Subcommittee approves retroactive application for $2.43 million federal aviation grant

Co‑chairs of the interim Joint Ways and Means subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development approved a motion to report to the full committee a recommendation to retroactively file a federal grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for $2,434,112 to support the Oregon Precision Air Lifeline project in the Columbia River Air Services Corridor. The Legislative Fiscal Office recommended approval.

Kenji Sugihara, director of the Department of Aviation, told the panel he had intended to file the required notice but discovered the submission remained in his drafts folder. “For the record, my name is Kenji Sugihara,” he said. “I am so sorry for this. This should have appeared on the consent agenda, but I did not get the application or the letter in on time.”

Sugihara said the department was notified of the grant opportunity Aug. 7 and that applications closed Oct. 8. He described the omission as an administrative error and said there was no local match requirement attached to the federal award. The LFO told members it recommended approving the request to apply for the grant.

A subcommittee member moved the LFO recommendation; the chair asked if there was any objection, and, seeing none, the motion carried with no recorded roll call. The chair said the item would be carried to the full committee for final action.

Next steps: the subcommittee will forward the recommendation to full Ways and Means for consideration, and the department will be expected to include the LFO and DAS CFO recommendations in the official record.