State lawmakers revealed a proposal Monday that would authorize special bonds to raise an additional $5 billion for salmon recovery projects stemming from the state’s long-running tribal fishing rights lawsuit.
If approved, the bonds would be backed by an existing tax on public utilities that currently funds local public works projects — a reshuffling that has local governments concerned.
The salmon recovery bonds, expected over 13 years, would pay for replacing Washington State Department of Transportation culverts that block spawning salmon, among other habitat restoration efforts under a 2013 federal court injunction.
Lawmakers are hoping the dedicated revenue will signal to the tribal nations in the lawsuit that the state is committed to the work as the two sides approach mediation. A federal judge in early March approved a joint request for mediation in the case, but some tribes have been reluctant to engage.
“I think it’s really important that we prioritize anytime that we’re in a legal situation where we are obligated to pay,” said Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, lead sponsor of the bill and vice chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee. “We respect the fact that we have created harm as a state government when it comes to fish passage, and we’re committed to figuring it out.”
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The treaty fishing rights case deals with culverts — typically metal or concrete pipes that carry streams under state highways. A group of 21 tribes sued the state in 2001 to force the replacement of culverts that, because of their design or lack of maintenance, block salmon and steelhead trout migration.
Trudeau said that the new fund is intended to pay for any restoration projects the two sides agree on during mediation, not just the specific culverts on the 2013 list. A Seattle Times investigation last March showed that numerous other barriers on the streams meant many of the state’s culvert replacements were essentially useless without further investments. Some tribal leaders want the ability to consider more effective projects than culvert replacements on the state’s list.
On Monday afternoon, the Senate released its Capital Budget, which laid out how funds would be shuffled around to pay for the fish passage projects.
Typically, the Legislature uses the transportation budget to pay for WSDOT culvert replacements. It previously allocated nearly $4 billion toward meeting WSDOT’s obligations to fix culverts under the injunction, but the transportation budget is ailing because of declining gas taxes and other problems.
Monday’s proposal would take the funding out of the transportation budget and essentially create a bank account through the capital budget. The plan relies on SB 5804, Trudeau’s bill, to divert a portion of the public utility tax currently used to pay for sewer and drinking water improvements, among other local infrastructure projects, and instead repay the salmon recovery bond debt.
The Public Works Assistance Account gives local governments low-interest loans. Because it would be losing nearly $200 million in this biennium’s proposal, the Senate capital budget would backfill the public works account through general obligation bonds.
But city government representatives are concerned that this would take reliable revenue and make public works funding dependent on future legislative priorities.
The funding is “really beneficial to smaller communities to offset what would have to be very large utility bill increases, if they had to bear the cost entirely on their own,” said Carl Schroeder, a lobbyist for the Association of Washington Cities, which represents cities and towns.
Schroeder is also concerned that the Senate capital budget would divert billions more to just state culvert projects, while leaving unaddressed other salmon migration barriers in the same streams. The Times’ investigation found that for every barrier WSDOT fixes, nine others upstream and two downstream partially or fully block fish migration.
For years, local government advocates have been calling for the state to fund more local fish passage projects — such as replacing culverts owned by cities and counties — to complement the billions of dollars of work that WSDOT has accomplished.
W. Ron Allen, chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, said Monday that the Senate budget proposal had not yet been vetted by the tribes, and they would also be looking to see any alternatives that come from the House. The House capital budget, also released Monday, didn’t address the culvert projects required by the federal court injunction.
Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend, said that as chair of the House Capital Budget Committee he is considering an alternative funding approach that would also shift responsibility to the capital budget. But with the Senate’s bond plan, he was concerned that the state might not be able to spend the funds when it needs them.
The two chambers will now have to reconcile the differences in their budgets, and the governor could veto all or part of the budget. Gov. Bob Ferguson will be reviewing the Senate capital budget proposal after its release, his spokesperson said last week.
“We look forward to engaging in mediation with tribal partners to identify the best path forward,” Ferguson spokesperson Brionna Aho said.
The state’s construction schedule is not only reliant on funding; it also needs the tribes’ consent. As it stands, WSDOT says it cannot meet the injunction’s 2030 deadline to restore a portion of the salmon habitat above state culverts, even if it had billions more in hand today.
Staff writer Lynda V. Mapes contributed to this report.
