The Session Circuit: PNWER RIA Visits State Capitals

Written By Patty Kieburtz

The PNWER Regional Infrastructure Accelerator (RIA) team has been on the road the past two months conducting our annual legislative visits to the capitals of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska (the Montana legislature is not in session this year). These visits enable our team to engage one-on-one with legislative transportation leaders and key government agencies and explore new initiatives for the year ahead. 

The current RIA program, made possible by funding from the USDOT Build America Bureau, has enabled us to advance major projects throughout the region over the past four years. The capital visits provided the opportunity to educate and showcase the progress of our technical assistance work and highlight how it’s advancing more connected supply chain and passenger mobility infrastructure across the region. We also discussed emerging priorities and initiatives that can advance multistate collaboration, strengthen trade and keep our region’s economy growing.

Current Projects: Building Capacity on Key Corridors

Our project portfolio spans railroad, port, supply chain and transit infrastructure projects that support community connectivity and the facilitation of trade across the greater Pacific Northwest. We partner with community-based organizations, policymakers, departments of transportation and industry to build capacity and help regional projects move closer to the finish line. 

A few projects we highlighted during our visits:

  • Idaho Project Financing: Recapping our session at the Idaho Local Transportation Convention on innovative finance and rural opportunity zones, we explored how the initiatives can be applied to rural projects in Idaho. 

  • Hood River-White Salmon Bridge: A bridge crossing the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon that is in the process of securing a TIFIA loan, federal grants and state support for replacement. 

  • Portland Union Station: Portland Union Station is a 100-year-old station serving numerous daily Amtrak trains. We’re exploring how we can apply innovative financing to advance the renovation process. 

  • Alaska TIFIA/RRIF Action Plan and Port Infrastructure: We’re partnering with Alaska Municipal League to develop an innovative finance action plan for Alaska. The plan will address unique state-specific challenges and opportunities for infrastructure enhancement in Alaska’s port and community infrastructure. 

The Future of Federal Funding: Transportation Reauthorization

With the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expiring in September 2026, we spoke with policymakers and departments of transportation about what future federal transportation funding packages may look like in their states. The surface transportation legislation outlines funding levels for highways, transit, rail and safety programs, and features two main funding types:

  • Formula Funding: Uses formulas defined by Congress to distribute funding to eligible recipients, such as states or agencies, based on predetermined criteria. 

  • Discretionary Grants: Competitive funds awarded by the federal government based on merit, project quality and specific criteria. 

In our discussions with agency leadership and legislators, we discussed how these reauthorized funding levels may fit with other innovative financing tools in funding packages. Reauthorized surface transportation legislation with robust formula and discretionary funding will greatly benefit projects in the Pacific Northwest region – states which have received over $6.5 billion in discretionary funding since 2021. 

Moving Homegrown Goods to Global Markets 

Supply chains are a common thread across our region, spanning railroads, highways and waterways. Through the dozens of meetings we had across the four states, public-private partnerships emerged as a common opportunity for trade infrastructure investment.

In Alaska, the team discussed the state’s natural resources and critical minerals industries and the supply chains needed to support them. As a result of the visit, PNWER has been invited to provide testimony to the Alaska Senate Transportation Committee on innovative financing tools that can be used to better connect rail and port infrastructure. The team will participate in a hearing later this month. 

Connecting Corridors

The meetings held during our capital visits provide a foundation for our multistate work in the coming year. We’ll keep these conversations alive beyond the legislative sessions through our Build Northwest working groups and the upcoming PNWER Annual Summit in Edmonton, July 19-23, 2026. Check out our events page for more ways to get involved. 

 
 

Upcoming PNWER & Partner Events

  • March 26: USDA Rural Development Federal Partners Coalition

  • April 7-9: Alaska Infrastructure Development Symposium

  • July 19-23: PNWER Annual Summit

  • August 25-27: BSPRA Annual Conference and Greater Northwest Rail Summit

Connect with us!

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Patty Kieburtz
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“Rural Infrastructure Accelerator”- Working for Rural and Remote Alaska