, to give tax breaks for billionaires. This biennium alone, this federal legislation will cost Washington at least $165 million.
The Operating Budget accounts for these costs and other harms caused by the Trump Administration, including:
- $9.3 million to implement new work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients and $16.4 million in IT costs related to the Big Betrayal Bill.
- $45.7 million in increased administrative costs for SNAP starting in October.
- $44 million to provide state food benefits for the approximately 30,000 refugees, asylees and other immigrants with lawful status who were kicked off SNAP by the Trump Administration.
- $15 million to backfill Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, so Washingtonians can continue to see their provider.
- $19.8 million to fund health care for approximately 1,200 Washingtonians who became ineligible for Medicaid overnight as a result of the Big Betrayal Bill.
“Washingtonians expect us to budget the same way they do when they are sitting at their kitchen tables, balancing their family’s budget,” Ferguson said. “The state must craft a budget that allows us to continue meeting Washingtonians’ core needs, while also living within the state’s means.”
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