Letter from Minnesota lawmakers asking why the transportation department gave the state no BUILD grant follows $17.3 million more to Kentucky

WASHINGTON – Following news that Kentucky received another $17.3 million from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Transit Administration and a letter to DOT Secretary Chao from members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation demanding to know why their state did not receive even a dime of the $900 million in BUILD grants the department released this year, Restore Public Trust released the following statement:

“When Elaine Chao’s Department of Transportation repeatedly favors the interests of Kentuckians over the interests of those in other states, it’s the majority of Americans that loses out,” said Lizzy Price, director of Restore Public Trust. “With her track record of favoring Kentucky interests and the fact that her husband Mitch McConnell is up for reelection in the Senate next year, it’s no surprise that Chao is funneling even more money into the Kentucky. If Chao is committed to serving only the states are politically advantageous to her, her family, and McConnell, then she is failing the country she’s supposed to serve. Chao must be held accountable for her corruption.”

The $17.3 million in Federal Transit Administration bus grant funding DOT gave Louisville, Kentucky this week was the highest amount awarded nationwide.

The award is the latest in a longstanding pattern of Chao’s favoritism towards Kentucky, including holding one fourth of her meetings during her first 14 months in office with state and local Kentucky officials and assigning a DOT liaison to handle McConnell’s Kentucky pet projects.

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