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LaMalfa Transportation Reform Package Rejected in Partisan Vote

June 29, 2021

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) presented amendments to the House Democrats Transportation package that would have significantly streamlined infrastructure projects, reducing costs and delivering projects with fewer delays. The reforms would have created a pilot program to eliminate duplicative environmental reports and allowed California projects to simply follow the CEQA process instead of doing both CEQA and NEPA. Another reform eliminates the need to do NEPA inside the scope of an existing right-of-way. A third reform fixes existing problems with the California High Speed Rail project that has allowed California to skirt accountability.

"Rather than allow open debate on amendments offered by Republicans, House Democrats are forcing through a Green New Deal infrastructure package to meet a made-up July 4th deadline." LaMalfa said, "My amendment would have decreased the cost of infrastructure projects, allowing us to pave more roads, build more bridges, and repair more of our failing infrastructure. Bureaucratic red tape wastes nearly a third of a project's total cost. Congress must include reforms to reduce the cost and time it takes to deliver transportation projects. I will not support any infrastructure package whose only ‘solution' is spending our way out of inefficiency."

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