GOP killed E. Missoula, CSKT infrastructure projects. What now?
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) It's been a summer of what could have been in western Montana as the federal government rescinds grants already awarded to local governments, leaving officials and residents wondering why, and what happens now.
Missoula County in July saw the Trump administration retract a $24 million grant to fund infrastructure and safety improvements along the Highway 200 corridor in East Missoula. The following month, the administration rescinded a $75 million grant awarded to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe to reconstruct a dangerous stretch of Highway 93 in the Ninepipe area.
Both grants took years to compile before being awarded by the 2023 Neighborhood Access and Equity Fund. But under the Trump administration and the GOP's rise to power in Congress, the word “equity” led to the demise of the program and the funding it had promised, leaving both projects dead in the water.
Local officials describe the loss of funding to a lack of understanding of what it would have achieved on the ground, equity or otherwise.
“The programs through which these many millions of dollars of funding would have flowed to the local community to do important infrastructure work was nested in a program that, by some accounts, was a function of 'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion' because the word 'equity' was in the program,” said Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier.
The long road to nowhere
After decades of planning and years of trying, Missoula County landed $24 million last summer to make improvements along the Highway 200 corridor in East Missoula.
The funding, announced by former Sen. Jon Tester, came from a program buried within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – a bipartisan bill that provided hundreds of millions of dollars for needed work across Montana.
But the funding was rescinded this year given its perceived ties to “equity,” which appeared in the program's title.
“It has taken years to get to this point,” Strohmaier said. “We thought we were over the finish line by getting this federal grant to compliment local and state funds. Yet here we are.”
Since the loss of funding, the county has reached out to members of Montana's congressional delegation, which expressed varying levels of concern.
Rep. Ryan Zinke blamed the funding loss on the Biden administration “for making it so that no funding moved without ideological buzzwords completely unrelated to the actual goals of the project.”
Sen. Steve Danes said he was “in close contact with local leaders and with relevant federal agencies on the path forward for these projects.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy, who replaced Tester, praised the Trump administration for “reining in spending” and said he'd “work to ensure cost-saving measures are targeted responsibly and the critical resources Montanans rely on are protected.” He made no mention of the East Missoula project specifically.
Strohmaier said the county has reached out to the delegation looking for a path forward.
“We've made our concerns known,” he said. “With all legislation, you never knows what goes on behind closed doors. But I will say that it's a huge disappointment for us and the community. What suffers is going to be public safety.”
Other funding losses
The rescinding of funding isn't only a Missoula or tribal problem, as communities across the country are grappling with the GOP's recent legislative actions, including Republican districts.
According to Politico, the Trump administration has rescinded more than $2.2 billion from the Biden-era policy aimed at helping disadvantaged neighborhoods. That included an $87 million grant to help Utah address neighborhood connectivity along Interstate 15, and an $11 million grant in Kentucky to address pedestrian safety on a dangerous road.
A U.S. Department of Transportation official told Politico that “Congress was right to cancel” the Utah grant, saying it “prioritized (diversity, equity and inclusion) and Green priorities while ignoring the core infrastructure needs of our country.”
That's of no solace to East Missoula or the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The later lost roughly $75 million to address safety on Highway 93. Among other things, the project would have included three new bridges, intersection improvements and a wider roadway.
Tribal officials called it “sad news.”
“Our various staff met weekly trying to expedite the design, so we could get the dollars that were awarded on the ground,” the tribe stated. “We will continue to look for funding to make this highway safe for all of us to drive.”
While the CSKT looks for a new path forward, Missoula County will be doing the same. Strohmaier suggested the Highway 200 project could be tackled in incremental stages, though that could take years.
The county has also asked federal officials if the project may fit into a transportation program the GOP and the Trump administration find more palatable, one where “equity” isn't an issue.
“My pitch would be, could there be an opportunity to take the project itself and shift it over to a different DOT program that's not eliminated, instead of starting from scratch, which is basically where we are right now?” Strohmaier said. “We're going to need to retool our approach and find existing grant programs that have not been eliminated, or funding for which hasn't been rescinded, and go after that.”
But that also could take years if past history is any indication. Plans for the East Missoula project began nearly two decades ago.
And while “equity” led to the downfall of the Missoula and tribal transportation projects, “climate” may have prompted the Trump administration to rescind $1 million from Missoula County earmarked for a “home improvement hub.”
The program intended to provide funding to qualified individuals to make energy efficient improvements to their residence. Strohmaier said the future of the program now remains in question.
“Nobody should be terribly surprised with how this has all played out given the priorities of the administration. But we're not giving up,” Strhomaier said.