Willamette Week interviews U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon about the shenanigans going on behind-the-scenes of the newly-approved Transportation Bill.
Willamette Week staff captured this fascinating interview with DeFazio a couple of weeks ago, before the bill was approved by Congress and it had been held up for years. DeFazio explains that the bill as drafted by the Republicans had a passage that gave the President the ability to define infrastructure projects in "the national competitive interest" and declare them exempt of "ALL the laws of the United States of America," clearly an attempt to override environmental protection policies. Talking to the drafters of the bill, DeFazio says he said, "You guys are Republicans, right? So, you're kind of concerned about private property rights? This would take away any Federal restrictions on taking by the Federal governments. Any laws that applied to that would be gone."
FULL STORY: DeFazio on Sausage-Making
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Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.
From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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