BATON ROUGE — A bill that would name a proposed new Mississippi River bridge after President Donald Trump cleared the Louisiana House Transportation Committee on Tuesday in a 12-2 vote.
House Bill 221, sponsored by Rep. Mike Echols, R-Monroe, would designate the bridge the "President Donald J. Trump Expressway." The bill now moves to the full House floor.
Echols framed the naming as a strategic move to secure federal funding for a project that has been under discussion for 4 decades. "For 40 years, this bridge has been talked about, and nothing has happened," he told committee members. "Whether you like him or not, you put his name on something, you get his attention."
The bridge would connect Louisiana Highway 1 to Louisiana Highway 30, south of the two existing spans over the Mississippi River in the Baton Rouge area. The project is estimated to cost as much as $3 billion, with most of that funding expected to come from the federal government.
Shreveport Democrat Joy Walters voted against the bill and suggested the naming effort should originate with Louisiana's congressional delegation rather than the state legislature. She also questioned whether Echols was using the bill to boost his own congressional campaign. Echols, who is running for Louisiana's 5th Congressional District seat, denied the suggestion, noting that Trump has already endorsed another candidate in the race.
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Glenn Ledet told the committee the agency has not ruled out tolling as part of the bridge's funding plan.
