Senate transportation-committee leaders today introduced a bipartisan 2016 supplemental transportation budget that will direct a modest amount of new funding toward road preservation and safety projects. The plan, which would adjust the 2015-17 transportation budget adopted this past year, would lift total spending for the biennium to $8.6 billion.

“The process of creating a supplemental budget gives us an opportunity to check on existing programs and make sure they are on track. We were able to further complement the largest transportation revenue package in state history passed by the Legislature last year,” said Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, transportation committee chair.

In addition to funding for existing work, the proposed Senate supplemental transportation budget includes these new investments:

• $351 million for road-preservation projects
• $108 million for safety improvements
• $84 million for fish passage
• $1.4 million to purchase and operate 10 new Incident Response Trucks
• $1.1 million to improve rail-crossing safety

“This budget represents a good balance of what is important to the residents of Washington. We all want our tax dollars spent wisely, we want safer roads, we want our environment to be protected – and this budget does all of that. There’s still work to be done and negotiations with the House, but I think this is a very strong start,” said Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, the top-ranking minority senator on the committee.

The supplemental budget is scheduled for a public hearing today before the Senate Transportation Committee at 3:30 p.m.