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House passes $7.6 billion transportation budget to continue work on current projects

by caprecord

The state House passed a $7.6 billion transportation budget on Wednesday that includes salaries for the State Patrol and continues road, bridge and ferry projects funded by past gas tax increases.

“Hopefully we are about 90 percent done,” said Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island. “It would be nice for us at some point to have a new revenue package, but that is not what this is about today.”

“This is about keeping the state patrol and the ferries running. It’s about maintaining what we have,” Clibborn said.

Lawmakers are still negotiating a transportation revenue package that would raise gas taxes to pay for new projects across the state.

The package approved Wednesday includes $379 million for the State Route 520 floating bridge, $640 million for the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, widening of Interstate 90 and completion of carpool lanes in Tacoma.

The full budget documents can be found at this link.

Republican Rep. Liz Pike voted against the package, saying negotiated parts of the transportation budget were “washed away” in the compromise version that members voted on Wednesday.

“I”m going to be a protest no vote in opposition of this version because it disrespects all that good bipartisan work done up to this point,” she said.

The budget passed with a vote of 74 to 20, and now moves to the Senate. Thursday is the final day of the first special session. Lawmakers are expected to go into a second special session on Friday to complete work on a two-year operating budget.