Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was due to receive just over $57 million in Federal Aviation Administration grant dollars before the end of the fiscal year this month.
The money was for restroom rehabilitation, taxiway pavement replacement, grants related to sustainability and lowering emissions, and other projects.
But after airport leaders refused to sign new grant language mandated by the Trump administration requiring all federal funding recipients to disavow their “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, Atlanta forfeited access to that FAA money, documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show. About $37.5 million of it has been permanently lost, an FAA spokesperson confirmed.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told the AJC last week his team was weighing whether to make changes to its vaunted minority contracting and inclusion programs so the city could continue to access crucial federal money across its departments.
But it appears tens of millions have already slipped through Atlanta’s fingers while it was considering the decision.