Dear friends and neighbors,
We are now just days away from concluding the 2024 legislative session and I’ll soon be back in our communities working on issues important to you. Before that, however, I wanted to provide you with an update today on how my work on functional resilience has made its way into our state’s supplemental operating budget, important transportation projects that impact our district, as well as share information on my recent town halls. Read on.
Functional Resilience Work
Earlier this session, I introduced House Bill 2273, which would have created a workgroup for lawmakers to study and best understand how and where to focus efforts to ensure our buildings are seismically sound. Washington has the second-highest earthquake risk in the nation, and while this bill didn’t get a vote on the House floor this year, I did work hard to ensure that $361,000 in funding to the state’s Military Department is provided in our state’s supplemental operating budget. This money will be used to complete a study regarding statewide building code and construction standards and provide recommendations for functional recovery of buildings and critical infrastructure directly following an earthquake.
Important Transportation Updates
The House unveiled a supplemental transportation budget totaling $14.3 billion on Feb. 19, an increase of $821 million for the enacted biennial budget. This budget focuses on ferries, traffic safety, highway projects (construction, as well as preservation and maintenance), fish passages, and more.
This proposal is a bipartisan budget, and while my fellow lawmakers and I did have to look at sizing a number of projects down and waiting until there is more money available, we do honor our commitments to Connecting Washington and Move Ahead Washington. This includes keeping our promise to keep the many projects on track right here in our neck of the woods. These include:
- SR 522/Paradise Lk Rd Interchange & Widening
- U.S. Highway 2 Safety Enhancements
- SR 9/176th Street SE to SR 96: Widening
- SR 9/South Lake Stevens Road Roundabout
- SR 9/Marsh Road to 2nd Street – Widening with Bridge Construction
- SR 9/SR 204 Interchange
Curious to learn more about the state’s operating, capital, and transportation budgets? Click here to learn more.
Town Halls
It was great to see so many of you turn out at the town halls I hosted a couple weekends ago. It’s always great meeting with you face-to-face and taking your questions. Thank you for being open to talking about such vital topics as housing, rent stabilization, property tax, school levies and education, community resiliency and responsibility, and more. Whether at an official event or not, I always enjoy the Q&A with you.
Stay in Touch!
We are now just a week shy of sine die, the time when the legislature adjourns for the year. I look forward to seeing you in the months ahead out in the community. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. I am always happy to hear from you, answer your questions, and work on your concerns.
In Service,
Rep. Brandy Donaghy