Washington, D.C. – Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) today announced that a bipartisan deal on government spending, reached over the weekend to fund the federal government through September, will include transportation investment priorities she fought to include. The bipartisan deal rejects the extreme cuts President Trump initially proposed.
“When Democrats and Republicans work together and reject President Trump’s demands, we can make progress and get things done for the families we represent, including badly-needed investments in our nation’s infrastructure,” Sen. Murray said, a senior member of the Senate appropriations committee that oversees transportation funding. “Projects that create jobs, improve safety, and relieve congestion are incredibly important to moving our economy forward, so I was proud to go to bat for the investments that are making a real difference in communities in Washington state and across the country.”
Sen. Murray’s priorities included:
- $500 million for the TIGER program, which President Trump had called to eliminate entirely.
- Since Sen. Murray created the TIGER program in 2009, it has awarded $5.1 billion to help facilitate 421 multimodal projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Of that total, Washington state has received $239 million to support 16 projects. These include the Tacoma LINK Expansion, a new ferry terminal in Mukilteo, the North Spokane Corridor, the Mercer Corridor Redevelopment project in Seattle, the South Park Bridge Replacement in King County, the West Vancouver Freight Access project at the Port of Vancouver, improvements to I-5 to relieve congestion around Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and terminal modernization projects at the Ports of Seattle and Everett.
- $2.5 billion for the Capital Investment Grant program, which will support three transit projects in Puget Sound. President Trump had proposed blocking new transit projects from receiving funding.
- $50 million for Seattle Department of Transportation’s Center City Connector;
- $100 million for Sound Transit’s Lynnwood Link Extension; and
- $43.19 million for Community Transit’s Swift II Bus Rapid Transit.
- Crude-by-Rail:
- $15.1 million for the Automated Track Inspection Program;
- $2 million for the Short Line Safety Institute for safety training for short line railroads transporting crude oil and ethanol, a program Sen. Murray helped create in 2014 and which supports short line railroads in Washington (Map of short line railroads in Washington state
- $2 million to support research activities on the safe transport of energy products; and
- Directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete a rulemaking to expand comprehensive oil spill response plan requirements to rail carriers no later than August 1, 2017 to better protect the safety of our communities and environment.
- $2 million increase for the FAA Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment, which is led by WSU
- $159 million for the Contract Tower Program, which supports seven airports in Washington – Bellingham International, Felts Field (Spokane), Olympia, Renton, Tacoma Narrows, Walla Walla Regional, and Yakima.
- Prevents the FAA from eliminating the Contract Weather Observers program at any airport, including Spokane International Airport.
- $10 million for assistance to small shipyard grants, which support infrastructure improvements and equipment upgrades at small shipyards to help increase productivity, efficiency, and operational competitiveness.
- $1.5 million for the Office of Pipeline Safety for Information Grants to Communities, which is critical to communities and organizations in Washington, like the Pipeline Safety Trust, working to help local governments understand where pipelines are located, implement programs to prepare first responders, and more.
Read Sen. Murray’s full statement on the bipartisan spending deal here.
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