House Democrats released their 2014 supplemental transportation budget Thursday morning, proposing minor changes to the biennial budget established last year.
“The health of our economy is directly linked to our transportation system,” said House Transportation Committee Chair Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island). “This supplemental budget is full of small, but meaningful, changes that will help us support our existing transportation infrastructure and plan for the years ahead.”
The majority of the changes aim to address issues of immediate need. $12.9 million in new funding for local Amtrak routes will allow the state to take advantage of more than $800 million in federal funds. There is also $4.3 million for new, much-needed stormwater protections.
Money identified through efficiencies in other projects and refinancing of toll revenue has also been directed to address the cost overruns in the 520 bridge project and establish a new contingency fund. These efficiencies were identified with the help of WSDOT, and will not cause any projects to be halted or delayed.
“WSDOT admitted to their mistake, and now they have made good on their promise to fix the problem without canceling projects or asking taxpayers for more money,” Clibborn noted.
The supplemental budget also makes several investments designed to prepare Washington’s transportation system for the challenges ahead. These include $9.1 million for improved IT infrastructure at the Department of Licensing, $0.5 to study new revenue systems as gas tax revenue declines, and $0.2 million to implement project delivery reforms at WSDOT.
The supplemental budget bill, House Bill 2762, will be heard today, February 27th in the House Transportation Committee.
Detailed budget documents from LEAP are available here:
https://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/detail/2014/ht2014p.asp