A total tribal sell-out, Gregoire has been a pro-CRC hack from the getgo.
Until now.
Knowing that the GOP-controlled Senate won't allow a dime of CRC money to go through for the next 2 years, Gregoire didn't waste the paper such a request would be printed on.
Combined with a locked up county commission, things are looking pretty bleak for the CRC scammers.
Thankfully.
The start of major construction on the Columbia River Crossing is now set back to late 2014.Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Gov. Chris Gregoire largely passed over the Columbia River Crossing in her recommended budget released Tuesday, identifying no new state funding for the project.
Instead, the outgoing governor will leave it up to state lawmakers to find Washington’s contribution to the planned Interstate 5 Bridge replacement, said spokesman Jason Kelly.
“The governor believes this is a priority project, but there continues to be a lack of consensus around transportation funding and what a comprehensive statewide revenue package should look like,” Kelly wrote in an email.
Washington, like Oregon, must find a way to pay a state share to hold up its end of the CRC finance plan. And lawmakers in both states will have to act soon for the CRC to stay on its current schedule, starting construction in late 2014.
Washington and Oregon are expected to jointly pony up roughly a third of the project’s $3.5 billion cost, or about $450 million each. The rest would come from tolling revenue and the federal government.
I imagine Moeller's head exploded.Gregoire’s budget doesn’t finalize any spending for the next two years. The Washington Legislature holds final say over the next biennial budget ending in mid-2015.
Again.
I just watched a video of Inside Olympia with the State budget director and the second segment was Ross Hunter and a republican minority member from his committee... (name escapes me?)
ReplyDeleteBut what Ross was explaining in part of the conversation, was the houses switch the budget writing duties from one house to another and since he already did it once, its now the senates turn to propose the house budget.
But as we know, Jim Moeller will find SOME way to tack the $450million some where. And if it doesn't come on the washington state senates version to the house, they can tack it on during the house budget process and then send it back to the senate and go through the budget compromise process before sending the completed budget to the new governor?
Hope you could enlighten me with some more information, since you have been a part of the legislative process... -- jeremy