The Oregon House Committee on Transportation and Economic Development moved HB 2166 (Connect Oregon IV) out of committee today. The bill would provide $40 million in lottery bonds to fund multi-modal transportation projects across Oregon.
The previous Connect Oregon programs have delivered significant benefit to the state’s multi-modal transportation system. Additional investments are both necessary and provide immediate employment benefits and long term economic advantage.
Support for continued investment in the Connect Oregon program was strong in nearly all of the regional meetings conducted by the Business Plan Steering Committee in 2010.
Based on this input, the Business Plan this year recommended moving forward with a significant investment through Connect Oregon recognizing that reaching the level of investment of past biennia may not be possible.
The Governor included $40 million investment in his budget. HB 2166 began as a $100 million allocation but was scaled back to match the Governor's budget during the committee process.
The bill now moves on the Ways and Means Committee, where Co-Chairs Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) and Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point) are in the process of preparing a budget.