The bill addresses the urgent need for fish habitat restoration, particularly for salmon and steelhead populations, in light of a federal court injunction. It acknowledges the detrimental impact of hydropower dams and road culverts on salmon passage and proposes the creation of special tax revenue bonds funded by a new 2.01053 percent tax on light and power utility businesses. This tax aims to generate approximately $5 billion to finance projects focused on improving fish habitats and recovery efforts. The bill also amends existing tax laws, reallocating funds from real property sales taxes to support these initiatives and establishing dedicated accounts for managing the proceeds from the bonds and tax revenues.

Furthermore, the bill allows the state finance committee to issue special tax revenue bonds for refunding outstanding bonds related to habitat restoration projects. It includes provisions for the management of proceeds from these refunding bonds and outlines that if the Washington state supreme court mandates the inclusion of bond principal and interest in the state's aggregate debt calculations, certain sections of the act will expire accordingly. The new provisions will form a chapter in Title 77 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) and are set to take effect on January 1, 2026.

Statutes affected:
Original Bill: 82.16.020, 82.18.040, 82.45.230
Substitute Bill: 82.16.020, 82.18.040, 82.45.230