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When given the opportunity to deliver meaningful results, crucial infrastructure investments, and boost job creation, David Valadao failed.
Read the full editorial below.
The Fresno Bee: Fresno-area roads need fixing, but David Valadao wrongly votes on repair initiative
By Editorial Board
November 9, 2021
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One can just imagine the political ads coming next year to Fresno-area TV:
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“David Valadao voted against making Highway 99 safer.”
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“Representative David Valadao doesn’t want you to have clean drinking water.”
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“Need better internet? Don’t expect any help from congressman David Valadao.”
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Valadao, of course, is the Hanford Republican representing a battleground district in Congress, California’s 21st, which currently covers Kings County and portions of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties. Democrats hold a significant edge in voter registration, which makes Valadao an anomaly of politics. He captured the seat in 2020 by just 1,522 votes over Democrat TJ Cox, who beat him in a similarly close election two years before.
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In fact, Valadao did just vote against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the $1 trillion package of spending measures to rebuild the nation’s crumbling roads, worn-down airports and tired rail lines, among other things.
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Valadao said he voted against the measure even though he recognized the good it would do.
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“While our nation’s infrastructure is in desperate need of repair, I cannot, in good conscience, vote in favor of any part of this multitrillion-dollar package,” he said in a statement.
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Valadao professed concern over how the bill’s cost would impact middle-class families into the future.
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“The last thing middle-class families need is to carry the burden of paying for this magnitude of reckless spending for years to come,” said Valadao.
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Such sentiment was uttered by GOP representatives nationwide in opposition to the bill, and Valadao was not alone in California — every GOP member from the state voted against the measure, include Devin Nunes of Tulare.
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Still, GOP rhetoric and hypocritical concern over middle-class burdens aside, repairing roads, bridges, transportation hubs and water systems is desperately needed, as Valadao points out. Oftentimes leadership is doing what is right, not just what is political. That is what Valadao, and his Republican colleagues, failed to do in this instance.
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ROADS, AIRPORTS, WATER
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The House passed the infrastructure bill last Friday, following the August approval of it by the Senate. President Biden will sign it this week.
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What does it mean for California and the central San Joaquin Valley? According to Fresno Rep. Jim Costa, a Democrat who backed it, the measure will:
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Provide $25.3 billion for California highways, such as 99 and 41;
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Fund $9.45 billion to improve California public transportation options, including high-speed rail;
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Allocate $3.5 billion to fix California water infrastructure and ensure clean, safe drinking water, a problem for many smaller communities in the Valley, such as Tombstone near Sanger and Earlimart in Tulare County.
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Designate $1.5 billion to improve California airports;
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Set aside $100 million to expand broadband access across the state.
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TRUMP-ERA DEFICITS
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Why was the GOP’s stance on the infrastructure bill hypocritical? Because the person most responsible for running up America’s budget deficit to its record high is none other than former Republican President Donald Trump.
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The 2017 tax cut he championed, with its focus on benefiting corporations, when combined with lack of spending restraint by Congress, resulted in one of the largest hikes in the deficit by any American president. The debt grew by more than $7 trillion under Trump. Put another way, every American today owes $23,500 to pay off the debt.
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Were Republicans in Congress asleep when this occurred? No, they backed Trump’s initiatives to both cut taxes and keep defense spending strong. So GOP criticisms of Biden’s infrastructure bill now are hollow.
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Infrastructure is a wonky word that no one really gets excited about. But think of it like a homeowner putting off a plumbing repair. Sooner or later, that leak has to be fixed.
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Valadao has seven challengers in next year’s election, assuming they file and qualify for the ballot. Two of them are Democrats with previous elected experience: current state Assemblyman Rudy Salas of Bakersfield, and former Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, also of Bakersfield. Three Republicans are also contending against Valadao. One of those, Chris Mathys, is a pro-Trump candidate from Fresno who announced his candidacy after Valadao voted to impeach the former president over his influencing the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
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The Trump wing of the GOP is against Valadao; hence, his vote on the infrastructure bill was an attempt at damage control for the impeachment vote.
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However, Democrats are also against Valadao and will use his infrastructure vote against him. He is trying to work the middle, appealing as a moderate and hoping to attract as many voters as possible.
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But he made a major mistake not voting to fix the roads, bridges and transportation centers his constituents use every day.
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