- Transportation Infrastructure
On May 22, the US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure committee passed the Build America 250 Act – the new transportation infrastructure bill that will replace Biden’s good Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Though the new bill eliminates some of the best sections adopted in the Biden administration, it is not as bad as we had thought. With that said, it still needs a lot of improvements to be a good bill. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of the new bill:
- Good – Has language that prevents the cancellation of grants with this language: “the Secretary may not terminate, withhold, or delay the execution of a grant agreement for a grant or award (in part or in whole) made using funds made available under this Act”
- Bad – Decreases the amount of guaranteed funding from $539 billion to $474 billion.
- Ugly – the decreased amount can be mostly attributed to eliminating funding for transit, passenger rail, and competitive grants programs. It does of course increase funding for highways. (needs to add dedicated, guaranteed funding for transit operations and passenger rail)
- Good – A dedicated Bridge Repair program was created setting aside $9.2 billion annually. Each state would get $75 million, plus extra depending on specific criteria.
- Bad – States have to produce a new report stating their progress on fixing bridges, but there are no real penalties for failing to make progress. (There needs to be real accountability to make progress)
- Ugly – Though the bill also sets aside $2 billion for a competitive grants program for bridge repair and safety on the federal highway system, the is actually no guaranteed funding for this program and would have to be fought for every year through the appropriations process. (Funding should be guaranteed).
- Good – bill creates the STAG grant program that includes Reconnecting Communities as an eligible project.
- Bad – Most of the grants that were cancelled from the previous administration related to the program that included Reconnecting Communities, These projects are unlikely to get approved. (this bill needs to include language to restore all promised grants that were cancelled)
- Ugly – this bill completely eliminated the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program which focused on reconnecting communities that had been cut or destroyed from bad infrastructure projects.
- Good – The Safe Streets For All Program is still in the bill! This is a critical program that works to make our streets safer for all road users. and has guaranteed funding! This is the best news of this bill.
- Bad – The funding for the Safe Streets For All program has been cut almost in half, meaning fewer project will get funded or completed. (This funding should be restored to the previous amount at the very least).
- Ugly – Vision Zero (a program to eliminate serious injury and death) has been completely eliminated. And the US DOT has already shown that it will not approve projects that reduce parking or repurpose lanes, think complete streets projects. (Vision Zero must be restored and requirements for communities to show real progress).
- Also Ugly – Eliminates the Carbon Reduction Program and adds a tax to electric vehicles to pay for this bill. (Needs to reinstate this program).
Here’s what you can do:
Though the bill has passed the house committee, it still has a long way to go, which means the bill could change. Over the summer months, leading up to the September 30th deadline, attend town halls and other congressional events in your area, ask questions and tell your story about how this bill could impact your community and what might make it better. Emphasize your safety concerns, talk about how important complete streets are to revitalizing your community.
The continued focus on a car-centric transportation system isn’t by accident. There is a lot of money that can be made by the fossil fuel industry, the auto industry, and more. Check out this blog by the Union of Concerned Scientists that focuses on their recent research to look into how much is spent each year to lobby decision makers to maintain the status quo, spoiler alert – it’s $200 million! Check out the blog here.https://blog.ucs.org/kshen/the-highway-lobby-spends-millions-to-make-sure-we-pay-billions/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=60b0d08c-be87-4beb-8e7c-25815550da01
To see and read more about winners, check out The Iowan Magazine feature on 2015 winners: http://bit.ly/29SV8Xh and go to https://1000friendsofiowa.org/our- programs/best-development-awards/