Lawmakers eye Safe Routes to School funding to backfill maintenance hole

Advocates are scrambling to save a beloved state program that makes it safer and easier for Oregon kids to walk and bike school. They say Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s plan to redirect all existing state transportation funding to operations and maintenance has crossed a line and now threatens dedicated funding for the Safe Routes to School program.

“We thought Safe Routes to School was safe,” said Oregon Walks Executive Director Zachary Lauritzen in a message to other advocates today. “But in the last 24 hours have heard it is now being considered.”

Kotek surprised everyone when she came out with her “repeal, redirect, regroup” plan earlier this month. The “redirect” was a call for lawmakers to redirect as much funding from House Bill 2017 (the previous transportation funding package) as possible to basic operations and maintenance. With hundreds of millions dedicated to highway expansion projects and other grant programs, some insiders assumed that Safe Routes to School would be held harmless. But the program, which has received $10 million per between 2018 and 2022 and $15 million per year since 2023, is now in jeopardy.

“Just recently we heard that SRTS funding is one of the potential programs to be reallocated, which means it would be defunded for at least two years,” Laurtizen wrote today in a message to bike advocates. He shared a sample letter and encouraged everyone in the community to send it to their state reps in order to boost the chorus of voices that stand behind Safe Routes to School.

Here’s an excerpt from Lauritzen’s sign-on letter:

“Dear State Leaders:

We urge you to prioritize Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding by first reallocating funds from large infrastructure projects that have experienced significant cost and timeline overruns… The safety of our children must remain a core priority… We appreciate the complexity of the choices before you and do not underestimate how challenging this moment is. As tradeoffs are considered, please prioritize and protect the incremental but meaningful gains Oregon has made in safely moving kids and families to and from school. Safe Routes to School is a critical part of that progress and should remain a protected investment.”

Oregon has built one of the most successful and robust Safe Routes to School programs in the country. It would be a shame to lose ground now.

The legislative session begins February 2nd and will last 35 days.