Letter: State must provide money for infrastructure loans

For more than 30 years, the Public Works Trust Fund (PWTF) has sent almost $3 billion to local governments, in the form of low-interest loans, to help pay for infrastructure projects such as water/sewer and street upgrades/repairs. There has never been a default on any PWTF. Loan repayments help pay for new low-interest loans. Kennewick has used this fund to finance many infrastructure projects, at a significant savings to our taxpayers.

However, since 2009, the state Legislature began sweeping (i.e. raiding) not only the revenues but the loan repayments as well, to balance the general fund. Almost $1.5 billion! This has effectively halted the program from making any new infrastructure loans since 2012.

This year, there is an opportunity to continue this program and make new low-interest loans to cities. The House has passed a version of the Senate’s PWTF bill, SB 5033, that will maintain some new revenue for the PWTF, allow repayments to be made to the PWTF and fund the current PWFT project list.

Contact our local legislators — Sen. Sharon Brown, Rep. Larry Haler, and Rep. Brad Klippert — and urge them and their budget leaders to concur on the House-passed version of SB 5033.

This story was originally published June 3, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Letter: State must provide money for infrastructure loans."