WASHINGTON – A sweeping spending bill unveiled Wednesday on Capitol Hill includes hundreds of millions of dollars for Washington state for everything from military construction at Fort Lewis to new ferries, security along the Canadian border and repairing a landslide-damaged road.
It also includes money for methamphetamine programs, the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Commission, gang prevention in Pierce County, development of fuel-efficient small-city buses made with composites at Western Washington University and $80 million for salmon recovery.
“This package invests where we need help the most right now – in jobs and our communities,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee helped negotiate the bill.
The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill combines six routine appropriations bills that provide funding for nine cabinet agencies ranging from the State Department to the Transportation Department to the Justice Department.
Lawmakers hope to approve the package before a stop-gap measure expires in little more than a week.
As chairwoman of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee, Murray also inserted a provision in the bill which will allow King County Metro Transit to once again start providing low-cost transportation to major sporting and special events. The bill would provide $428 million for construction at Army, Air Force and Navy bases in Washington state. Nearly $153 million will go toward building additional facilities for another Stryker brigade at Fort Lewis along with $2 million to design a new Women and Children’s Center at Madigan Army Medical Center.
“With the number of women and newborns on the base growing, it is time for an expanded facility that meets their unique needs,” Murray said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will receive $109 billion under the bill, most of which will be spent on health care services to cut wait-times and increase access. The bill targets $183 million toward women veterans programs and includes $3.2 billion to provide health care and other services to homeless veterans. Last year, the VA provided 420 housing vouchers for homeless veterans in the state.
“Too many of our veterans have sacrificed for our nation, but now sleep on the street,” the senator said.
Les Blumenthal: 202-383-0008
lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com
• See a list of some of the projects that would be funded by the bill.
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