Letter to Elaine L. Chao, Department of Transportation Secretary - Congressman Neguse, Colorado Delegation Members Call for Extension of Federally-Funded Transportation Project Deadlines

Letter

Dear Secretary Chao,

We write to request that you allow for increased flexibility or for extending project deadlines that
may now be infeasible for cities to meet because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also ask that
you consider waiving state and local matching requirements.

In these extremely challenging times, states across the country and cities across Colorado are
struggling with balancing their budgets while providing for their constituents and prioritizing
safety. In many cases, construction projects have been halted, postponed, or delayed--making it
very difficult for cities and localities to complete federally-funded projects by their required
federal deadlines.

States and cities are struggling to meet project deadlines set before the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, and risk losing their federal matching funds if they are unable to do so. As a result
of budget constraints, they are also struggling to find enough money to make their state and local
match, and risk missing the project completion deadlines altogether and losing federal funding.
Formula funding from programs such as the Surface Transportation Program (STP)-Metro,
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ), Transportation Alternatives Program
(TAP), and other federal programs that fund city projects are desperately needed, but without
deadline extensions, many cities may not be able to use the funding they have already been
allocated.

At a time when states are struggling to create budgets for the upcoming Fiscal Year and when
our nation's infrastructure continues to be in desperate need of repair, we should take steps to
make sure state and local governments can continue to rely on the federal cost-share for their
obligated projects, by making it easier to extend their project timelines or waiving the state and
local match requirement.

For the above reasons, we request that you allow for increased flexibility during this unique
situation and permit the use of waivers or other means to extend the Performance Periods for
state and local projects that can no longer feasibly meet their project deadlines. We also urge you
to consider waiving the local and state match requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic,
because many cities and states across the country do not have the resources to meet their required funding level and are at risk of losing these critical funds.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests. We look forward to working with you as we
search for ways to ease the burden on our state and local governments and improve our
infrastructure during this global pandemic.