Tag Archives: Lake Stevens

Keeping Washington moving forward, Senate passes transpo budget

Sen. King speaks in favor of the transportation budget.Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, today expressed his thanks and gratitude to members of the Senate and its staff after the unanimous passage of the Senate’s 2013-15 transportation budget proposal. King, along with co-chair Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, and fellow budget writers Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, and Sen. Joe Fain of Auburn, spoke positively of the bipartisan atmosphere in which the budget was created.

“When a committee has co-chairs with the same authority, the potential for gridlock is increased,” King said, “but Senator Eide has been an extreme pleasure to work with, as have our vice chairs. It’s been an honor to work with these individuals, the other members of the transportation committee, and both partisan and non-partisan staff, without whom none of this would have been possible.”

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Bipartisan Senate committee unveils 2013-15 transportation budget

king_120Making good on promises to continue a tradition of cooperation, leaders of the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee today proposed a bipartisan transportation budget that would spend $8.7 billion in 2013-15: $5.3 billion in capital construction spending and $3.4 billion for operating costs and debt service payments. The proposal would complete the tunnel replacing Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct, restore and maintain ferry service levels, and improve or preserve highways across Washington, as well as make a number of system-wide reforms.

“We were faced with a particularly challenging set of circumstances this year, but I’m proud that this committee has not only faced those challenges but overcome them,” said Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and co-chair of the transportation committee. “We’ve been able to maintain funding for all the projects to which the state is already committed, and we’ve even identified a number of areas where we can generate savings by implementing reforms.” Continue reading →