OLYMPIA — There will be few new frills in the state’s next transportation budget if proposals put forth Monday by House and Senate Democrats are any indication.
Each chamber’s spending plan counts on an injection of federal relief to cope with reduced collections of gas taxes, tolls and ferry fares during the pandemic and to comply with a court order to replace culverts that hamper fish migration.
The state Supreme Court helped, too, when it invalidated a $30 car license fee initiative in October. Roughly $300 million in car tab payments, set aside during litigation, can now be part of the budgets.
Overall, the Senate blueprint outlines $11.7 billion in spending in the next two-year budget, which begins July 1, while the House version comes in at $10.9 billion.
“It’s a boring budget,” Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, said of the proposal he crafted as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. “It’s a budget that keeps the lights on.”
Hobbs counts on roughly $1.2 billion in federal dollars — $1 billion from the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the remainder from COVID-19 relief packages passed in 2020.
Of the federal funds, Hobbs penciled in $600 million to backfill revenue losses due to the pandemic, $543 million to remove culverts and $124 million to Washington State Ferries to offset a drop in fare receipts.
The House plan, authored by Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, chairman of the House transportation panel, relies on $800 million from ARPA and $200 million from the 2020 federal aid packages. Similar to the Senate proposal, those dollars are used to fill accounts hit by revenue losses, replace culverts and deal with ferry needs.
Both budgets steer a total of $726 million toward continued removal of culverts that block salmon from miles of habitat. A federal court set a 2030 deadline to complete the work, which involves hundreds of culverts and carries an estimated $3 billion price tag. The amount matches what Gov. Jay Inslee requested in the budget he proposed in December.
However, the state may not be able to spend the federal money on culverts. If federal authorities determine it is not an appropriate use, it could throw a kink into the budget process, Hobbs said.
While the budgets share many similarities, there are some differences.
For example, only the House plan proposes $152.5 million for building the state’s first electric ferry. And it also earmarks $2 million to look for ways to increase the capacity and safety of U.S. 2 in east Snohomish County.
Public hearings on the budgets are planned Tuesday — 3:30 p.m. before the House Transportation Committee and 4 p.m. in the Senate Transportation Committee.
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