Senate highway bill has $4 billion for projects in Washington state

WASHINGTON – Northwest senators on Tuesday hailed a mammoth highway and transit bill that would bring in more than $6 billion for transportation projects in Washington and Oregon.

The Republican-controlled Senate, brushing aside a presidential veto threat, passed the six-year, $295 billion measure, arguing that massive spending was necessary to fight traffic congestion and unsafe roadways. The bill includes about $4 billion for Washington state projects and $2.6 billion for Oregon projects.

The Senate bill also includes a $15 billion tax-exempt bond package sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jim Talent, R-Mo., that would provide states even more money for new roads and bridges.

“A chunk of our country’s transportation infrastructure is falling apart, and today the Senate took a common-sense step to fund the repairs America’s roads and bridges need,” Wyden said in a statement.

The additional $15 billion provided by the bonds also will help create hundreds of thousands of family-wage jobs in Oregon and nationwide, Wyden said.

Tax-exempt bonds are commonly used by states and localities for large projects as airports and water plants but have not been used for roads and bridges.

For every $1 billion invested in federal highway and transit infrastructure, an estimated 47,500 jobs are created, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The amendment approved Tuesday could create more than 700,000 jobs and generate nearly $6 billion in economic activity across the country, Wyden and Talent said.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., won voice-vote approval of an amendment that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to update fuel economy testing to reflect real-life driving conditions. Gas mileage stickers on new cars now inflate true fuel economy performance by 10 percent to 30 percent, she said.

The Senate legislation, approved 89-11, would nearly double funding for a so-called “smart growth” provision Wyden authored in a 1998 transportation law. The legislation created a Transportation and Community and System Preservation initiative that has provided $25 million per year for projects that discourage urban sprawl.

Oregon has received nearly $4 million in grants from the program to date. The Senate bill would boost annual funding nationwide to $47 million.

The Senate bill would spend $11 billion more than a similar measure approved in March by the House. The White House has signaled that the Senate version is too expensive and could result in the first veto of the Bush presidency.

But Northwest senators called the bill long overdue, and noted that the measure was well below a $318 billion highway bill approved by the Senate last year.

“By investing in our transportation infrastructure, we are creating good-paying construction jobs today and paving the way for future economic growth,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

With Washington and other states facing a host of transportation challenges, “these dollars are urgently needed to help improve our quality of life and increase economic prosperity,” Murray said.

The bill includes a provision Murray championed to increase funding for the nation’s ferry systems to nearly $57 million per year.

Murray called ferry travel an important and growing mode of transportation in Washington state and across the country.