U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Ted Cruz are getting all the glory, but the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports a 23-year-old Columbus law student may actually be the man behind the budding success of the proposed I-14 Interstate, which would connect Albany, Ga. to West Texas through Alabama, via Columbus.
The paper writes that Frank Lumpkin, IV, got the ball rolling on the long dormant idea when he was a 19-year-old college student and mentioned it to then-Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson.
He later worked to advance the measure in his spare time as an intern to U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson.
More from the paper:
Lumpkin already made contact with Sens. Warnock and Jon Ossoff shortly after their victories in early 2021 to talk about the project. As the infrastructure debate continued, Lumpkin and others began to hear that the House's bill wouldn't be the final version. Getting in the Senate bill became key.
“This isn't something we tried to throw in here at the last minute. This is something that we have bipartisan support on that we could get in the bill," Lumpkin said.
Warnock, along with Sen. Cruz (R-TX), proposed the I-14 amendment. It was approved by a voice vote with no objections.