Lawmakers pad transportation package, but drop Ketchikan bridge money
Published Monday, April 7, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU -- A $220 million transportation bond package passed the Alaska House Monday without Ketchikan's so-called "bridge to nowhere."
Even so, the measure was $80 million more than Palin's original $140 million bond package.
House Finance Committee co-Chairman Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said the bill represents a reasonable spending level and geographic balance, which would make it attractive to more voters.
"There's something in here for pretty much the entire state," Meyer said.
But Rep. Mike Doogan, D-Anchorage, said if the projects are that important the state should fund them outright with its huge surplus in revenues. And he compared the bond package to another capital budget that is likely to grow when it goes through the Senate.
"I'm concerned about the overall level of spending, and saying that we are going to make our kids pay for the last half of this," said Doogan.
If it passes, a question would be placed on the next general election ballot asking voters if they want the state to issue general obligation bonds to pay for the projects listed.
The bill includes $10 million for the Anchorage Port expansion, $14 million for Dalton Highway improvements, $20 million for Seward Highway and $22 million for Anchorage's Dowling Road.
Other projects include $3.3 million for erosion protection in Kivalina, $5 million for the Craig-Klawock Highway and $10 million for Ketchikan's Harriet Hunt Lake Shelter Cove Road.
The House Finance Committee chucked $45 million for Ketchikan's Gravina Island Bridge over concerns the item could sink the entire proposal at the ballot box.
The bridge gained national notoriety as one of two "bridges to nowhere" after criticism arose over the federal earmarks that directed funding to that bridge and another spanning Knik Arm near Anchorage. Lawmakers did not propose inserting the Knik Arm Bridge into the bill.
The transportation bond package passed by a vote of 29-10 on Monday.
Rep. Bill Stoltz, R-Chugiak, said the bill is reasonable, but he feared what might happen in the Senate, the bill's next stop after possible reconsideration in the House.
"I just hope this isn't like one of those trick sponges that expands when you drop it in water, or the other body," said Stoltz.
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The bill is House Bill 314.
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Congress already paid for the bridge in its entirety. What happened to the money?
I'm not sure, but I think it was re-allocated to other projects. From what I've read, the bridge earmark didn't increase the amount of highway money the state got from the feds. It just directly allocated the funds to the project, as opposed to having it go through the usual funding channels.
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