Money for the I-5 bridge
What they say
Her campaign says she worked to secure $600 million in funding needed to replace the I-5 bridge, and calls the money essential to avoiding tolls.
“She worked to secure $600 million in funding needed to replace the 100-year-old I-5 bridge.”
In their own words, dated
“Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez, Sen. Cantwell, and Sen. Murray co-led a bipartisan Washington delegation letter in August in support of the states’ Mega grant application.”
What the record shows ·
On August 29, 2023 she signed a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg supporting the joint Washington and Oregon application to the federal Mega grant program for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program; all twelve members of Washington's congressional delegation signed it, and her name is third, after the two senators. The program was awarded $600 million on December 15, 2023. Its announcement credits the two states and their congressional delegations; Washington's governor thanks Senators Murray and Cantwell by name.
Limit: A letter of support is what "worked to secure" can be checked against, and it holds; it does not measure her share of the result. The Department of Transportation awarded the grant on the states' application, and every member of the state's delegation signed the same letter. That she co-led it is the account of a joint release by her office and Senators Cantwell and Murray, which the Senate Commerce Committee also published; the letter shows only the order of signatures. The program's announcement lists toll revenue, which both states had authorized, among the sources that will pay for the bridge alongside the grant, so the grant does not by itself avoid tolls. And an award is not a finished bridge.