ICYMI: With Senator Murray as Appropriations Chair, Biden Administration Proposes $250 Million in Funding for Sound Transit Lynnwood Link

ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on the President’s Budget Request — MORE HERE

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, applauded President Biden’s inclusion of $250.7 million for the Lynnwood Link Light Rail extension project in his budget request for Fiscal Year 2024. The proposed funding would fulfill the federal obligation to the project as part of the Federal Transit Administration’s Full Funding Grant Agreement, which delivers major investments in new or extended rapid rail, light rail, commuter rail, exclusive bus/high occupancy vehicle lanes, or ferry service.

“Thousands of people across the Puget Sound count on Sound Transit to get to where they need to be. That’s why I’m glad President Biden’s budget proposes serious new investments to support critical transit projects like the Lynnwood Link extension,” said Senator Murray. “Building on the key federal investments we’ve made with new funds like the President has proposed would make a huge difference for commuters across the Sound. Completing this project is how we deliver less congestion, shorter commutes, and fewer emissions. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’m going to be pushing hard to bring these federal dollars home.”

Senator Murray has long pushed to deliver funding for Washington state’s transportation and transit infrastructure. In January, Senator Murray announced over $115 million in new funding for Sound Transit to support the Federal Way Link and Lynnwood Link projects. This funding, which was included in the FY23 Omnibus spending bill, served as additional Capital Investment Grant (CIG) funding to help projects experiencing cost overruns due to the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and inflation. This provision was the culmination of nearly two years of Senator Murray’s efforts to secure additional relief for transit agencies.

Senator Murray also worked to secure $2.21 billion in annual funding she secured for the CIG program overall, a discretionary funding program administered through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the construction and expansion of new and existing fixed-guideway public transit systems such as heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars, ferries, and certain corridor-based bus systems. CIG is essential to meeting the critical transportation infrastructure needs of the Puget Sound Region and easing congestion in the heart of the most congested interstate corridor in the Pacific Northwest. 

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