For Immediate Release:

Monday, December 17, 2007

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced critical federal funding for Snohomish County and Everett priorities in the fiscal year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill. 

Due to the threat of Presidential vetoes of America’s domestic spending priorities, Congress combined several appropriations bills into one large “Omnibus bill,” which should pass both houses this week.  The Omnibus package contains critical funding for national needs like transportation, homeland security, education, labor and health.

"This federal support is the seed money that helps our communities grow," said Senator Murray. "I am proud to have helped steer this funding to community-supported projects here at home.  I work everyday to ensure that even though our state's residents are 2,500 miles from D.C., their needs are up-front and center. At a time when domestic and local needs are too often being neglected, these worthy projects are getting the support they deserve."

This spending bill is expected to be cleared by the U.S. House of Representatives tonight and sent to the Senate tomorrow.

Below are the projects included for Snohomish County. They are separated by project type:

Military Construction Projects

Fleet Regional Readiness Center at Naval Station Everett - $10,940,000
This funding will help build a new training center in Everett that will meet the training needs of more than 10,000 sailors in the region.  It will eliminate the need for Everett sailors to travel out-of-state for required training, improving their readiness, strengthening their presence in the Everett community, and improving their quality of life.  The project is a top priority of the Station and will make Naval Station Everett a more complete and valuable military asset.

Transportation Projects

Everett Senior Activities Center Expansion - $588,000
This funding will support the City's expansion of the Everett Senior Activities Center, which serves about 3,900 seniors from Everett and the surrounding communities.  The funding will support a new elevator to improve access for the disabled.  It will also expand and upgrade the kitchen, so that the center can continue to meet the nutritional needs of seniors in the area.  Many of the center's users are low-income seniors, who rely on the center's subsidized meals as their only reliable meal each day. The kitchen provides Title III C Nutritional Meals for the Center through a daily lunch and once-a-week dinners to seniors from throughout the region.  The City of Everett subsidizes one-third of the cost of each meal.

Granite Falls – Freight Access Project – $1,029,000
This funding will help construct a two-lane, 2.1 mile alternate route for gravel and log trucks moving through Granite Falls.  The project will improve freight mobility, reduce congestion, and improve safety for cars and pedestrians.

U.S. Highway 2 Safety Improvements -- $637,000
This funding will enable the Washington State Department of Transportation to make urgently needed safety improvements to U.S. Highway 2. Improvements will be made to guard rails, centerline rumble strips, and left-turn pockets along U.S. 2 between Snohomish and the Skykomish. U.S. Highway 2 is one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in Washington state, accidents there have claimed the lives of more than 40 people since 1999.

Community Transit- Bus Replacement – $1,029,000
This funding will help Community Transit purchase new buses to replace buses that have exceeded their useful life.

Everett Transit - Vehicle Replacement - $588,000
This funding will help the City of Everett replace three old, high-mileage diesel buses with new ultra-clean, diesel-electric hybrid buses for more reliable service and environmentally-friendly operation.

I-5 and 116th Street NE Interchange Improvement Project, Tulalip Tribes -- $1,029,000
This project will make needed improvements to the interchange of I-5 at 116th street NE on the Tulalip Tribes Reservation.  The project will improve safety and reduce traffic backups on I-5.  Senator Murray has secured $4 million for the project in previous years.

Advanced Manufacturing in Materials Innovation Center -- $504,210
This funding will allow continued composites research and training at the AMMIC center at Edmonds Community College. The center performs cutting edge composites research, testing and worker training.  In fact, the center trains Boeing workers so that they are proficient in working on the new Boeing 787.  This funding is absolutely critical to the research and testing done at AMMIC and especially to Boeing mechanics now that the 787 has come on-line.

116th Street NE Interchange Improvement Project, Tulalip Tribes -- $1,029,000
This project will make needed improvements to the interchange of I-5 at 116th street NE on the Tulalip Tribes Reservation.  Senator Murray has secured $4 million for the project in previous years.