October 7: Kaptur Welcomes USDOT Decision to Disallow Federal Funding for Kasich's Turnpike Scheme

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur this morning welcomed the announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation that the Ohio Department of Transportation may not use federal funding to further a scheme to privatize the Ohio Turnpike.

"The Turnpike is a capital asset that should be used for economic development in Northern Ohio, not a financial derivative to be shopped around to the highest bidder," said Congresswoman Kaptur.

"The Turnpike belongs to the Ohio people--they paid for it. I applaud Secretary (Ray) LaHood for making the correct decision and standing up for the people of Northern Ohio."

U.S. Department of Transportation officials announced the decision with revoke funding for privatization during a conference call this morning with members of the Ohio Democratic congressional delegation. Congresswoman Kaptur praised her colleague, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (OH-17) for organizing the call and a letter to USDOT earlier this week.

Ohio Democrats in the U.S. House had sent a letter to Secretary LaHood on Tuesday, arguing that it was an improper use of federal planning and research dollars--reportedly $1.5 million--to pay a contractor to advise the Kasich Administration on privatizing the Turnpike. "(W)e have serious concerns that using federal funds to progress plans to sell off a state asset are far from the intended spirit of the program," they said.

"(U)sing these funds to advance a privatization plan that could potentially severely cost drivers via increased tolls, threaten the job security of over 1,000 Ohioans, and drive up costs for local governments through increased maintenance costs of local roads, is a questionable use of federal taxpayer dollars and exposes a loophole in the program guidelines.

"While we may not all agree on the State's actions towards privatization of the Ohio Turnpike, federal taxpayer funds should not be serving to facilitate a particular policy initiative to privatize a public asset."

Read the following articles for more information:

Toledo Blade: "Kaptur decries leasing plan for Ohio Turnpike"

WKBN.com: "Money revoked for Ohio Turnpike privatization project"

Toledo Blade: "Ohio won't get $1.5 million for Turnpike study, federal department decides"