Trump administration budget strips $1B-plus from Link Light Rail expansion

A budget battle is brewing over funding for Link Light Rail expansion in Western Washington.

The Trump administration's proposed budget would strip $1.17 billion from the Lynnwood extension as well as $500,000 from the Federal Way extension. Now, Sound Transit and congressional leaders from Washington are vowing to get the funding back in the budget.

“Hearing about that now I'm a little worried,” Preet Sanjha said, a University of Washington student from Whatcom County who often uses light rail.

It’s even more worrisome to Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff.

“It was deeply disappointing,” Rogoff told KIRO 7 Thursday. “We'd just secured $100 million for Lynnwood Link from the congressional appropriations budget a few weeks ago. And we'd hoped the administration would recognize that ours, like many across the country, have strong support in Congress.”

On top of Link Light Rail funding that comes from voter-approved taxes, Sound Transit always counted on the federal government to step in as well. One-fourth of the budget for the Federal Way extension came from the federal budget.

The Trump administration budget explained it by saying projects like light rail "should be funded by states and localities that benefit from their use." It specifically pointed to Seattle and other cities that passed bond measures like ST3.

“I think that policy statement really has it backwards,” Rogoff said. “The people here in the Puget Sound and in Denver and L.A. have voted to tax themselves. They should be rewarded for that not punished for it.”

ST3, which voters approved in November, will raise $54 billion in local taxes for transit and light rail and relies on $5 billion in federal funding.

Rogoff offered what steps can be taken going forward.

“The steps we take is to do what we did in the FY 17 (Fiscal Year 2017) budget,” Rogoff said. “We work aggressively with our members of Congress both in the Senate and House to try to reverse this policy, and secure continued funding.”

Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., each vowed to fight the cuts proposed by the Republican administration. U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., issued a statement that said: "Instead of making smart investments that help grow the economy, his budget would eliminate programs that provide federal funding for local transit projects, like light rail."

Cox Media Group