HB 1098 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Concerning county local roads.

HB 1098 creates a new county local road program in Washington State, funded through a dedicated trust account in the motor vehicle fund. It directs funds specifically for improving non-arterial county roads (those not classified as major highways), requiring counties to meet spending eligibility rules to qualify. Projects are selected based on criteria like addressing overburdened communities, environmental health disparities, access to tribal lands, road safety, and community facilities. Allowed project types include road reconstruction, bridge replacements, fish passage removal, and pedestrian facilities, as defined by state guidelines. The program applies to counties managing local roads, with the county road board overseeing fund allocation and project approval.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered from H-0294.1 to H-0935.1 and changed from a House Bill to a Substitute Bill, indicating it was amended during the legislative process. The primary substantive change is the renaming of the 'county local road project' to 'county local road program project' throughout the text to align with the new program title. Additionally, the eligibility criteria section was updated to explicitly state that funds come from the 'county local road trust account' and the final section numbering was adjusted to reflect the removal of the old Section 10.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's terminology was updated to refer to a 'program' rather than individual 'projects' in several instances, though the underlying authority and funding mechanisms remain the same.

TECHNICAL

The bill number changed from H-0294.1 to H-0935.1, and the designation changed from 'House Bill' to 'Substitute House Bill', reflecting amendments made during the legislative session.

The final section was renumbered; the section previously numbered as Section 10 (regarding the effective date) is now Section 11, as the section defining the new chapter was renumbered from Section 11 to Section 10.

DEFINITION

The definition of the core subject matter was updated from 'county local road project' to 'county local road program project' to ensure consistency with the bill's new title.

REQUIREMENT

The text describing eligible counties was updated to specify that funds are drawn from the 'county local road trust account' rather than just the 'local road trust account'.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Transportation at 4:00 PM.

lower

Jan 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Transportation at 4:00 PM.

lower

Jan 15, 2025

Committee

Referred to Transportation.

lower

Jan 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee relieved of further consideration.

lower

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors