OLYMPIA, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
The supplemental transportation budgets have dropped with less than three weeks left in the legislative session. They are far smaller than what Governor Ferguson proposed.
Governor Ferguson wanted to add up to $3 billion to the transportation budget passed last year. Both the House and Senate are looking to add less than half of that. The supplemental House budget would add $1.25 billion. The Senate plan would add about $1.5 billion.
The focus of all three budgets is maintenance and preservation, and it’s no wonder why. The Fairfax Bridge had to be closed last year after decades of under-funding its maintenance. The 1st Avenue S. Bridge is now down to two lanes because of potential corrosion in the steel bridge deck.
“We are focused both on preservation and maintenance of our state highways and our state bridges,” Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias said. “We are also focused on preservation and maintenance of our state ferries, and then we’re also focused on dealing with the unprecedented damage caused by the flood event last fall, both at the state and local level.”
To do that, the Senate transportation budget will be funded by issuing new bonds, using the gas tax revenue as collateral.
“How do we pay for it?” Senator Liias posed. “No new taxes this year, but we are leveraging the increases we passed last year with a bond proposal of $1.1 billion to unlock the preservation investments we would like to make across the next six years.”
Plan includes full WSP funding, mobile driver’s license program launching in 2028
Included in the Senate budget is full funding for the Washington State Patrol, something ranking member Curtis King is happy with.
“I’ve been here 18 years, and the State Patrol has never been anywhere close to the level they need to be at, and we can see the results of that on our highway and the safety of our highways,” he said. “I think this is something that we really have to put an emphasis on and make sure that we achieve that goal.”
The budget also throws a lifeline to the communities around the closed Fairfax Bridge.
“We have funded, over three biennia, the Fairfax Bridge, as well as providing them some money for their alternate routes and for their emergency support,” Senator King said.
The budget also fully funds the first three electric-hybrid ferries and a plan to create a new mobile driver’s license program.
“So that in 2028, Washingtonians on their iPhone or on their other smartphone, Samsung, Google, could opt into a secure, encrypted mobile driver’s license that they could use at the airport or other destinations that they’re headed to,” Senator Liias said.
While the House and Senate have similar budget proposals, the House does not pay for its increases by bonding against the gas tax. It uses existing bonding authority.
“We don’t need to authorize more bonds to invest more in preservation and maintenance; at least, not now,” said House Transportation Committee chair Representative Jake Fey, in a press release. “By using existing bond capacity and smoothing funds across biennia, we are able to add $335M to preservation and maintenance this biennium, and $435M in 2027-29.
“Bonding can help deliver major infrastructure projects, but it must be used carefully,” Fey continued. “We need to look at funding decisions across the entire biennium and ensure we’re not over-committing future budgets.”
The Governor’s supplemental transportation budget also relies on new bonding authority.
The disagreement in how to fund these budgets will now be debated in the final weeks of the session.
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.
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