Tony Overman/The Olympian
Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, offers a hug to his son, Austin, 5, during a session break Thursday night. Austin and his brother, Bradley, 7, asked to attend the final day of the session to see the closing ceremonies.

Deschutes Parkway funding approved

PATRICK CONDON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, March 15, 2002

OLYMPIA -- The House of Representatives approved $87 million in new state building projects Thursday with few hours left in the legislative session.

The projects will boost the state's lagging economy, supporters said.

The project list includes $850,000 to rebuild earthquake-damaged Deschutes Parkway in Olympia.

If Gov. Gary Locke signs the bill as expected, Deschutes Parkway construction will begin this spring and could finish by December.

Deschutes Parkway "is something we all enjoy, we all drive and walk on," Rep. Val Ogden, D-Vancouver, said in a floor speech. "This is a project that everybody in the House should be concerned about."

All six House members from South Sound voted for the project list: Democrats Sandra Romero, Sam Hunt, Kathy Haigh and Bill Eickmeyer, and Republicans Gary Alexander and Richard DeBolt.

However, Alexander and DeBolt voted against selling the bonds needed to fund those projects, leading some Democrats to charge them with hypocrisy.

The House approved selling the bonds on a 63-35 vote. Of 48 Republicans, 35 voted against the measure. But 17 of those 35, including Alexander and DeBolt, went on to vote for the project list, which passed the House on a vote of 80-18.

"How do they think we were going to pay for it?" Romero asked.

Alexander said he would have preferred a set of projects much smaller than the $87 million forwarded by majority Democrats.

That list would have included the Deschutes Parkway funding, Alexander said.

"I think we could have had a budget that was much more responsible," Alexander said. "It's not that a lot of these weren't good projects, because they were."

Other projects

Also on the list were building projects at community and four-year colleges around the state, in addition to low-income housing and a Columbia River dredging project.

"These are worthy projects that will result in jobs this year, mostly in the private sector," said Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chairman of the Capital Budget Committee.

In the days and hours leading up to the vote, Democrats feared that Republican opposition would sink the budget because selling bonds requires approval from 60 percent of the Legislature.

Many Republicans objected to the idea that the state would sink itself deeper into debt given the current economic situation.

"I'm afraid in a few months, I'm going to have to come back here and say, 'I told you so,' " Alexander said.

Still, the list peppered enough projects in Republican districts to attract the votes to put it over the top.

"These are projects that people need in their districts," Murray said.

In addition to adding the projects, the new capital budget covered a shortfall in last year's version that had prompted Locke to temporarily freeze some state construction last fall, including the Seminar II Building at The Evergreen State College.

With the success of this year's supplemental bill, funding for that and the other stalled projects is assured.

Patrick Condon covers state government for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-753-1688 or at pcondon@olympia.gannett.com.

On the Web:

- Washington State Legislature

- Gov. Gary Locke

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