Transportation grants favor more rural areas than in past - Entrepreneur Generations

More than 64 percent of a popular $500 million federal grant program that funds transportation projects is benefiting the rural areas that tended to vote for President Trump. "It’s a refocusing from the priorities of the previous administration, which gave most of these TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants to urban areas represented by President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies on Capitol Hill," Andrew Taylor reports for The Associated Press.

Established under President Obama's 2009 economic recovery bill, the program distributes a small fraction of overall federal transportation expenditure at the administration's discretion, via a competitive process. Some accused the Obama administration of favoring Democratic congressional districts; in 2013 about two-thirds of TIGER funding was given to such districts. Trump twice sought to eliminate the program, but tripled its budget to $1.5 billion in last month's spending bill.

In the latest round of TIGER grants, money awarded to Democratic-heavy states went instead to rural projects such as repainting a bridge in upstate New York. "Of the 41 grants announced by the Trump administration, 25 totaling $271 million were awarded to projects in congressional districts represented by Republicans," Taylor reports. "Districts represented by Democrats garnered 14 projects and $190 million. Two grants worth $25 million went to projects spanning district lines."

Obama's administration, in contrast, spent $102 million on rural grants in 2016, just above the 20 percent minimum required by law. More than one-third went to urban projects that sought to make cities more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. Though this year's grants have some similar projects, "the Trump administration is focused more on economic development projects such as port upgrades in Alabama, Baltimore and New Orleans.," Taylor reports. "Some $25 million would help Arizona ease congestion from a busy U.S.-Mexico port of entry in Nogales."

Other projects include reopening an inactive freight rail line in Idaho; easing traffic in Big Sky, Montana; helping fund a highway bypass around Lincoln, Nebraska; repairing freight rail bridges in Fort Smith, Arkansas; and replacing rail lines servicing farmers and energy producers in southern Illinois, Taylor reports.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2qlvq78 Transportation grants favor more rural areas than in past - Entrepreneur Generations

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