Editorial: State must prioritize transit projects following Trump’s funding cuts
By Editorial Board
Jan. 18, 2017 8:17 p.m.
California will soon have more than just a potential budget problem on its hands.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as president Friday, and the Republican-unified federal government will work in earnest to achieve its partisan agenda. And while Trump’s policies are still up for grabs, the Republican party has laid out the items on its partisan checklist – one of which is to significantly cut federal funding for state transit projects.
Although not immediately apparent, this hard-line infrastructure policy means rail and freeway projects, such as those undertaken by Metro in Los Angeles, stand to face notable setbacks due to loss of federal funds. And in the face of this stark reality, the California state government needs to prioritize state funding for transit-related infrastructure projects over other infrastructure projects, putting together a rainy-day fund to make up at least part of the funding losses these projects have coming for them.
Among the many questionable campaign promises he made, Trump pledged to invest close to $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure. And while that offers hope to transit-eager Angelenos who voted in November to pass Measure M – a tax that would expand the city’s public transit system and revamp the city’s freeways – the likelihood of more infrastructure funding coming to California is slim, especially given Republican lawmakers’ aversion to increasing the national debt ceiling.
Moreover, the Republican Party platform is clear in its aversion to using federal funds for transit-related projects. This may seem like just a partisan jibe, but state and city governments do rely on federal funds. It would be foolish to expect same level of transit-related funding they were provided over the last eight years.
For example, Metro is expecting between 12 to 19 percent of its funds to come from federal support. A notable drop in that funding could mean rail expansions that are already expected to take several decades could take even longer. Even California’s high-speed bullet train, which is expecting a total of $3.3 billion in federal funding, stands to lose a great deal of funding, which could seriously hamper what has already eaten a good deal of taxpayer dollars.
As such, the state government needs to prioritize state infrastructure funding toward these transit-related projects and provide respective city governments with the additional funds to make up for a portion of the possible loss in federal funds. And it can do so by putting together a rainy-day fund and appropriating state funds to provide relief to these projects, which stand to lose a good deal of money.
Of course, pulling funds from one set of infrastructure projects to fund another may seem a zero-sum game, but if California is intent on remaining a proponent of environmentalism and solving its long-standing traffic problems, protecting its transit-related projects is the way to go. And while there is the possibility that senators and congressmen can negotiate for more funding back home, the state needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario – just as it already has done by pulling resources to put together a $7.2 billion fund, most likely for a potential economic recession.
The incoming Trump administration will undoubtedly affect Californians socially and economically. The least the state can do to prepare for the next four years is to make sure the trains still run on time.
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Read more Daily Bruin coverage of the presidential inauguration, along with analysis of California and federal policy under the Trump Administration:
