EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Huizenga rolls out legislation to hold Newsom accountable if roads aren't cleared

Riots in Los Angeles prompted Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.) to immediately hold Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.) accountable.

The Washington Reporter exclusively obtained Huizenga’s latest legislations, the Clear the ROADs Act, which he called “a direct response to the increasing trend of unlawful traffic-obstructing protests that have been deployed across the United States.”

Huizenga’s bill, which is backed by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), would withhold ten percent of a state’s federal highway funds if the state does not provide for reasonable efforts to “prohibit the reckless obstruction of lawful vehicle traffic on their federal-aid eligible roadways.”

The bill would also require the Secretary of Transportation — in this case, longtime Huizenga ally Sean Duffy — to certify every year whether states meet these requirements before federal highway funds are allocated.

Huizenga, who is considering a Senate run in Michigan, told the Reporter that his legislation “would provide the Trump administration with another tool to hold states accountable for ensuring federally funded roads aren’t overrun by dangerous roadblocking activities."

“If States are neglecting their duties to keep their federal taxpayer-funded roads free from these traffic-obstructing actions, then federal taxpayer funds should be withheld from those states,” Huizenga said.

“My legislation recognizes that endangering the free flow of ambulances, fire trucks, and other drivers is not an option,” he continued. “Based on Governor Gavin Newsom’s handling of the recent road-blocking riots in California, the Clear the ROADS Act would provide President Trump, Secretary Duffy, and the administration with the likely ability to penalize California’s access to roughly 400 million in taxpayer-funded federal transportation dollars.”