Leah Horner
BY JULIA SHUMWAY/Oregon Capital Chronicle
One of Gov. Kate Brown’s policy advisers will oversee the spending of more than $5 billion in federal infrastructure money in Oregon over the next five years, Brown announced Friday.
The White House earlier this week asked each state to appoint a high-level employee to coordinate with the federal government and various state and local agencies that stand to receive money for transportation, broadband and water needs under the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law passed last fall.
Brown picked Leah Horner, who now works as her policy adviser on jobs and the economy and is her director of regional solutions.
“I have worked closely with Leah over the past several years, and I am confident she will be able to help implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law here in Oregon,” Brown said. “She brings strong strategic planning abilities, all done with a collaborative approach.”
Horner will convene a group, the state infrastructure cabinet, to coordinate agencies receiving federal funds, according to Brown’s office.
“This infrastructure bill gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only invest in crucial needs for our communities, but to also assess investments with a racial justice lens,” Horner said in a statement. “I look forward to taking the Regional Solutions approach of streamlining government and removing barriers to get us to the outcomes Oregonians need.”
Horner has a master’s degree in economic development and entrepreneurship from the University of Houston, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Hawai’i, according to Brown’s office.
Oregon stands to receive about $5 billion in new federal money from the new law, including $3.4 billion for roads and highways, $268 million for bridges and $747 million for public transportation. The state will also receive $529 million for water infrastructure, $39 million to mitigate wildfires and $100 million to expand broadband access in rural areas.
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