Current Position: Deputy Secretary of Transportation (since June 2009)
Credit: Katherine Frey/TWP
Why He Matters
As the department's number two, Porcari was selected for his transportation know-how in order to balance his boss's lack of it as a former Illinois lawmaker, albeit with bipartisan appeal.
As the department's number-two, Porcari runs day-to-day operations at the DOT and manages 55,000 employees. As a two-time head of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), he was instrumental in the planning of a $2.4 billion rebuilding of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which spans the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. He’s also one of the few state DOT heads who has dealt with all five major forms of travel: highway, air, sea, train and mass transit.
Porcari joined the Transportation Department as it was distributing nearly $50 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation-related projects. Much of this money has gone for highway projects and high-speed commuter rail construction. Porcari will lead the DOT stimulus effort, assuring each state gets its allotted money.
At a Glance
Current Position: Deputy Secretary of Transportation (since May 2009)
Career History: Secretary of the Maryland Dept. of Transportation (2007 to 2009); Vice president of administrative affairs at the University of Maryland (2003 to 2006); Secretary of the Maryland Dept. of Transportation (1999 to 2002)
Birthday: Dec. 14, 1958
Hometown: Rochester, N.Y.
Alma Mater: University of Dayton, B.A. (political science), 1981; State University of New York in Albany, M.A. (public administration), 1985
Spouse: Heidi
Religion: N/A
DC Office: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE; Phone: 202-366-4000
State/District Office: N/A
Email N/A
Web site
Path to Power
Porcari grew up in Rochester, N.Y., where his family had strong ties in the community. His great grandfather ran the Seneca Park Zoo for 20 years, and Porcari’s father was the Executive Director of the Rochester Housing Authority when John was growing up. The younger Porcari remembers watching his father give presentations in church basements to community leaders. These experiences nurtured Porcari’s own interest in public service.
Porcari earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Dayton in Ohio. He then got a master’s degree in public administration in 1985 from the State University of New York in Albany. Porcari entered government service in 1986 when he became an environmental planner in Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources. A year later, Porcari joined the Office of the County Executive in Prince George’s County, Maryland, working as an economic development aide to County Executive Parris N. Glendening (D). Porcari continued serving under Glendening in Prince George’s for nine years, becoming development manager in 1989.
MDOT Chief
In 1995, Glendening was elected Maryland’s governor and Porcari joined the administration as the governor's ombudsmen. A year later, Porcari was appoined to deputy secretary of Maryland’s Department of Transportation (MDOT). He worked in that position for a year before ascending to MDOT’s top spot.
After Glendening was term-limited and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich took office, Porcari became the University of Maryland’s vice president of administrative affairs. He stayed there for four years. But the Democrats regained the statehouse in 2007 and new Gov. Martin O'Malley asked Porcari to rejoin the MDOT as its secretary. Porcari stayed at MDOT until President Barack Obama nominated him to join the federal offices of the DOT in April 2009.
The Issues
Transportation Secretary LaHood has said that Obama named him to lead the department for his connections while working as an Illinois House member, not for his knowledge of transportation systems. Tapping an experienced state DOT official like Porcari added a knowledgeable leader to Transportation as it doled out nearly $50 billion in stimulus funds authorized by Obama's February 2009 $787 billion bill.
Stimulus Distribution
With $48.1 billion at the DOT's disposal from the stimulus package , LaHood and Porcari distributed $38.6 billion through "existing programs" as the one-year anniversary of the stimulus passage hit in February 2010.
Much of the DOT stimulus funds went to large states like California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. Furthermore, $8 billion was allocated to build intercity high-speed rail systems with the goal of building 13 large-scale, intercity corridors. To achieve this, 31 states will receive investments to help lay the "groundwork for future high-speed intercity rail service."
Woodrow Wilson Bridge
Rebuilding the Woodrow Wilson Bridge — one of the major metropolitan Washington crossings of the Potomac River and a rush-hour nightmare for generations — was Porcari''s most time-consuming and challenging project as MDOT secretary.
The bridge was first opened in 1964 and was falling apart within sight of the U.S. Capitol. Funds would need to be pooled from Maryland, Virginia and the federal government. By April 1999, project leaders had obtained $1.8 billion in funding, including $900 million from the federal government for building a 12-lane drawbridge over the Potomac River. But Alexandria, Va., activists argued that the Federal Highway Administration didn’t examine all options and asked for a more extensive environmental review. A federal judge ruled in the activists’ favor.
A few months later, that judgment was reversed on appeal. The planning process began again, but new budget and labor issues arose. The expected cost of the project jumped to $2.5 billion, a difference in price that would have been too high for Maryland and Virginia to fund on their own. The federal government agreed to increase its contribution by $600 million, bringing its total contribution to $1.5 billion. The states agreed to split the difference. The labor issues were resolved.
Bridge construction started in October 2000. While Porcari spent four years away from the MDOT during the actual construction process, he was instrumental in the planning stages. In 2006, the first six lanes of the bridge opened to the public and two years later the remaining six lanes opened. The bridge itself was completed on schedule and under budget, although significant work is still underway on the Virginia approaches.
The Network
Porcari joins the Transportation Department working under DOT Secretary LaHood. He’ll also work closely with DOT’s General Counsel Robert Rivkin.
Porcari was the second administration official to come from Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley’s cabinet. Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general-designate for the civil rights division of the Department of Justice worked as O’Malley’s secretary for Labor, Licensing and Regulation since 2007.
Campaign Contributions
Porcari has donated $750 since 2004, all of which went to Democratic candidates. In 2004, Porcari donated $250 to Sen.
John F. Kerry’s (D-Mass.) presidential campaign.
