Sen. Swecker statement on Senate transportation budget

March 25, 2009

OLYMPIA… Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, ranking minority leader on the Senate Transportation Committee, issued the following statement regarding the proposed Transportation budget released today: 

“I am excited about this Transportation budget that I was able to work on with my counterpart, Sen. Haugen, and others.  Ultimately we are able to fund a number of the projects we promised to the people of Washington when the Legislature proposed both the nickel gas tax and nine-and-a-half cent gas tax which the citizens endorsed via the initiative process. 

“The inflation of construction costs we have experienced over the last three years have lowered, resulting in a number of recent project bids coming in below engineers' estimates.

“The weak economy, in combination with a competitive bid environment, presents a unique opportunity to maintain planned, unprecedented levels of transportation spending in the 2009-11 biennium as a means to help jump-start the economy and create jobs.  

“There are more than $4.3 billion in transportation project investments in the Senate Transportation Committee budget. More than 400 projects are funded and scheduled to move forward. This is something that I am very proud of. 

“In addition to an unprecedented level of state transportation infrastructure investment, recent federal stimulus funding for transportation projects totals nearly $700 million. As a result, almost $5 billion in transportation related spending is scheduled to take place throughout the state over the next 24 months. 

“Specifically, in Lewis County we were able to protect the funding for I-5 widening from Grand Mound to Melon St in Centralia. For me, this project was of upmost importance.” 

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