(The Center Square) – In a show of bipartisanship in Olympia, the Washington Senate has unanimously passed a $7.3 billion capital budget for 2025-27 that focuses on projects across the state.
The House of Representatives is working to pass its own version of the capital budget.
Washington’s capital budget allocates money for the acquisition or maintenance of fixed assets such as land, buildings and equipment.
On Saturday, the Senate approved its capital budget on a 47-0 vote.
Some budget highlights include:
$1.2 billion for projects at colleges and universities across the state, including $400 million for various projects at Washington’s community and technical colleges.$1 billion for K-12 education programs, including $563 million for the School Construction Assistance Program. More than $200 million goes to Small District and Tribal School Modernization grants to aid 40 small-school projects.$770 million for a variety of housing programs.$85 million for 15 fish hatcheries across the state.
Minority party Republicans praised the bipartisan nature of the Senate’s capital budget.
“What we have is a capital budget for the entire state,” Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said before Saturday’s vote. “We looked at this budget and saw fewer resources, so we made tougher decisions every step of the way, working on priorities that made both our side and our Democrat counterparts happy.”
The lead Republican for the Senate capital budget went on to say, “The capital budget has a reputation for being the most bipartisan of the three state budgets, and now I know why. We placed a lot of trust in one another in the course of developing this – each of us tried to be responsive to what the others brought to the table. That shows through in the budget itself and today’s unanimous vote.”
That spirit of cooperation between Republicans and Democrats carried over from when the Senate released its capital budget last week.
“We also focused on funding the core government responsibilities that might not have powerful political backers or big ribbon cuttings,” Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, vice chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee for the capital budget, said at the time in a news release. “This truly is a One Washington budget, and I am so grateful for the bipartisan team I had building it with me.”
The House of Representatives is currently considering its $7.6 billion version of the capital budget. A conference committee will then work to reconcile the two versions before the 105-day legislative session ends on April 27.
