District 42 lawmakers to hold Blaine town hall meeting

From l.: Doug Ericksen, Vincent Buys and Luanne Van Werven.

By Stefanie Donahue

Pull out your pen and paper and jot down questions for District 42 lawmakers.

From 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 17, at the Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street, District 42 state representatives Luanne Van Werven (R-Lynden) and Vincent Buys (R-Lynden) and state senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) will field questions from residents at a town hall meeting.

The lawmakers will offer an update on the legislative session, which began on January 8 and ends on Thursday, March 8. The city of Blaine is requesting funding for two major infrastructure projects that would create an I-5/Exit 274 interchange and also extend utilities to east city limits to spur residential development.

Blaine’s I-5/Exit 274 interchange project got close to receiving $12.1 million for the first phase last session, but it was vetoed by governor Jay Inslee due to lack of information about its scope. The project was also excluded from the transportation budget the previous year. Last year, the state legislature also turned down a city request to allocate $3.4 million to extend Blaine’s utilities.

On January 16, Ericksen introduced Senate Bill 6440, which would allocate $12.1 million toward Blaine’s I-5/Exit 274 interchange project to complete an interchange justification report and start environmental review. It was brought to the senate transportation committee on February 5.

This will be the second time Van Werven, Buys and Ericksen have visited Blaine to discuss this legislative session. In December, they stopped by city hall to talk priorities with city staff.