The highly anticipated transportation revenue bill – Senate Bill 5987 – has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Transportation on Wednesday, February 18, at 3:30 p.m.
This is the largest proposed package the eastern Washington region has ever received and your legislators need to hear that GSI and Eastern Washington businesses support a transportation revenue package that’s dedicated to improving the quality of our roads and providing critical road maintenance, upgrades and road preservation.
Contact your legislators before 3:30 tomorrow (Wednesday) and share your support of this package because it will improve the overall infrastructure in our community and generate economic development opportunities that support local businesses requirements for expansion and continued growth.
The plan includes an 11.5-cent gas tax increase phased in over the next three years and will provide funding for multiple Spokane-area projects including $861 million for the North Spokane Corridor, $24 million for the Medical Lake/Geiger Interchanges, $21 million for Barker Road to Harvard Road, and more, all of which are projects listed on the regional 2015 State Legislative Priority Agenda. Other regional projects of significance include Spokane Central City Line, Palouse River and Coulee City RR – Rehabilitation and Bigelow Gulch.
“Funding is critical for the maintenance and preservation of our roads in this community – and our transportation needs are continuing to grow. If our community wants to stay competitive, attract businesses and grow jobs, we need to fund the infrastructure to support it,” said Steve Stevens, president & CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated. “This package contains several projects GSI identified as top priority projects for the region that are critical to mobility and future economic development.”
The proposed funding will also help maintain roads. Driving on deficient roads costs Spokane drivers approximately $1,423 per year in auto repair and maintenance.
Once completed, the North Spokane Corridor will reduce the time significantly for companies to ship and receive products, and will provide over 400 jobs a year while under construction, will support businesses transportation requirements, and will save travel time – over 9.4 million hours per year with an annual savings of 240 million.
Contact Your State Senators:
• Sen. Curtis King: Curtis.King@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Don Benton: Don.Benton@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Joe Fain: Joe.Fain@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Steve Hobbs: Steve.Hobbs@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Marko Liias: Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Michael Baumgartner: Micheal.Baumgartner@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Annette Cleveland: Annette.Clevland@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Doug Ericksen: Doug.Ericksen@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Cyrus Habib: Cyrus.Habib@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Pramila Jayapal: Pramila.Jayapal@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Steve Litzow: Steve.Litzow@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Mark Miloscia: Mark.Miloscia@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Jamie Pedersen: Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Ann Rivers: Ann.Rivers@leg.wa.gov
• Sen. Tim Sheldon: Tim.Sheldon@leg.wa.gov
Not sure what to say? Here’s a sample email to get you started:
Dear Senator;
I am writing to encourage you to support SB 5987 to provide $15 billion in funding over 16 years for highway preservation and maintenance and highway project completion.
Funding is critical for the maintenance and preservation of our roads in this community – and our transportation needs are continuing to increase. If our community wants to stay competitive, attract businesses and grow jobs, we need to fund the infrastructure to support it.
This package contains several projects identified by Greater Spokane Incorporated (the Spokane region’s Chamber of Commerce and economic development organization) as top priority projects for the region that are critical to mobility and future economic development.
The proposed funding will also help maintain roads. Driving on deficient roads costs Spokane drivers approximately $1,423 per year in auto repair and maintenance.
Once completed, the North Spokane Corridor will significantly reduce the time needed for companies to ship and receive products, and will provide over 400 jobs a year while under construction; it will support businesses’ transportation requirements, and will save travel time – over 9.4 million hours per year with an annual savings of $240 million.
Please Support SB 5987!
