The Senate has voted 26-9 in favor of HB 285, the GARVEE bonding proposal for next year, which would bond for $162 million worth of work to wrap up the bond-funded "Connecting Idaho" program. The money would be split between two final projects, and all would go for construction: State Highway 16 from I-84 to State Highway 44 in the Treasure Valley; and U.S. Highway 95 from Garwood to Sagle in North Idaho. Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, noted that the money is only enough to finish the Garwood-to-Sagle project up to Granite, which is near Athol - not all the way to Sagle. She also noted that the Idaho Transportation Board has informed the Legislature that unless lawmakers direct otherwise, this will be the final installment of GARVEE bonding, which is a special type of bonding authorized by Congress to permit states to borrow against their future federal highway allocations.

The bonding plan has been controversial over the years, but there was no debate in the Senate today - perhaps because the Senate has been on the floor continuously for two and a half hours, it's 5:30 p.m. in Boise, and this was the last bill senators were scheduled to consider today. HB 285, which earlier passed the House on a 42-28 vote, now goes to the governor's desk.

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