Senate transportation budget on TVW now, read along here

The press conference for the roll-out of the Senate transportation budget is on TVW now — or tvw.org, of course.

Right now, Sen. Fred Jarrett is discussing how to fund the transportation system. “We are seriously underfunding upkeep,” he said, among other things. He said the gas tax, the source of transportation funding, is undermined by encouraging public transportation, which he indicated isn’t logical.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen: “As disappointed as I am in rail … we believe we are in a good situation to get money from the federal stimulus… Rail is part of the future but unfortunately we had to give up some of our bonding capability” to the capital budget, she said.

Now, the questions.

To questions about the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement, Haugen said they mentioned it in the budget, which means the department can begin preliminary work. They won’t begin any boring for the “deep-bore” tunnel, she said — just the leg work.

This is from Sen. Jim Honeyford’s Twitter (I corrected the spelling from Twitter abbreviations): “Senate transportation budget DOES NOT close the Goldendale license office. Also includes $5 opt out on vehicle license fees to got to state parks.”

That “opt out” part is thought to be critical to saving parks because it is expected to net more than the current opt-in system, though Republicans at last week’s media availability characterized it as a tax (subject to I-960 challenges), since many people do not opt-out (perhaps because they don’t see the option).

Tags: transportation budget