{"id":28853,"date":"2025-01-31T23:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T07:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/dot-says-it-will-tie-funding-to-birth-marriage-rates\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T23:56:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T07:56:51","slug":"dot-says-it-will-tie-funding-to-birth-marriage-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/dot-says-it-will-tie-funding-to-birth-marriage-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"DOT says it will tie funding to birth, marriage rates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><\/p>\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/images\/audio_icon.svg?482016190122\" alt=\"-\"><\/p>\n<p>        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dmgi9movl\/video\/upload\/q_1\/v1738355824\/news\/text_to_speech\/dot-grant-preference-marriage-birth-rate_v0ocwz.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Dive Brief:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>A new, undated memo from the DOT urges the department to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transportation.gov\/sites\/dot.gov\/files\/2025-01\/Signed%20DOT%20Order%20re_Ensuring%20Reliance%20Upon%20Sound%20Economic%20Analysis%20in%20Department%20of%20Transportation%20Policies%20%20Programs%20and%20Activities.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>give grant preferences<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> to \u201ccommunities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The action comes after the DOT announced that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy \u2014 who was confirmed to the position on Wednesday \u2014 had <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transportation.gov\/briefing-room\/us-transportation-secretary-sean-duffy-takes-action-rescind-woke-dei-policies-and\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>authorized a series of actions <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>to advance President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda to \u201crescind woke policies\u201d and roll back regulations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for government procurement law studies at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., said she and her colleagues don\u2019t believe they have ever seen a federal government policy tied to marriage and birth rates, and said it\u2019s not clear how it would be enacted.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Dive Insight:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The federal government can effectively wield spending to enact an administration\u2019s policies, Tillipman said. That can include setting preferences for disadvantaged businesses, women- or minority-owned businesses or areas in need of economic development.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThe way that this can be best explained is that the government has extraordinary power with its purse to impact socioeconomic policy,\u201d Tillipman told Construction Dive. \u201cThis is to my knowledge the first time I\u2019ve ever seen what I call a collateral preference for marriage and birth rate.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>She said it\u2019s also not clear how it will be implemented, as the memo doesn\u2019t provide definitions, nor where it will secure data.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cHow are you defining marriage? Is it the place where \u2018the married couple\u2019 resides? Or where the marriage took place? Because the top state for marriage is Nevada because of Las Vegas,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The DOT declined to provide comment or answer questions about the memo.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Though it remains murky, areas that could be most negatively affected by this policy would include <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/pressroom\/sosmap\/fertility_rate\/fertility_rates.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>states like Oregon, Colorado and California<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> that have some of the country\u2019s lowest fertility rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Dakota, Texas and Nebraska have some of the highest.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Duffy isn\u2019t the only administration official focused on the country\u2019s birth rate. Vice President JD Vance said in a speech this month that he wants <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/news\/2025\/01\/i-want-more-babies-in-america-jd-vance-says-in-his-first-public-address-as-vice-president.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Americans to have more babies<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe need a culture that celebrates life at all stages, one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not our GDP number or our stock market, but whether people feel that they can raise thriving and healthy families in our country,\u201d Vance said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The memo also prohibits DOT support recipients from imposing vaccine or mask mandates and requires local compliance with federal immigration enforcement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"editor-note\">\n<p>Julie Strupp contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/dot-grant-preference-marriage-birth-rate\/738942\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"DOT says it will tie funding to birth, marriage rates\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/dot-says-it-will-tie-funding-to-birth-marriage-rates\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about DOT says it will tie funding to birth, marriage rates\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}