JUNEAU -- A new $45 million budget item for a bridge across Knik Arm has drawn protests from Democratic lawmakers, but Gov. Bill Walker's administration says the move doesn't affect its spending freeze on the project and an ongoing review.
The House Finance Committee included a $45 million allocation for the project in the capital and construction budget released Friday. But that money "is not real money," said Walker's budget director, Pat Pitney. Instead, the line item simply gives the state the ability to accept federal money to spend on the bridge if it's ever built, Pitney said.
The Walker administration in December issued an order that froze spending on six big state projects, including the Knik Arm bridge, citing a multibillion dollar state budget shortfall tied to a drop in oil prices. His administration is "still pondering" the fate of the projects, Pitney said in an interview Friday.
The Knik Arm bridge has faced local opposition as well as objections from Democrats seeking to curtail the state's public works spending. Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said in an interview after a Thursday finance committee meeting that he was "concerned" about the line item for the bridge because it effectively helps keep the project alive even if it won't absorb new money from the state budget.
"Instead of stopping the project, it's not being stopped," said Gara, a member of the finance committee.
The state transportation department is trying to build up a total of $315 million in what's known as "federal receipt authority" for the bridge, which allows the state to accept federal money to spend on construction. The new $45 million in receipt authority would be added to an existing $90 million, but none of that money has actually been received and set aside for the project yet, said a transportation department spokesman, Jeremy Woodrow.
Some $74 million in federal funds have already been spent on the bridge project in addition to about $11 million from the state, Woodrow said.
The state pegs the cost of the project at around $1 billion, though critics say it would be larger. As currently envisioned, it would be funded through a combination of bonds, federal transportation grants and a federal loan.
Woodrow said that including $45 million in receipt authority in the capital budget keeps the project alive.
"This shows that the state is still committed to the project and helps the state in its application for the loan," Woodrow said.