Women oversee infrastructure bills for first time
Staffers to have large say on policy, funding matters
Bloomberg Government By Nancy Ognanovich and Lillianna Byington
May 6, 2021
President Joe Biden and men on powerful House and Senate committees are laying out their visions of an ambitious infrastructure strategy they want to get enacted this year. But women are likely to steer much of the work as Congress gets ready to begin moving legislation that could cost in the trillions of dollars. For the first time in history, staffs of both the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee are led by women, and the subcommittees overseeing transportation programs also have female staff directors. The rise of senior women staffers mirrors the increasing number of female lawmakers, with 142 women in voting positions now—or about 26% of seats—up from just 26 women in the late 1980s. “Women do have a much bigger role than they did 20 years ago,” said Kathy Dedrick, who was named the House transportation committee’s first female chief of staff when Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) became chair two years ago. “It’s not just at the staff level, but across the board. Women are in leadership positions, and they weren’t in the past.”
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