U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum Visits Washington County Board

Press release

The Washington County Board of Commissioners welcomed U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum to the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater Nov. 20 to visit about topics of mutual interest.

McCollum, who will be returning to Washington, D.C., for her seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives in January, now represents the central portion of Washington County, after redistricting triggered by the 2010 Census.

The county commissioners noted the number of transportation projects that are underway in Washington County, including the Gateway Corridor, the Highway 36 Corridor, and the Red Rock Corridor, which will include a transit station in Newport. All of the projects will require federal support to realize transit improvements along the corridors.

McCollum has been a champion of the Gateway Corridor at the federal level, even before representing the portion of Washington County in which most of the corridor is located. She was also instrumental in helping to appropriate money for the Newport Transit Station along the Red Rock Corridor, which will be under construction in 2013.

In addition to transit issues, commissioners asked McCollum about the pending “fiscal cliff” that will occur unless federal budget adjustments are made before the end of the year. McCollum said that she was hopeful that current negotiations in Washington will help avoid the financial problems forecast, and that solutions will be found that will keep long-term costs to the federal government in check.