House approves bipartisan 2017-19 supplemental capital budget, prioritizing K-12 school and mental health construction needs
Late Tuesday, the House approved the bipartisan 2017-19 biennium supplemental capital budget. Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, ranking minority member of the House Capital Budget Committee, helped put together the plan that includes more than $207 million in bond revenue for projects statewide, including K-12 school construction and institution and community-based mental health facilities.
The 20th District lawmaker is pleased the revisions to the state's biennial budget makes the right adjustments to help meet the construction needs of the state.
“Although it is a supplemental budget, and small in comparison to the overall two-year plan, we managed to stay focused on a handful of critical need areas,” said DeBolt. “We are keeping up our momentum on building mental health facilities and we're doing even more for school construction. The Hirst water fix money is also included in this budget. I'm happy we were able to make these additional investments in the places they are needed the most.”
Along with $21 million for local and community projects statewide, the budget adds $42.8 million to the School Construction Assistance Program.
Institutional-based mental health facilities construction and remodeling will also get a boost with $17.8 million in improvements for state hospitals and facilities including:
- $3.5 million for 25 new forensic beds at Eastern State Hospital.
- $9 million for the conversion of 60 civil beds into forensic beds at Western State Hospital.
- $2.9 million for projects to address the system improvement agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Additional funds were also allocated for water projects in Skagit County, with $2.5 million going to projects in Water Resource Inventory Areas 3 and 4, as well as a task force to review water uses and make recommendations to increase water supply.
