As a policy wonk and transportation nerd, I have had many dinner table conversations recently filled with speculation about the current landscape of transportation policy and planning. In the face of the administration change and the rocky start to the state legislative session, headlines have come nearly hourly.
It’s been a wild few weeks in state and federal politics, so now is a good time to take stock and understand our outlook on transportation policies and finance.
The Biden Administration Legacy
The Biden administration ended with a flurry of grant-making across a variety of programs relevant to transportation. Notable among these included millions for the Reconnecting Communities Program, the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) and the Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) programs, ending Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s work on transportation.
Despite these successes, President Joe Biden’s transportation legacy is mixed. His administration did fund some of the largest climate efforts to date, especially under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. His bipartisan infrastructure law also funded significant efforts to invest in transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructures but also supercharged highway expansions and other climate-damaging investments.
As put by Transportation for America, despite a few notable exceptions — including reconnecting communities and huge multi-modal transit increases — Biden’s transportation policies and initiatives continued the transportation status quo, only they provided far better funding for it.
Trump’s Transportation Posture
As the new administration came into office, we knew from President Donald Trump’s first term there would be major adjustments to policy and posture. Through his competitive grant programs, his first administration prioritized funding highway expansion, especially through the RAISE program (already renamed the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development or BUILD grant program to strip equity language).
He also prioritized funding to rural communities and less so in urban areas and communities of color compared with recent Democratic presidents, and he made procedural tweaks to change how future costs and benefits are valued in project analysis — specifically by increasing the discount rate, which places less weight on long-term benefits of reduced carbon emissions from transit or active transportation projects.
Trump’s First Weeks in Office
A flurry of executive orders have covered immigration, climate change and Trump’s socially conservative agenda, especially concerning gender identity and diversity policies.
Here’s what actions relate most directly to transportation:
A Pause on Federal Grants and Loans: The chaos that followed this order led to fear and confusion for thousands of organizations and agencies across the country. It started in the Unleashing American Energy executive order but due to imprecise wording, the order paused all funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act programs. The administration clarified the order to and defined that it only applies to electric vehicle programs and other projects centering on climate, equity, and other Biden-era priorities.
For the broader funding pause — including programs beyond Biden’s two large infrastructure bills — Trump rescinded the effort the day after its introduction after it was challenged in the courts. In my role administering a large Federal Reconnecting Communities grant at Our Streets, I can attest that if the program is discontinued, transportation projects of all kinds will be in jeopardy and the nonprofits and governments who support them will be left scrambling.
This effort may have been paused in the courts but is certainly not over. The Trump Administration is still withholding spending at EPA despite the court order, and the January 29th “woke rescission” memo directs all Department of Transportation agencies to identify and eliminate any policies, documents, or funding agreements from the Biden administration that relate to climate change, equity, diversity or environmental justice, potentially putting billions in existing project funding at risk.
If you’re curious, nearly all of the transportation programs in the IIJA reference Justice40, the Biden administration’s infrastructure equity initiative, putting many programs at risk.
Banning Funding for Sanctuary Cities and States: Minneapolis and St. Paul are sanctuary cities and fifth district U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar spoke on the issue with city officials in Minneapolis, upholding the city’s promise to welcome immigrants. It’s not clear if this will hold up in the courts, but could also impact federal funding to transportation and many other services.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords and Efforts to End the “Green New Deal“: Trump’s withdrawal from global climate commitments threatens federal support for sustainable transportation, though states like Minnesota can still pursue local climate initiatives. Transportation, as a major emissions source, remains central to climate policy discussions at both international conferences and state planning levels.
Perhaps the biggest thing to emphasize across all of these orders is that Presidential authority is being stretched significantly, as many constitutional scholars and liberally aligned news pundits have emphasized. Still, the Trump administration is ignoring court orders anyway, leading to broader confusion, chaos, and questions of presidential power.
Rocky Start to Minnesota Legislative Session
As Trump abandons progressive federal transportation policies, transportation and land use solutions are even more important than ever at the state and local levels. And in Minnesota, the start to the legislative session has been nearly as tumultuous as our national political climate.
I’m sure you’ve all seen the coverage: a razor-thin race in which Shakopee’s Brad Tabke, a Democrat, narrowly won re-election to the Minnesota House; a Roseville representative’s false claims of residency, a DFL boycott that finally ended last week, Republicans unlawfully starting the session without a quorum, and the death of well-respected former Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minneapolis).
As it stands today with the election of Democrat Doron Clark to the Minnesota Senate, the DFL holds control of the chamber, ending a brief period of power-sharing in the Senate. The house passed a deal late on February 5 to end the DFL boycott, finally starting legislating in earnest. The terms handed the speakership to Rep. Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) for the biennium. They also granted Republicans control of all committees, though only until a likely Democratic victory in the March special election in Roseville ties the house and power sharing on committees (except for the House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee, which will remain under GOP control).
Transportation at the Legislature
It will be tricky to pass major transportation legislation this year given power sharing in the House, a large transportation omnibus bill in 2023 and a looming budget deficit in the 2027-2028 biennium of over $5 billion.
Despite this being a budget session — where the governor outlines his proposal for state spending over the next two years — transportation will likely get only a modest budget allocation at best, meaning we won’t see a huge increase in funding to transit, biking and pedestrian infrastructures unless it balances out elsewhere.
Due to house power-sharing — with a 67-67 split, and 68 votes needed for anything to pass the chamber — ambitious legislation will have to come through the Senate and its transportation committee and be negotiated with the House through the conference-committee process during the end of the session’s dash to pass omnibus bills (a typical process that bundles many policies into a single bill).
Our team at Our Streets is working closely with communities along highways across the state, legislators who represent them and partner organizations to pass transportation policies that Minnesotans deserve. The bill, authored by Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis) and Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura (DFL-Minneapolis) in the House, would reform highway policy and planning to make the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) more accountable to communities across the state and the legislators who represent them; the bill also would build in funding flexibility and environmental justice protections.
It centers communities and the environment through a cumulative impact analysis (transportation has often been left out of these laws) and clarifying highway purpose language in statute to allow Minnesota to fund transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure along trunk highways without raising taxes.
Other partners, including the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN), have an ambitious agenda to increase Minnesotans’ freedom of movement and safety for road users, however they travel — and to ensure our state invests in a fiscally responsible way. Housing advocates, including environmental and climate organizations and some industry groups, are also continuing to push reform efforts that began last year. This could be a place of bipartisan compromise in the midst of broader political tensions.
And Move Minnesota, Sierra Club North Star Chapter, Our Streets, BikeMN and others are working to ensure that wins from the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions come to fruition. Gov. Tim Walz’s current proposed budget actually zeros out state funding for light-rail operations funding until 2029, totaling to roughly $32 million per year. These cuts could also inadvertently impact BRT development, as funding has to be redirected internally at the Metropolitan Council.
The governor is also working with MnDOT to repurpose metro sales tax dollars designated for transit initiatives to fund road improvements along Central Avenue (Highway 65) from Minneapolis to Blaine in conjunction with the F line BRT. This is a big blow to advocates of a world-class transit and active transportation system in the Twin Cities.
Making Sense of the Madness
Through this twice-monthly column, Streets.mn will continue to cover the legislative session and any transportation and land use reforms. I am a loyal reader of and occasional contributor to the Minnesota Reformer, which in my view has the most consistent, perceptive coverage of the State Capitol. For a national view, Transportation for America sorts through our current uncertainties on federal transportation policy and funding, and StreetsBlogUSA has coverage of these issues as well.
Most importantly, take action. Ask your state and local officials what they plan to do without certain streams of federal funding, including legislators, MnDOT staff, and other state officials, and ask them to keep fighting for forward-thinking transportation policies.
On the congressional level, share Transportation for America’s analysis of funding at risk and ask how our representatives in Washington plan to protect important investments for Minnesota communities. We must all ensure our Congressional delegation is aware of the risk to our communities and ask them to take action.
Editor’s note: “Street Views” appears in Streets.mn twice monthly. Respond to columnist and board member Joe Harrington directly at [email protected]. You may also add comments at our Streets.mn pages on Bluesky and Facebook.
