Steering in the Right Direction: How Congress Is Balancing Criminal Justice Reform and Traffic Safety in the 117th Congress.

• Author: Russo, Frank

In January 2022, Congress returned to a unique political environment including an ongoing pandemic and quickly approaching midterm elections. Despite an ongoing deadlock in the United States Senate and a slim majority in the United State House of Representatives, both the Republican and Democratic parties have continued to explore legislative pathways that will improve equity in our criminal justice system. America's roadways and traffic safety enforcement are no exception to this ongoing push as lawmakers and advocates evaluate the right approaches to balance reform and public safety.

Upon taking office on January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, setting the standard from day one that this administration would conduct equity assessments across each Federal agency. The Department of Transportation was no exception, as the agency outlined its approach to meeting the Executive Order in its National Roadway Safety Strategy. Within the outlined approach, the agency highlighted the increase in roadway fatalities for African-American drivers while also pointing out the poorest counties in the country faced higher fatality rates. This has led the department to set specific goals that will include new traffic equity organizations and advocates as it rolls out grant programs and new initiatives, simultaneously ensuring marginalized organizations and diverse communities are afforded fair opportunities to receive grant funding through the Department of Transportation. Much of the attention on reform, however, has come at the Congressional level, begging the question: How do lawmakers plan to address racial equity in traffic safety?

Congress' transportation agenda has shifted significantly following the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by the President in November 2021 as talks stalled on other elements of the broader Build Back Better plan. Now, advocates and their partners on Capitol Hill have turned the broader criminal justice reform conversation back towards the traffic safety community. The best example of this recent shift is the focus on increasing opportunities for formerly convicted and incarcerated individuals through expungement measures, which has grown to include traffic-related offenses. Competing bipartisan proposals on expungement have now captured the attention of the...