Voting & Democracy News

Despite Crumbling Infrastructure, in 2008 Only About 10 Percent of Transportation Earmark Dollars Went to Repairs

Seattle, WA, Nov. 12 – The nation has 73,000 crumbling bridges, but year after year startlingly few federal transportation dollars go to fixing them.

In 2008, for example, just a few months after the tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse which killed 13 and sparked alarm and outrage across the country, Congress directed only 74 of the 704 highway projects earmarked in the transportation appropriations bill to repair or maintain a bridge, tunnel, or overpass. 

Only about ten percent of the projects, and about ten percent of the funding, focused on fixing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Most of the $570 million went for new highways and other new construction.

Millions of dollars also flowed in another direction… from highway construction companies and the trade associations that represent them to the campaign coffers of elected officials in Olympia and Washington, D.C.

Were those dollars “greasing the wheels” in our state and federal capitols?

WashPIRG’s new report Greasing the Wheels: the Crossroads of Campaign Money and Transportation Policy looks at the 2008 transportation appropriations bill using data never before available, laying out the details of Congress’ earmark requests. The report, released on Thursday during an event at the Duwamish Riverside Park, also examines the campaign contributions from highway construction interests both here in Washington and nationally.

“In our current political system, elected officials must raise huge sums of campaign contributions from major donors to win reelection,” said WashPIRG Advocate Blair Anundson.

“In part because of this, we believe that transportation spending is skewed toward road-widening and new highway projects favored by developers, road builders and the other interests who make those contributions,” Anundson added.

Craig Salins, director of Washington Public Campaigns and an advocate for sweeping campaign finance reform, concurred with the findings and recommendations in the report. “Evidence is mounting that budget priorities and lawmaking is auctioned off to the highest campaign contributors.  Money rolls in; and political favors roll out.”

“Instead, we need publicly-financed campaigns -- so that elected officials work for constituent voters, instead of for high-priced lobbyists and special interests, " Salins added.

The report was released in view of the South Park Bridge, a crumbling structure in South Seattle. Local leaders, including new King County Executive Dow Constantine have worked hard to secure funding for repairs for this bridge. If the bridge closes, an additional 20,000 vehicles—including 2,800 trucks—will be dumped onto I-5, State Route 99 and State Route 509. This would lead to more traffic for Boeing commuters, anyone catching a flight at the airport, and anyone doing business in Seattle.

“Removing the big, corporate money from political campaigns removes one obstacle to ensuring that public funds are spent with the needs of the community in mind,” said Geoff Belau, an architect and local advocate for repairing the South Park Bridge. “The South Park Bridge is an excellent example of a project that serves the public, but is underserved by the current transportation funding system. Its loss would negatively impact the entire region.”

“We need to clean up the campaign finance system so that lawmakers can focus on the needs of the public rather than their major donors,” stated Anundson.

Greasing the Wheels: the Crossroads of Campaign Money and Transportation Policy report, is available on the WashPIRG website by clicking here.

-##-

WashPIRG  is the Washington state Public Interest Research Group. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations.

WA-Grease.pdf