Directing Billions: Smart Transportation Spending in a time of economic crisis

Stimulus creates immediate need to influence state transportation decisions

The $850 plus federal stimulus legislation currently making its way through Congress includes around $30 billion dollars for transportation infrastructure with virtually no criteria and accountability for project selection. These funds will subsequently affect state transportation budgets. Thus, combined federal and state transportation decisions totaling in the 100s of billions of dollars will be made between now and June (the end of state legislative sessions). Transportation For America is working to increase funding for transit, biking and walking and add measures to ensure the investments made with these funds prioritize needed repair and maintenance. But even with good federal language, the important decisions will take place on the state and local level.

Smart Growth America is launching an immediate, six-month campaign to support our state partners in shaping stimulus spending and state DOT budget decisions. The need & opportunity are clear. States and DOTs, asked to develop lists of “ready to go” projects, have developed lists that consist almost entirely of road and other conventional projects. Without this campaign, the stimulus money will likely fund destructive road expansion projects rather than providing a down payment on a clean, green transportation infrastructure for the 21stCentury.

This campaign aims to:

  1. Continue to work to add criteria and accountability for project selection in the stimulus legislation on the federal level.
  2. Influence how state DOTs and governors spend the substantial amounts of money they receive from the federal government,
  3. Hold the state DOTs and governors accountable on the stimulus spending; and
  4. Increase the capacity of state advocacy groups for subsequent state, local, and federal campaign work.

SGA will support state organizations to shape transportation spending

To affect state transportation spending decisions, groups must affect the state DOT, the Governor, and/or legislators. State groups will lead this effort through state-level organizing, lobbying, and educating. Support for those activities—developing arguments, polling, and basic media products—can be most efficiently produced centrally and then provided to states.

Therefore, SGA will develop research, policy arguments, messaging, polling and other campaign materials, make these resources available to all state advocates, and provide training around transportation issues, techniques, and messages (e.g., via calls & web-inars). We will work with leading transportation experts to support development of this analysis and these arguments and analyze and translate state DOT project lists.