Traffic safety, ferries, State Patrol targeted in proposed transportation budgets
Lawmakers for House and Senate Transportation committees each released budget proposals this week for the 2023-25 biennium, with a focus on similar priorities such as traffic safety and keeping current transportation projects on track for completion.
Senate lawmakers released their $12.9 billion proposal Wednesday, after the release of the $13.6 billion House transportation budget proposal on Monday.
House Transportation Chair Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, told reporters Monday that lawmakers have been “blessed with opportunities and challenges” surrounding transportation funding for the next two years.
“This year, the House Democrats and House Republicans worked side-by-side on this budget and I believe there will be bipartisan support,” Fey said in a statement.
In addition to the release of the proposed transportation budgets for the 2023-25 biennium, House and Senate lawmakers also released proposed supplemental budgets for the 2021-23 biennium. House transportation writers are penciling in $10.3 billion, while Senate budget writers have proposed $10.6 billion.
House and Senate transportation budget writers said they felt it was important to continue funding projects included in the historic Move Ahead Washington plan that lawmakers passed last year.
While dollar amounts from each chamber may be different, the investments are mostly the same.
Lawmakers from both chambers signaled the need for investments in traffic safety such as sidewalk maintenance, improvements to intersections, and adding traffic cameras. Washington has seen a drastic uptick in the number of traffic fatalities in the last few years.
In a statement released Wednesday, Sen. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, said that traffic deaths are all the more tragic because they are preventable.
“It is unacceptable for our state to continue to see an increase in this trend, and my hope and belief is that with the steps we’re taking in this budget, and with the policies we’re working on this year, we can begin to make our roads safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists,” Liias said.
Lawmakers are including recruitment bonuses for Washington State Patrol officers as part of their approach to bolster traffic safety.
Lawmakers are proposing more funding for projects that are already in the works, such as the SR-18 expansion, the North Spokane Corridor, and the Puget Sound Gateway Program, after Fey said many projects have been delayed.
Washington’s ferry system also would receive major funding under both chambers’ proposals. Funding not only includes procurement of new ferries and electrifying the current fleet, but also includes funding to help retain ferry system employees. Lawmakers also are hoping to attract new employees through employment initiatives.
Additional funding will also be used to construct five new hybrid-electric ferries for the state.
New funding this year for transportation projects such as safe school routes, ultra-high speed rail and ferry electrification comes from Climate Commitment Act auctions. The CCA passed in 2021, but this is the first year lawmakers are able to use its funding in their budgets.
“We’re building on the investments we made last year so Washington can have the cleanest, greenest, healthiest transportation system possible,” Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, co-vice chair of the Transportation Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.
House and Senate lawmakers will work through the end of session to negotiate on a final transportation package for the state, and must agree on funding by April 23 when the legislative session ends.
This story was originally published March 30, 2023 at 1:57 PM.
