Ferries from Olympia to SeaTac? Bellingham to the San Juans? Lawmaker has a plan
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Act lets ports, counties and cities form passenger ferry districts on Puget Sound.
- Bill seeks more passenger-only ferries and cites maritime job benefits.
- Orca advocates warn of risks; Nance says he expects amendments for safeguards.
Washington state’s ferry service hit choppy waters in recent years — leading state Rep. Greg Nance, a Kitsap Democrat, to try and help right the ship.
Nance’s House Bill 1923 received a public hearing Feb. 27 in the Senate Transportation Committee and was scheduled for a committee vote Monday afternoon. The bill, called the Mosquito Fleet Act, passed off the House floor in mid-February on an 84-11 vote.
The bill aims to get more passenger ferries on the Puget Sound in the short term; Nance noted at Friday’s hearing that the state’s big investments in Washington State Ferries’ hybrid-electric fleet are transformative but take time.
Nance said in a call that he’s a lifelong ferry rider, and the service is how his dad commuted to work for 32 years. The state is entering its seventh year of Washington State Ferries disruptions, he said. Cancellations and delays are having ripple effects on communities, he added, as many Washingtonians rely on the ferry to get to doctor’s appointments, school and work.
For Nance, seeing the state’s ferry service struggle has “broken (his) heart.”
“For me, it’s a personal mission,” he said. “I want to get this back on track.”
Most ports, local governments, private operators and tribes are barred under current state law from operating foot ferry service. But the Mosquito Fleet Act would broaden the scope, authorizing counties, port districts, city transit systems and other entities to establish passenger-only ferry service districts bordering Grays Harbor or Puget Sound.
A news release from Nance’s office says that certain strategic and historic routes could be reestablished under the act, including:
- Olympia to SeaTac via Des Moines
- Vashon to Seattle — Des Moines circle route
- Port of Everett to South Whidbey
- San Juan inter-island service to Bellingham
- Westport to Ocean Shores
- San Juan Islands to Sidney, B.C., which the release says would restore “a 103-year-old international connection paused since 2020.”
Nance’s office has touted the legislation as a boon to the maritime economy, in part by creating union jobs in vessel maintenance, operations and construction.
The bill also passed out of the House last year and received a public hearing in the Senate before sputtering out.
This year, 41 people signed in to testify in favor of the bill and only one person signed in “con.”
As she did in 2025, Donna Sandstrom with The Whale Trail nonprofit testified Friday against the legislation, citing concerns about whales. She noted a recent uptick in the southern resident population and said that human needs must be balanced against the need for whale protections.
“Unmanaged and unmitigated growth of this sector has the potential not only to be catastrophic for the southern residents, but to undo every bit of progress we have made in the last seven years,” Sandstrom said.
Nance told McClatchy that he’s taken such worries into consideration when designing the bill, adding that he’s working with organizations, including one that aims to lower vessel-traffic decibels in the Sound, to be mindful of maritime life. He pointed to an amendment to the bill that would further strengthen orca safeguards.
Others who signed up to testify in support of the act Friday: Port of Olympia President Jasmine Vasavada, Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler and John Carson, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association.
In an emailed statement, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello said the county recognizes the importance of connecting communities by water.
“Expanding local tools that allow counties to invest in passenger-only ferry service is a step in the right direction,” he said, “and we look forward to continuing to explore how ferry connections between Tacoma, Seattle, and other points across Puget Sound can support tourism, strengthen our economy, and help us build the kind of connected communities that are at the heart of our Forward Together vision.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 1:42 PM.
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