Omnibus bill includes millions for Inland Northwest projects

Santa might still be trying to decide whether the Inland Northwest has been naughty or nice this year, but Congress has weighed in.

Appropriations bills that passed the House and Senate this week have federal presents for roads and bridges, community centers and water projects, colleges and cops.

Congress combined 11 spending bills into one big package, called an omnibus bill, which drew “yes” votes from Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington and Larry Craig of Idaho, but “no” votes from Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, of Washington, and Rep. Bill Sali, of Idaho.

Murray referred to the projects as “seed money that helps our communities grow.”

Craig called them “modest investments in Idaho’s communities.”

And Cantwell, who pushed for projects to combat methamphetamine, said the law enforcement programs will “help keep communities safe and secure.”

Here are the largest projects on the list:

Transportation

•$1.37 million for the Post Street Bridge reconstruction in Spokane.

•$784,000 for Pullman’s transit maintenance facility.

•$686,000 for the Spokane Transit Authority to buy technology for “smart buses” that will prolong their life and increase ridership.

•$490,000 for construction at the Northeast Community Center in Spokane.

•$490,000 for construction of a co-located YWCA and YMCA in Spokane.

•$432,000 for a Freight Transportation Policy Institute at Washington State University.

Health care

•$1.3 million for the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing at Riverpoint campus.

•$238,000 for a rural outreach program for hospitals in Deer Park, Colville and Chewelah.

Agriculture

•$1.8 million for a new Agriculture Research Facility at WSU in Pullman.

•$1.1 million for potato research.

•$500,000 to find ways to make U.S. agriculture more competitive in global markets.

•$416,000 for legume research.

•$333,000 for grass seed research.

•$294,000 for food safety research.

•$285,000 to research farm practices that reduce dust pollution.

•$264,000 for organic crop research.

•$237,000 for research into viruses that attack vineyards.

Education

•$787,000 for an electric utility transmission and distribution engineering program at Gonzaga University.

•$335,000 to establish a center to recruit and assist women in science and engineering fields at WSU.

Energy, environment and water

•$1.2 million to find ways to replace groundwater in the aquifer of the Columbia Basin Project.

•$884,000 for the Avery Ranger Station in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

•$250,000 for wolf monitoring in Idaho.

Law enforcement

•$1.41 million for the Washington Methamphetamine Initiative, to create community-based teams to fight meth around the state.

•$517,000 to establish a methamphetamine research center at WSU Spokane.