File photo Salt Lake County Mayor Jen McAdams, taken in Herriman High School on Thursday, June 14, 2018. (James Wooldridge, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A former Utah congressman says Utahns don’t care about which party helps unsnarled traffic by fixing or building a bridge. They just want it done.
After serving as the mayor of Salt Lake County, Ben McAdams represented Utah’s 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and was the only Democrat in Utah’s congressional delegation.
McAdams joined Boyd Matheson, host of Inside Sources, to talk about the recently passed legislation pushed by the Biden administration and about what lies ahead in the world of D.C. politics.
“With your experience as it relates to infrastructure and social spending packages, what is it that you wish your former colleagues in Congress would be talking about . . . in relationship to these issues?” Boyd asked.
McAdams said he was happy to see the $1 trillion infrastructure bill pass.
The $1 trillion package of highway, broadband and other infrastructure improvements was passed last week. President Joe Biden will sign the bipartisan bill into law Monday.
“I was happy to see Senator Romney play a leadership role in negotiating a transportation infrastructure package. I know it wasn’t everything that he wanted, but that’s the art of pragmatism and compromise,” McAdams said.
He said he was also pleased to see 13 House Republicans voting for the bill along with progressive Democrats. But McAdams denounced the bitter partisanship that followed passage of the bill.
“What is troubling to me is the people who continue to say that, anybody who voted to move that infrastructure package forward is a betrayal to the Republican Party or a betrayal to the Democratic Party. This is about putting our country first and not partisan politics,” McAdams said.
He added Utahns stuck in traffic or breathing smog don’t care who deserves credit for unsnarling traffic or cleaning the air by taking cars, buses and trucks off roads.
“They just care that somebody’s stepping forward to solve their problems. So I commend those who came together and helped to pass that legislation.”
“I’m disappointed in those who continue to wage partisan warfare on both sides with something as American as investing in our interstates and our roads and in transportation,” McAdams said.
Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.