Senator Murray: “These investments are going to do so much to ease congestion, lower emissions, and ensure our transportation systems are able to get people and goods where they need to go.”
(Washington, D.C.) — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and former chair of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee (T-HUD), released the following statement on the $90.96 billion in discretionary funding she secured in this year’s funding package for Washington state priorities for the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The funding represents a $9.917 billion increase from Fiscal Year 2022, and includes critical investments for existing zero-emissions programs, prioritizes climate-forward transportation projects, and delivers critical funding to increase access to affordable housing and homeownership.
“This end-of-year spending package makes important progress in building stronger local communities—at the end of the day everyone should be able to afford a rent or mortgage,” said Senator Murray. “The investments included in this bill will make a real difference for families by ensuring greater access to affordable housing options, and will provide vital support to those facing housing insecurity—including foster youth, tribal communities, survivors of domestic violence, and people experiencing homelessness.
“This funding also delivers major investments to help us meet our state’s transportation infrastructure goals. Investing in infrastructure and transportation is about connecting communities and building stronger local economies. These investments are going to do so much to ease congestion, lower emissions, and ensure our transportation systems are able to get people and goods where they need to go. When you put it all together, this spending package is going to deliver for our Washington state in a big way, and I’m thrilled we were able to get this done.”
RAISE Grant Funding
Senator Murray secured $800 million for the RAISE in Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program, which represents a $25 million increase from FY22. RAISE grants can be used for a wide variety of infrastructure projects with local or regional impact. Senator Murray originally created the RAISE program (previously known as TIGER and BUILD) in 2009 and has been a longtime supporter of the program, helping to secure $7.5 billion – a 50% annual increase – for the RAISE program in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Capital Investment Grant Program
Senator Murray worked to secure $2.21 billion for the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, a discretionary funding program for the construction and expansion of new and existing fixed-guideway public transit systems such as heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars, ferries, and certain corridor-based bus systems. CIG is essential to meeting the critical transportation infrastructure needs of the Puget Sound Region and easing the congestion in the heart of the most congested interstate corridor in the Pacific Northwest. There are ten projects from Washington state that are currently in the CIG pipeline, and Sound Transit just recently received approval for two additional extensions in West Seattle and Ballard.
Notably, the most significant win across all transportation programs is a provision Senator Murray secured under the CIG program which will provide an additional $425 million nationwide for several CIG projects, including Sound Transit, that are experiencing cost overruns due to the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and inflation. Of the $425 million, Sound Transit is estimated to receive $115 million—roughly $61.4 million for Federal Way Link and $54.1 for Lynwood Link. This is a result of nearly two years of Senator Murray’s fight to secure relief for transit agencies.
“This bill significantly expands funding for completing the largest transit expansion program in the nation,” said Sound Transit Board Chair Kent Keel. “It not only provides accelerated funding of the Full Funding Grant Agreements for Lynnwood Link and Federal Way Link but also provides more than $115 million in new funding for those projects through a similar provision created in Senator Murray’s Public Transit Capital Investment Relief Act of 2021, which was co-sponsored by Senator Cantwell.”
Transit Infrastructure Grant (TIG) Program
Senator Murray secured $541.96 million for the Transit Infrastructure Grant (TIG) — $37.7 million more than spending levels from Fiscal Year 2022. Within this program, the committee included the following set-asides: $90 million for buses and bus facilities grants; $50 million for low or no emission grants; and $15 million for ferry boat grants—$8.5 million above Fiscal Year 2022 spending levels – with a minimum of a $5 million set-aside for low or zero-emission ferries. As Washington state Department of Transportation carries out its plans to electrify various ferry routes, it will be able to seek funding from this program.
Washington State Freight and Passenger Rail Projects
Senator Murray secured $535 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant program, which helps to modernize the nation’s rail infrastructure by advancing passenger and freight rail projects, mitigating congestion, and strengthening supply chains while reducing carbon emissions. CRISI supports projects that address congestion and facilitate ridership growth, improve short-line or regional railroad infrastructure, improve highway-rail grade crossings, relocate rail lines, enhance multimodal connections, and improve regional rail and corridor service development. The combined investments from the omnibus package and the $1 billion in advanced appropriations from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law present a record amount of funding for CRISI.
Washington State Ports
Senator Murray secured a record $212.2 million for the Port Infrastructure Development program (PIDP). This will allow significant improvements to port facilities and projects that include: loading and unloading of goods at a port; movement of goods into, out of, around, or within a port; resilience projects addressing rising sea-level, flooding, extreme weather events, and natural disasters; and environmental and emissions mitigation measures.
Climate-Forward, Sustainable Aviation Projects
Senator Murray secured $38 million for the Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions, and Noise (CLEEN) program. The bill includes language directing the Federal Aviation Administration to prioritize research related to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) Senator Murray has been a big champion of this provision, especially given Alaska Airlines’ and Port of Seattle’s commitment to ramping up utilization of SAF moving forward.
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance for Veterans, Tribal Communities, and More
Senator Murray secured $23.74 billion for the renewal of Section 8 tenant-based housing vouchers, $346 million above FY22, with an additional $2.65 billion in emergency spending. This historic funding will be sufficient to renew all existing vouchers and provide housing assistance for 2.3 million families across the country, as well as HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers, Tribal HUD-VASH vouchers, and other targeted vouchers for at-risk populations.
Homelessness
Senator Murray secured $3.63 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants—a $420 million increase over FY22. Those funds support Continuum of Care service and housing interventions at the local level and will also expand assistance to special populations including survivors of domestic violence and youth experiencing homelessness. The bill also includes $4 million for the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, a slight increase over FY22 to help the agency build out their coordination of the federal response to addressing homelessness.
Incremental Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance
Senator Murray secured $130 million for incremental vouchers to support an additional 11,700 households. That includes $50 million in additional vouchers for the HUD-VASH program, $50 million in new funding to expand affordable housing opportunities to people with low incomes (including families and individuals experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic violence), and $30 million in additional family unification vouchers. Senator Murray also worked to secure $13.94 billion for project-based rental assistance contracts and an additional $969 million in emergency funding—which is sufficient to renew all existing contracts and will support over 16,000 Washington state families.
Affordable Housing Production and Preservation
Senator Murray secured $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which will lead to the construction of nearly 10,000 new rental and homebuyer units nationwide, and $225 million for a new preservation and reinvestment initiative that will support manufactured housing communities and residents.
A summary of the funding can be found here.
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