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WASHINGTON — Too many infrastructure and transportation projects were left undone from the last administration, said Iniana’s 2nd District Congressman Rudy Yakym, speaking at Transportation and Infrastructure Member Day, in Washington.

He placed some of the blame on former Transportation Secretary and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Yakym seemed not to hold back when presenting some suggestions for the next big infrastructure bill.

“Sec. Buttigieg’s crippling bureaucracy got in the way of putting shovels in the ground,” he said. “It’s no wonder Sec. (Sean) Duffy was saddled with a backlog of 3,200 projects that were announced but not executed on.”

You can see his full comments here.

One of Yakym’s suggestions was to streamline grant agreements as much as possible, eliminating some of the strict rules and bureaucracy that often went with grants when Buttigieg was in charge. Yakym also said reporting and accountability must be followed to make sure the projects that are announced are actually executed.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for projects to wait upwards of three years to get the green light from the secretary, especially at a time of high inflation,” he said. “Too often Sec. Buttigieg seemed content to bask in the fanfare of the announcement, only to leave the project stuck at the starting line.”

Yakaym also suggested getting rid of some of the DEI and progressive regulations that were often turned into stipulations.

One example was a railroad project in Indiana which was not granted federal money because it did not include an EV charging station.

“States know where it’s best to allocate infrastructure money for local needs, not bureaucrats in Washington, who think railroad overpasses need EV chargers,” he said.

While there were several slams of Buttigieg and his policies, Yakym was also intent on pointing out some of the processes which gummed up projects and kept them from happening in a timely manner, despite grandiose announcements and grand plans.

“Our federal agencies need to get back to the basics,” he said.

The post Yakym slams Buttigieg’s legacy as Transportation Secretary appeared first on News Now Warsaw.