Biden Administration, Housing, News & Photo Features

Inflation Causing Grief? Here’s What the Biden-Harris Administration is Doing to Save You Money on Everyday Costs from Housing to Healthcare to Childcare, Utilities to Groceries

The White House provided this fact sheet on the ways the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to lower costs – and counter the impacts of inflation – for families, while highlighting the contrast with Republican policies, which if given power, would reverse, repeal the progress.

The Trump/MAGA campaign delights in attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for anything they charge went wrong in the last four years (falsely attacking her as the Border Czar and deflecting blame for sabotaging passage of the Bipartisan Border Security bill), especially inflating levels of inflation and lying about economic growth. But if she is blamed for what they say went wrong, shouldn’t the Vice President also take credit for what the administration is doing so well to improve lives for ordinary Americans and counter the impacts of inflation, price-gouging and profit-taking by corporations? Indeed, as Vice President, she has the blueprint to continue such policies in her administration and not be stuck starting from scratch.—Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

“My plan is to lower everyday costs for hardworking families and lower the deficit by asking large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to not engage in price gouging and to pay their fair share in taxes.” — President Biden
 

The Biden-Harris Administration is cutting mortgage insurance premiums and expanding rental assistance, and they are calling on Congress to help build more homes and lower costs for homebuyers and renters. The Administration is lowering utility bills by increasing access to solar energy through tax credits up to 30% of the cost of rooftop solar and battery storage and expanded access to residential community solar © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

President Biden and Vice President Harris know that prices are too high and too many families are being squeezed by the cost of living. Their actions are lowering costs in key areas—from health insurance premiums and prescription drug prices to utility bills, groceries, and gas. And their Administration is fighting to further lower costs by taking on price gouging by big corporations making record profits and special interests like Big Pharma that are charging prices two or three times higher than in other countries—while successfully calling on grocery chains to lower grocery prices.
 
There is more to do. The President and Vice President will keep fighting for hardworking families with an agenda to lower housing and child care costs, and give tax relief to working Americans and middle-class families while making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.
 
While Congressional Republicans side with special interests and billionaires to keep prices and profits high, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to take action to lower costs for the American people.
 
President Biden and Vice President Harris’s lowering costs agenda, and Congressional Republicans’ plan to raise costs: 

Lowering Health Care Costs 
President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting for families who are struggling with health care costs and pharmaceutical prices that are two to three times higher than in other countries. They are taking historic action to lower costs—taking on Big Pharma to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, capping the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for seniors, and building on the Affordable Care Act to lower health insurance premiums by about $800 per year for millions of Americans. Their plan will extend and expand those actions to cap costs for all Americans. Congressional Republicans voted against these actions to lower health care costs—their plan would increase prices for millions of families and cut Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

  • Lowering health insurance premiums by an average of about $800 per year for millions of Americans by expanding the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits—helping an additional 900,000 Hispanic Americans, 430,000 Black Americans, and 100,000 Asian Americans get health insurance.
  • Capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year for 54 million seniors, people with disabilities, and other Medicare beneficiaries starting in 2025, saving 19 million households an average of $400 per year.
  • Giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, which could lower costs for drugs used by up to 9 million seniors and people with disabilities in 2026 alone.
  • Lowering prescription drug prices by requiring companies to pay rebates if they raise prices faster than the rate of inflation—which is already saving up to 750,000 Medicare beneficiaries between $1 and $3,575 per day.
  • Capping insulin costs at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries, saving 1.5 million seniors and people with disabilities as much as $365 per month—and getting the three largest insulin producers to cap insulin prices for other Americans.
  • Lowering inhaler costs to $35 from three of the largest inhaler producers by calling out excessive prices and challenging improperly listed patents, saving eligible consumers around $1,200 per year.
  • Lowering hearing aid prices by as much as $3,000 per pair by making hearing aids available over the counter.
  • Providing free vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries, including the shingles vaccine—saving seniors and people with disabilities an average of $70 per year.
  • Reducing medical debt by preventing as many as 1 million surprise medical bills averaging $750 to $2,600 every month and cracking down on junk health insurance.
  • Forgiving medical debt for nearly 3 million Americans by 2026 via states and local governments using American Rescue Plan funds.

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

  • Lower health insurance premiums by about $800 per year permanently for millions of Americans by extending the expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits.
  • Lower prices for more prescription drugs by letting Medicare negotiate prices for more drugs.
  • Cap insulin costs at $35 per month for all Americans, which would save nearly $1,000 per year for the millions of Americans not on Medicare that use insulin.
  • Cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year for all Americans.
  • Address price gouging by Big Pharma by proposing a new march-in framework, which would help ensure that taxpayer-funded drugs are reasonably accessible to the public, including at a reasonable price.
  • Reduce the burden of medical debt by proposing that it be excluded from credit reports, which would raise credit scores for 15 million Americans by an average of 20 points and lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional mortgages every year.

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

Lowering Utility Bills

President Biden and Vice President Harris know the burden that rising utility bills place on families. They are taking action to lower energy costs with affordable clean energy and energy efficient appliances, and to lower cable and satellite TV bills by banning hidden junk fees. Congressional Republicans voted with Big Oil to keep utility bills and gas prices high. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

  • Lowering utility bills an average of $500 per year by lowering the cost of energy-saving home improvements through up front tax credits of up to $3,200 and direct consumer rebates of up to $14,000 for heat pumps, doors, windows, and insulation.
  • Lowering utility bills by nearly $400 per year by increasing access to solar energy through tax credits of up to 30% of the cost of rooftop solar and battery storage and expanded access to residential community solar.
  • Lowering heating and cooling costs through recordincreases in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
  • Saving households $170-220 per year on their electricity bills and other goods and services over the next decade by investing in affordable clean energy.
  • Lowering cable and satellite TV bills by requiring providers to give consumers the all-in price up front.
  • Lowered internet bills by $30–75 per month for over 23 million households, saving them more than $360 a year.

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

  • Ban early termination fees for TV, phone, and internet service, which can cost more than $200.

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

Lowering Gas Prices and Travel Costs

President Biden and Vice President Harris know prices at the pump and travel costs are too high. They are taking action to lower gas prices now through record energy production and strategic releases of oil and gasoline, and to lower gas prices for the long term and expand access to affordable clean vehicles. They’re also taking on airlines’ hidden junk fees that increase the cost of flights. Congressional Republicans voted against these actions and with special interests to keep gas prices and travel costs high. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

  • Lowering gas prices this summer with the sale of 1 million barrels of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve ahead of the Fourth of July.
  • Lowering gas prices by up to 25 cents per gallon in certain markets, particularly in the Midwest, by making E15 gasoline available in the summer.
  • Lowered gas prices in 2022 by as much as 40 cents per gallon with historic, coordinated releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—saving a household with two cars as much as $250 on gas after Putin’s war against Ukraine caused prices to spike.
  • Lowering fuel costs by an average of $700 a year and maintenance costs by $500 a year by lowering the cost of clean vehicles through tax credits available at purchase of up to $7,500 for new clean vehicles and up to $4,000 for used clean vehicles, as well as up to $1,000 for charger installation.
    • Learn how you can save on fuel costs and clean vehicles at Energy.gov/Save.
  • Cracking down on anticompetitive practices by oil executives that can raise prices at the pump.
  • Banning surprise airline junk fees by requiring upfront disclosure of baggage, change, and cancellation fees, saving Americans over half a billion dollars a year.
  • Requiring airlines provide automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly changed flights, delayed baggage, and when services like WiFi are unavailable.
  • Securing commitments from airlines to guarantee hotels and meals when they are at fault for flight delays or cancellations.

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

  • Ban family seating fees to guarantee that parents can sit with their children for no extra charge when they fly, saving a family of four about $200 per roundtrip flight—building on commitments the Administration secured from four major airlines.
  • Require airlines cover expenses such as meals, hotels, and rebooking and provide additional compensation when they are responsible for delays or cancellations.
  • Partner with 18 state attorneys general to enforce against unfair airline practices that can raise ticket prices or shortchange passengers.

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

  • Congressional Republicans sided with Big Oil to vote against lowering gas prices and with special interests to try to keep travel costs high.

Lowering Housing Costs

President Biden and Vice President Harris know housing costs are too high, and they are fighting to lower them. Their Administration is cutting mortgage insurance premiums and expanding rental assistance, and they are calling on Congress to help build more homes and lower costs for homebuyers and renters. Their plan will give more Americans a chance at the American Dream. Congressional Republicans voted to raise housing prices by cutting programs that increase affordable housing and provide assistance to renters. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

  • Cutting mortgage insurance premiums by about $900 per year for nearly 700,000 homebuyers and homeowners.
  • Providing rental assistance to more than 5 million households, including an additional 100,000 low-income families.
  • Capping rent increases in roughly 2 million apartments financed by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), saving nearly 1 million households hundreds of dollars in rent in 2024.
  • Cracking down on rental junk fees, including repeated application fees, “convenience fees” to pay rent online, and fees for mail sorting and trash collection.
  • Cracking down on price-fixing by landlords that can raise rents for tens of millions of apartments.
  • Provided rental assistance to 8 million renters to help pay rent, keep them in their homes, and cover utilities bills during the pandemic.
  • Provided homeowner assistance to over 500,000 homeowners for mortgage payments, utility expenses, and property taxes during the pandemic.

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

  • Congressional Republicans want to raise housing costs, including repealing investments to increase affordable housing and keep homeowners and renters in their homes, and have repeatedly proposed increasing housing costs by cutting funding for rental assistance, to build more homes, and to lower mortgage costs. Senate Republicans oppose a bill that passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support that would help build 200,000 affordable homes.

Lowering Grocery Costs

President Biden and Vice President Harris know grocery prices are too high. They called on grocery chains making record profits to lower their prices, and appreciate that some have answered the call. Their Administration is taking action to lower grocery costs—increasing food assistance for low-income families; strengthening supply chains to lower food prices; and cracking down on price gouging and promoting competition in the agriculture industry. Congressional Republicans want to put a large tax on food imports and have voted to increase grocery costs by cutting food assistance for low-income families, new moms, and seniors. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

  • Congressional Republicans have voted to keep grocery costs high by cutting food assistance for low-income families, new parents, and babies; slashing Meals on Wheels for seniors; and siding with Big Ag to try to block actions to increase competition in agriculture. Congressional Republicans are also calling for huge taxes on food imports, including a 10% across-the-board tax on all imports that would raise costs for families by an average of $1,500 per year.

Lowering Child Care and Education Costs

President Biden and Vice President Harris know child care and education is unaffordable for many families. They are fighting to lower these costs by capping child care costs for low-income families, expanding access to workforce training, and delivering on student debt relief. Their plan lowers child care costs to no more than $10 a day for most Americans, expands free universal preschool, and lowers the cost of college. Congressional Republicans have voted to raise child care and education costs by cutting Head Start and Pre-K programs, cutting Pell Grants, and blocking student debt relief. 

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

  • Save families with children an average of $2,600 per year by restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit to help families afford everyday costs and lift 3 million children out of poverty.
  • Lower child care costs with a new program to guarantee affordable, high-quality child care for 16 million children in families making up to $200,000 per year, with most families paying no more than $10 a day and the average family saving $7,200 a year.
  • Save families of 4 million children $13,000 a year with free, universal preschool and Head Start for all four-year-olds and a path to expand preschool to three-year-olds.
  • Lower college costs by remaining on a path to double the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 per year by 2029—with an increase of $750 next school year alone.
  • Lower the cost of college tuition by up to $20,000 by increasing access to dual enrollment for high school students.
  • Expand free community college—saving eligible students $4,500 or more per year.
  • Expand student debt relief to over 30 million Americans, including those with runaway interest, who are eligible for forgiveness but not enrolled, who entered repayment over 20 years ago, or who attended programs that failed to provide sufficient value.

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:

Lowering Credit Card, Banking, and Other Financial Costs

President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting Big Banks to lower the costs of using credit cards, bank services, and other financial costs. They are cutting credit card late fees from $32 to $8, overdraft fees from $35 to as low as $3, and taking on other hidden junk fees to save Americans $20 billion per year. Congressional Republicans have sided with Big Banks on Wall Street and Park Avenue to try to protect these junk fees that burden hardworking families.

Biden-Harris Administration Actions:

  • Cutting credit card late fees from $32 to $8, saving the 45 million Americans that pay these fees an average of $220 per year.
  • Protecting retirement security by cracking down on junk fees in retirement investment advice, increasing retirement savings by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  • Saving taxpayers an average of $150 peryear with Direct File—a new, free tax filing option that has already saved filers millions of dollars in its Pilot Program and is now being expanded across the country.

The Biden-Harris Administration Plan:

The Republican Plan to Increase Costs:Congressional Republicans sided with Big Banks and other special interests to try to block actions to ban junk fees—including voting to keep credit card late fees high—and Republican officials have joined big corporations to try to overturn these consumer protections in court.

Biden Administration, News & Photo Features

Amid Record Declines in Crime Nationwide, Governor Hochul Highlights Statewide Decline as New York Communities Ranked Among Safest in Nation

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, in Glen Cove, delivers good news on dramatic reductions in crime on Long Island, and historic increases in state spending on local law enforcement © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

As Trump, Vance and the Republicans continue to lie about crime rates rising under the Biden-Harris Administration, the FBI and police officials released figures that show record declines, especially in violent crime which soared during Trump’s failed administration.

Last year, violent crime fell to a near 50-year low as murder rates fell 13% nationally and plummeted in major cities. This trend is continuing in 2024, with violent crime and the murder rate on track for the sharpest decrease in history.

This morning, new data in major cities from the Major Cities Chiefs Association show violent crime dropping further. The Harris Campaign pointed to declines in battleground states:

The decline in crime due to the actions of the Biden-Harris Administration and its investments in community policing is being felt throughout the country.

President Joe Biden stated, “When Vice President Harris and I took office, our nation had just seen the largest increase in murders ever recorded during the previous Administration. Immediately, we got to work to make communities safer. Today, new data confirms that our efforts are working and violent crime is at a 50-year low. An independent organization of police chiefs from across our nation’s biggest cities released data showing that violent crime fell across every category in the first half of 2024. Homicides are down 17% – building on the largest-ever decline in the homicide rate nationally last year.
 
“This did not happen by accident. Our American Rescue Plan – opposed by every Republican in Congress – delivered $15 billion to cities and states to invest in public safety and violence prevention, keeping cops on the beat while working with community leaders to interrupt and prevent crime. I also signed the most significant gun violence legislation in nearly 30 years which is keeping guns out of dangerous hands by expanding background checks and helping states implement “red flag” laws.
 
“Americans are safer today than when Vice President Harris and I took office. We can’t stop now. That’s why I will continue to urge Congress to fund 100,000 additional police officers and crime prevention and community violence intervention programs, and make commonsense gun safety reforms such as a ban on assault weapons.”

Meanwhile, it is Trump who has demonstrated his willingness to defund police. As president, Trump proposed a $400 million cut to local law enforcement funding and oversaw the largest single-year spike in the murder rate in more than a century. Trump has  demanded  the defunding of federal law enforcement, while proposing using the FBI and Justice Department to go after his political enemies. His vice presidential pick JD Vance said, “I hate the police.”  His Republican allies in Congress are calling to defund the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, cut funding for cybersecurity

U.S. News & World Report Ranked Counties in Long Island, Hudson Valley and New York City Among the Top 25 Safest in America

Crime in New York State Is Down 6% Year over Year

Governor Hochul Has Invested over $800 Million in Crime-Fighting Initiatives

In New York State, for example, where Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, trying to position himself for elevation in Republican ranks fear-mongers on crime rates), Governor Kathy Hochul today highlighted ongoing declines in statewide crime as a new independent report ranked New York communities among the safest in the nation based on violent crime rates, emergency services and other key metrics. Eight counties across New York State, including counties in Long Island, the Hudson Valley and New York City, were recognized in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of “The Top 25 Safest Communities in America” – more than any other state in the nation. Four counties were among the top ten, and one county – Nassau – was ranked the safest in the nation.

“Public safety is my top priority and I’ve been laser-focused on fighting crime from the moment I took office,” Governor Hochul said. “Our approach is working, as murders, shootings, violent crime and property crime have declined statewide. But make no mistake: our work is not over, and I’ll continue working to ensure our state is safer for all.”

New York’s nation-leading performance in this new ranking reflects a broad and ongoing decline in crime. Statewide crime is down 6% year over year, according to data from both the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and NYPD CompStat.

The U.S. News & World Report analysis recognized the following counties among the Top 25 Safest in America – with many of them seeing significant year-over-year declines in crime for the first half of 2024:

  • Long Island: Nassau – 18% decline; Suffolk – 13% decline
  • Hudson Valley: Rockland – 26% decline; Westchester – 8% decline; Putnam – 15% decline in 2023 (2024 data pending)
  • New York City: Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island – combined 3.5% decline

As New York continues to make nation-leading progress in tackling crime, Governor Hochul has also continued to make historic investments in new crime-fighting initiatives statewide, amounting to more than $800 million in investments in tested programs and initiatives.

The Governor’s investments also include nationally recognized initiatives administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which provides funding, training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and community-based organizations in communities hardest hit by gun violence and violent crime:

  • Nearly $36 million for the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative. Through GIVE, DCJS helps 28 police departments in 21 counties implement evidence-based strategies that have proven to be successful at reducing gun violence, including Problem-Oriented Policing, Hot-Spots Policing, Focused Deterrence/Group Violence Intervention, Street Outreach, and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. These strategies focus on the few people and places that are responsible for most of the violence and engage the broader community to build trust. GIVE also funds district attorneys’ offices, probation departments, and sheriffs’ offices in those counties.
    • $21 million for the SNUG Street Outreach program, which uses a public health approach to address gun violence by identifying the source, interrupting transmission, and treating individuals, families and communities affected by violence. Community-based organizations and hospitals operate the program in 14 communities and employ nearly 200 outreach workers, social workers and case managers. Outreach workers are credible messengers who have lost loved ones to violence or have prior justice system involvement. They respond to shootings to prevent retaliation, detect conflicts, and resolve them peacefully before they lead to additional violence. Social workers and case managers work with individuals affected by community violence, including friends and family. DCJS also supports New York City’s violence interruption efforts, providing $5 million for its Crisis Management System (CMS) so it can bring those programs to scale.
    • $18 million for the state’s unique network of Crime Analysis Centers, which analyze, compile and distribute information, intelligence and data to local law enforcement agencies statewide. No other state has anything similar and the centers – operated in partnership with local law enforcement agencies in 10 counties and New York City – are hubs of state and local efforts to deter, investigate, and solve crimes. Last year alone, staff handled more than 90,000 requests for assistance, helping agencies solve everything from retail theft to murders.
    • Up to $20 million for Project RISE, a unique funding model that convenes community stakeholders to respond to gun violence, invest in solutions, sustain positive programming, and empower communities. In its first year, the initiative supported 99 organizations, including 74 small, grassroots programs, many of which had never received state support fort their work. Programs and services funded by RISE include academic support, employment services, mentoring, and delinquency/violence prevention.

“Governor Hochul’s comprehensive investment in programs and strategies to address the pandemic-era increase in crime is paying dividends,” New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Commissioner Rossana Rosado said. “The DCJS budget is the largest in its history, allowing us to provide record-level funding to law enforcement agencies and community-based organizations addressing the causes and consequences of crime. I want to recognize our local partners for their tremendous efforts and my staff for their commitment to this important work.”

See also:
Facts Belie Republican Lies about Democrats’ Record on Crime, Immigration

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© 2024 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email [email protected]. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures, Tweet @KarenBRubin

Biden Administration, Military, Military Issues

Biden Marks 2nd Anniversary of the PACT Act Delivering Benefits and Health Care for 1 million Toxic Exposed Veterans and their Survivors

President Joe Biden marked the two-year anniversary of signing the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and health care for veterans exposed to toxins and their survivors in more than 30 years and the White House issued this fact sheet documenting how the act has delivered benefits to more than 1 million veterans and survivors in all 50 states and US territories. Notably, the brain cancer that killed Biden’s own son, Beau, likely was caused by Beau’s exposure to the burn pits in Iraq during his military service.

President Joe Biden marked the two-year anniversary of signing the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and health care for veterans exposed to toxins and their survivors in more than 30 years and the White House issued this fact sheet documenting how the act has delivered benefits to more than 1 million veterans and survivors in all 50 states and US territories. Notably, the brain cancer that killed Biden’s own son, Beau, likely was caused by Beau’s exposure to the burn pits in Iraq during his military service.

“As Americans, we have a sacred obligation to care for veterans and their families. We owe them a debt we can never fully repay. Two years ago, I signed the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins (PACT) Act enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and health care for toxic exposed veterans and their survivors in over thirty years.
 
“Vice President Harris and I moved swiftly in making sure this law was fully implemented as soon as possible, so veterans and their survivors would be able to get the expanded services they deserve. Today, because of the PACT Act, over 1 million veterans and more than 10,000 survivors are now getting monthly disability benefits related to toxic related illnesses. Over 5.7 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure and over 333,000 toxic-exposed veterans have enrolled in VA health care. These benefits have been life-changing for so many families. For survivors of veterans who died from a toxic related illness, the PACT Act provides a pathway to benefits including monthly stipends, access to home loans and education benefits as well. Surviving veteran spouses with children could qualify for over $2,000 per month and funding toward college tuition.
 
“While we have made great strides in addressing military related toxic exposures, we still have work to do. My Administration continues to study other illnesses for presumptive status and to sign up more veterans for health care. And today, I am announcing that the Department of Veterans Affairs will take additional steps to close loopholes for certain veterans exposed to harmful toxins during their military service. No one should be left behind if they were exposed to toxins and are experiencing health related problems. My message to veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors is simple: Jill and I will always have your back.”

FACT SHEET: On Second Anniversary, President Biden’s Bipartisan PACT Act Delivers Benefits to More Than 1 Million Veterans and Survivors across all 50 States and U.S. Territories
 

Two years ago, President Biden signed the landmark bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act into law, enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans and their survivors in more than 30 years.  Named in honor of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a decorated combat medic who died from a rare form of lung cancer, this historic legislation is delivering timely benefits and services to veterans—across all generations—who have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country.

The Biden-Harris Administration believes our nation has a sacred obligation to properly prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way – and to care for them and their families when they return home. That includes making sure we address the visible and invisible injuries of war. Too often, military service can result in increased health risks for our veterans, and some injuries and illnesses like asthma, cancer, and others can take years to manifest. These realities can make it difficult for veterans and their survivors to establish a direct connection between their service and disabilities resulting from military environmental exposures such as burn pits – a necessary step to ensuring they receive the benefits they earned. The PACT Act eliminates these barriers and ensures veterans get the care and services they deserve. For survivors of veterans who died from a toxic related illness, the PACT Act provides a pathway to benefits including monthly stipends, access to home loans and education benefits as well. Surviving veteran spouses with children could qualify for over $2,000 per month and funding toward college tuition.

Thanks to the PACT Act the Biden-Harris Administration has helped veterans in every state and territory receive the services and care they deserve by:
 
Delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors: Since enactment of the PACT Act, VA has delivered new PACT Act related disability benefits to more than 1 million veterans and over 10,000 survivors of veterans who died of a toxic related illness. This amounts to more than $6.8 billion in earned PACT Act related benefits over the past two years. In total, VA has processed over 1.5 million PACT Act claims since August 10, 2022. Thanks in part to the PACT Act, VA is delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors at the fastest rate in history, processing more than 2 million total claims (both PACT and non-PACT Act combined) thus far in 2024 – an all-time record.

Delivering health care to veterans: Since Aug. 10, 2022, 739,421 veterans have enrolled in VA health care — a 33% increase over the previous two-year period. This includes more than 333,767 enrollees from the PACT Act population (Vietnam, Gulf War, and Post-9/11 veterans). This health care enrollment was made possible by the Biden-Harris administration to accelerate health care eligibility under the PACT Act, eliminating a phase-in period that would have prevented veterans from enrolling in VA care for several years.
 
Screening veterans for toxic exposures: Nearly 5.7 million veterans have received free screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act – a critical step in catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
 
Prioritizing veterans with cancer: As a part of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, VA has prioritized claims processing for veterans with cancer – delivering over $744 million in PACT Act benefits to veterans with cancer. VA also prioritizes claims for veterans with terminal illnesses and veterans experiencing homelessness.

Lowering burden of proof to help toxic exposed veterans. Nearly 16,000 veterans who supported operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2005 were stationed at Karshi-Khanabad (K2) in Uzbekistan where several contaminants that could lead to health problems were present in either the air, water, soil, or soil gas. VA plans to take steps to consider veterans who served in Uzbekistan as Persian Gulf Veterans so that any veteran who served at K2 and who experience undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses can get the benefits they deserve. VA will also create new training materials for claims processors and examiners on the hazards identified at K2. These steps are intended to help lessen the burden on veterans who were stationed at K2 so that they can receive disability benefits. Additionally, because K2 Veterans are eligible for VA health care and benefits under the PACT act, VA is also reaching out to all veterans who served at K2 to encourage them to apply for health care and benefits today.  
 
Releasing a new federal interagency strategy to address military toxic exposures and veteran health. The Office of Science and Technology released a bold plan that aims to provide the evidence for new exposure-related illnesses to enable veterans to get the health care and benefits they need and deserve. This will be achieved through coordinated interagency efforts to: understand toxic exposures during military service; establish the link between these toxic exposures and veteran illnesses; and identify tools and approaches to reduce toxic exposures and improve health screening for these exposure-related illnesses.
 
Sharpening research tools to drive continued improvements to veteran care. This month, VA launched a new streamlined Burn Pit Registry. The registry includes non-personally identifiable data on more than 4.7 million veterans and Service members which will drive research, advances in treatment efficacy, and policies to identify potential conditions for presumptive status under the PACT Act. The new registry will streamline reporting for veterans who are willing to share data, drastically increasing VA’s ability to pursue research-backed solutions in service of America’s veterans.
 
Protecting veterans, service members, and their families from predatory actors and fraud. In 2023, veterans, Service members, and their families reported $477M in losses to fraud. Last November, President Biden announced the Veteran, Service member, and Family-Fraud Evasion (VSAFE) Task Force to better protect veterans and their families against scams and fraud. Over the last year, the Task Force has worked to implement a “no wrong door” approach for veterans and Service members to access reporting tools and resources to combat fraud. Today, VSAFE is releasing several resources to support veterans, Service members, and their families when they experience fraud, scams, and predatory practices, including: 

  • Launching a centralized website for support and reporting: VSAFE.gov is a fraud prevention, response, and reporting information hub. Information from across federal agencies can be accessed in one place, making it easy for veterans, Service members, and their families to find out more about different kinds of fraud, to get assistance, and to report.
  • Opening a centralized call line for veteran and Service member complaints: VSAFE established a single shared call line, 833-38V-SAFE, to aid in the “no wrong door” approach. Veterans, Service members, and their families and survivors can call one single number to get help with fraud, scam, and predatory practice related concerns. Depending on the kind of issue facing the caller, callers will be routed to the correct federal agency to address their specific concerns.
  • Creating common call center training materials to ensure that veterans and Service members are routed to the relevant agency no matter which federal agency they initially call: Even if individuals don’t utilize the centralized call line, all VSAFE agency fraud call centers have been trained to connect callers to the best agency to handle their report and get help. These coordinated responses are guided by joint reference materials utilized by agency representatives. This will cut down on any confusion, and get veterans, Service members, and their family members routed to the best support as effectively and efficiently as possible.
  • Formalizing partnerships to improve enforcement. VSAFE agencies are formalizing their partnerships both outside of and within the federal government. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) leveraged these partnerships to issue a cease-and-desist letter against a voice service provider for transmitting illegal debt consolidation robocalls. The calls appeared to be a subset of a much broader campaign of similar debt consolidation robocalls, reaching an estimated number of over 78 million calls during a period of only 3 months. Thanks to this effort, veterans, Service members, and their families, will no longer be receiving these unwanted and unlawful calls.

 
These historic efforts to address military toxic exposures build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent work to support our nation’s veterans:

  • Ending veteran homelessness. No one should be homeless in this country, especially not those who served it. Last year, VA found permanent housing for over 46,000 veterans, expanded access to health care and legal assistance for homeless veterans and helped more than 145,000 veterans and their families retain their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure. Yesterday, HUD expanded access to the HUD VASH program for veterans with service-connected disability benefits.  
  • Securing jobs for our veterans. Roughly 200,000 Service members transition from the military each year and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to providing them and their spouses the support they need to find good paying jobs. This includes helping connect veterans and their spouses to registered apprentice programs where they can transfer the skills they learned in the military. Last week, DOL-VETS released a new guide to connect veterans to good paying Cyber jobs.
  • Increasing VA’s capacity to serve veterans: Thanks to new PACT Act authorities, VA has been able to expand its workforce in order to serve veterans as quickly and effectively as possible. In total, both the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits administration have achieved their highest growth rates in 20 years.
  • Removing barriers to mental health care. Thanks to the President’s leadership, VA has removed all cost-sharing for the first three behavioral health visits for veterans enrolled in VA health care, helping to ensure that all those in need can get the care they deserve. This builds on VA’s new policy allowing eligible veterans and certain former Service members in acute suicidal crisis to go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for no-cost emergency health care. Over 60,000 veterans and Service members have used this benefit since it launched in 2023. VA is doing everything it can, including expanding mental health screenings, increasing access to legal and financial support, and hiring more mental health professionals, to help veterans get the help they need. For veterans and family members who may be experiencing a crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7 by dialing 988 and then pressing 1.

Supporting veterans and caregivers. Last year, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing the VA to cut red tape and give veterans who need assistance at home more flexibility to pick their own caregivers. As part of those actions, VA also launched a pilot program, known as the Virtual Psychotherapy Program for Caregivers, to provide mental health counseling services to family caregivers caring for our nation’s heroes. The program successfully completed its pilot phase and is now a permanent program. Since October 2023, the program has provided over 4,937 psychotherapy sessions to family caregivers. And, last year, President Biden signed an Executive Order calling for the most comprehensive set of administrative actions in our nation’s history to support the economic security of military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and survivors.

If you are a veteran, visit www.va.gov/PACT or go to your local VA hospital to see if you are eligible for PACT Act benefits and services.

For a state-by-state breakdown of PACT Act data, click here.

Biden Administration, Economic Development, Economic Policies, Manufacturing

Biden Marking 2-Year Anniversary of Passage of CHIPS & Science Act Cites Historic Achievements

On the two-year anniversary of passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, President Biden issued this statement and the White House issued a Fact Sheet documenting the historic achievement of the act is bringing  back to the USA semiconductor supply chains, creating jobs, supporting American innovation, and is protecting National Security:

“America invented the semiconductor – those tiny chips that power electric vehicles, appliances, cell phones, satellites, and are critical in AI. But over time we went from manufacturing 40% of the world’s semiconductors, to just over 10%. When Vice President Harris and I came into office, we were determined to change that,” President Biden stated.

“Since I took office, companies have announced nearly $400 billion in investments in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, spurred in large part by support from the CHIPS and Science Act. As a result of these investments, we’re creating over 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs in the semiconductor industry. And America is now on track to produce nearly 30% of the global supply of leading-edge chips by 2032, up from zero only two years ago.  

“While there is more to do, my CHIPS and Science Act is bringing chips manufacturing back to America, strengthening global supply chains, and is making sure the United States remains a world leader in AI and other technologies that families, businesses, and our military rely on each and every day.”

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul added,  “Two years ago today, the future of American manufacturing changed – forever. With the stroke of a pen, President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law.

“Since that extraordinary day, New York State has benefitted from unprecedented investments that are transforming our state into a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing. Chip companies have announced over $112 billion in planned capital investments in New York – revitalizing Upstate communities and creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. No other region in America will account for a greater share of domestic production. 

“And we’re not done yet. This critical industry is continuing to expand with major investments from semiconductor businesses and supply chain companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, AMD, Edwards Vacuum, MenloMicro and TTM Technologies to expand their presence in New York. In July, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded a phase two Tech Hub grant of $40 million to the New York Semiconductor Manufacturing and Research Technology Innovation Corridor (NY SMART-I Corridor) consortium. Over the next five years, the consortium will serve a critical role in supporting Upstate New York’s continued growth into a globally competitive center of semiconductor workforce development, innovation and manufacturing. 

“For communities that have experienced decades of economic stagnation and neglect, these extraordinary commitments are the beginning of an economic renewal – bringing better schools, better hospitals, safer streets and stronger infrastructure. 

“The CHIPS and Science Act has put New York on the precipice of a defining age of manufacturing and transformed the future for generations of New Yorkers. I’m grateful to Leader Schumer, Leader Jeffries, the New York Congressional Delegation and the Biden-Harris Administration for their historic efforts and for keeping their promise to the American people.” 

FACT SHEET: Two Years after the CHIPS and Science Act, Biden-⁠Harris Administration Celebrates Historic Achievements in Bringing Semiconductor Supply Chains Home, Creating Jobs, Supporting Innovation, and Protecting National Security 
  
Companies have announced $395+ billion in investments in semiconductors and electronics and the creation of over 115,000 jobs since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office 
  

Two years ago, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS), aimed at reestablishing United States’ leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, shoring up global supply chains, and strengthening national and economic security. America invented the semiconductor, and used to produce nearly 40 percent of the world’s chips, but today, we produce only about 10 percent of global supply—and none of the most advanced chips. The CHIPS and Science Act aimed to change that by investing nearly $53 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and workforce.  
  
Dozens of companies have committed to nearly $400 billion in total semiconductor investments across the country. These investments have been spurred in large part by the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Incentives program, which has signed preliminary agreements with 15 companies across 15 states to provide over $30 billion in direct funding and roughly $25 billion in loans for semiconductor manufacturing projects. These projects will support the creation of more than 115,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs, with further investments in workforce development and training to come – helping to ensure more chips are made in America by American workers. As a result of these investments, the United States is on track to produce nearly 30% of the global supply of leading-edge chips by 2032, up from zero percent when President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. 
  
As part of the CHIPS Act, the Biden-Harris Administration has also made regional investments to spur centers of innovation across America through the Tech Hubs program, has made investments to revitalize communities historically overlooked by federal investment through the Recompete program, and is making critical investments in research and development and workforce initiatives across the semiconductor ecosystem.   
  
Two Years of Progress on Semiconductor Manufacturing and Innovation 

In the past two years, agencies across the federal government have developed and executed on programs established under CHIPS to restore domestic semiconductor manufacturing, invest in research and development, support supply chain resiliency and national security, and catalyze economic and workforce development. Key milestones in the Administration’s implementation of CHIPS include: 
  
Reshoring U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing 
  
Thanks to CHIPS Act, the United States will once again be a world leader in manufacturing the semiconductors that power our lives. In the two years since President Biden signed the CHIPS Act into law: 

  1. The Department of Commerce CHIPS Incentives Program announced preliminary agreements with 15 companies, totaling over $30 billion of the total available $39 billion in direct incentives funded by the CHIPS and Science Act. Commerce is on track to allocate all remaining funds with CHIPS grantees by the end of 2024. 
  2. Two years ago, the U.S. produced none of the world’s most advanced chips. Now, America is home to all five of the world’s leading-edge logic, memory, and advanced packaging providers, while no other economy has more than two. Collectively, these fabs will enable the United States to produce nearly 30% of the global supply of leading-edge chips by 2032.  
  3. The CHIPS Act is creating a robust semiconductor ecosystem by supporting multiple high-volume advanced packaging facilities, expanded production of current and mature-node semiconductors, and critical supply chain components, all by the end of the decade to support critical industries from automobiles and medical devices to artificial intelligence and aerospace.  
  4. The Department of the Treasury continues to work on a final rule on the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit, which provides a 25% investment tax credit for companies engaged in semiconductor manufacturing and producing semiconductor manufacturing equipment. 
      

Creating Jobs and Workforce Pipelines for American Workers 

A centerpiece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda is to create good paying job opportunities for Americans across the country. CHIPS has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to ensuring that America’s semiconductor comeback will serve to benefit American workers. For example: 

  1. CHIPS-funded projects are creating more than 115,000 construction and manufacturing jobs with over $250 million of CHIPS funding earmarked for local community workforce development, the use of which will be guided by local stakeholder input, including from academic institutions, training providers, and labor unions, and federal partners, including the Departments of Labor and Education. These projects will also pay construction workers prevailing wages, which ensures they earn family-sustaining wages and benefits, and include some of the largest Project Labor Agreements in history, establishing that the future of this industry in America will be built by union workers. 
  2. The Biden-Harris Administration launched Investing in America Workforce Hubs in Upstate New York, Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio to support the training needed for the growing industries there, including booming semiconductor ecosystems. These are just three of the nine Workforce Hubs across the country which are creating pipelines for Americans to access good-paying jobs in the industries seeing increased investments thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.  
  3. The Department of Commerce expects to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s (NSTC) workforce efforts, including the Workforce Center of Excellence which will collaborate with industry, academia, labor unions, the Departments of Labor and Education, the National Science Foundation, and local government partners to address end-to-end workforce training needs from access to adoption. 
  4. The National Science Foundation (NSF) launched its Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) initiative, a $45.6 million investment to conduct frontier research and develop the future microelectronics workforce. The NSF also announced its inaugural Regional Innovation Engines, 10 locations receiving a $150 million investment with the potential for up to $2 billion in funding over the next decade. 
  5. Companies applying for more than $150 million in grants were required to submit a robust child care plan that reflects the needs of their workers in communities where they plan to build.  Some of the largest projects, such as those of Micron and Intel, have committed to providing affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for thousands of workers across multiple facilities in multiple states. This has already led to a dramatic expansion of benefits including the construction of dedicated child care facilities at multiple project sites as well as discount and reimbursement programs in collaboration with local child care providers. 

  
Accelerating Regional Economic Development and Innovation 

President Biden and Vice President Harris are investing in regions that suffered from disinvestment for too long despite their economic potential. Through the Investing in America Agenda, this Administration is building an economy that brings innovation and opportunity for hardworking American families. The CHIPS Act expanded the suite of place-based investment efforts under the Biden-Harris Administration to build on the momentum of programs under the American Rescue Plan. In the two years since the CHIPS Act was signed: 

  1. The Department of Commerce announced $504 million for 12 Tech Hubs to give regions across the nation the resources and opportunities needed to lead in the economies of the future, such as semiconductors, clean energy, biotechnology, AI, quantum computing, and more.  
  2. The Department of Commerce is awarding $184 million to six Recompete Pilot Program finalists; creating renewed opportunity in economically distressed communities through good-paying, high-quality jobs. The Recompete Pilot Program targets areas where prime-age employment is significantly lower than the national average and provides flexible and locally-drive investments to support economic comebacks. 
  3. The National Science Foundation announced $150 million for 10 inaugural awards that has already been matched by more than $350 million in commitments from state and local governments, the private sector and philanthropy. These 10 NSF Engines have the potential to receive over $2 billion over the next decade, paving the way toward a new frontier in American innovation.  
  4. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will announce nearly $54 million in funding that will help small businesses explore innovative ideas and the commercial microelectronics marketplace. 

  
Protecting National Security and Working with Allies and Partners 

In September 2023, the Department of Commerce finalized rules to implement the national security guardrails laid out in CHIPS. These guardrails are preventing technology and innovation funded by the program from being misused by foreign countries of concern and protecting our industrial ecosystem. CHIPS manufacturing funds are also going towards companies building the semiconductors that are essential to our aerospace and defense industries. 

  1. CHIPS grant funds are directly supporting our national security by increasing the supply of critical technologies needed to protect Americans, including the production of chips necessary for critical defense programs including the F-35 fighter jet program, and chips for everyday applications that impact all Americans, from cars to secure Wi-Fi.  
  2. The Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons Program has announced an initial $280 million in first year projects to create resilient onshore ecosystems for cutting-edge applications in six key areas: secure edge/internet of things, electromagnetic warfare, 5G/6G, Quantum technology, artificial intelligence hardware, and commercial leap ahead technologies. These projects build off the Commons regionals hubs and are set to kick off, along with additional awards for human, digital, and physical infrastructure, by the end of the year. 
  3. The State Department recently launched the CHIPS Act International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund supported ITSI Western Hemisphere Semiconductor Initiative, which will enhance assembly, testing and packaging capabilities in partner countries including Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica. New partnerships have also been announced with Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Kenya to explore semiconductor supply chain coordination opportunities to develop trust, transparency, and resiliency with our allies across the globe. 
  4. The Department of Commerce announced that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience entered into force on February 24, 2024. This agreement, led by the United States, is ensuring a more resilient, efficient, productive and sustainable supply chain for semiconductors and other industries. 
  5. The Department of Commerce awarded $140 million across 17 projects in its first funding opportunity through the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, which will drive American wireless innovation, competition, and supply chain resilience.   

  
Investing in Innovation 

The semiconductor was invented here in the United States, and America has continued to be a leader in the research and development in semiconductors and some of the most advanced technologies. The CHIPS Act is helping advance those goals by: 

  1. Investing approximately $3 billion in the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) to establish and accelerate domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging which will drive U.S. technological leadership in leading-edge semiconductors and underpin future innovation areas, including artificial intelligence. Over 100 concept papers were submitted for the first funding opportunity and a second funding opportunity for $1.6 billion will be announced in the fall. 
  2. Establishing Natcast, a non-profit, to operate the NSTC to enable rapid adoption of innovations that will enhance domestic competitiveness for decades to come. The Department of Commerce, together with Natcast, announced the focus of its first three CHIPS R&D research facilities: a NSTC Prototyping and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program facility, an NSTC Administrative and Design facility, and an NSTC Extreme Ultraviolet EUV center – which will be complemented by affiliated technical centers.  

Issuing funding opportunities through the Department of Commerce for a first-of-its kind Manufacturing USA Institute focused on the development, validation, and use of digital twins – virtual models that mimic the structure, context, and behavior of a physical counterpart.

Biden Administration, Immigration-Migration-Refugees, News & Photo Features

Biden Administration Implements New Initiatives to Beat Opioid Epidemic; Calls on Congress to Act

President Biden has just issued a National Security Memorandum directing every federal Department and Agency to do even more to stop the flow of narcotics—including fentanyl—into our country, but in the end, it is up to Congress to act, which Republicans refuse to do because they want to use the border crisis and fentanyl issue to campaign on. Biden’s statement and a fact sheet of the new administration initiatives to beat back the opioid epidemic were provided by the White House:

“Our Administration’s efforts have helped lead to the first decline in overdose deaths in five years.  We have seized more fentanyl at our border in the last two years than in the last five years combined, arrested and prosecuted dozens of high-level drug traffickers and cartel leaders, sanctioned over 300 entities and individuals involved in the global illicit drug trade, and forged historic counternarcotics cooperation with China. Still, far too many of our fellow Americans continue to lose loved ones to fentanyl. This is a time to act. And this is a time to stand together—for all those we have lost, and for all the lives we can still save.
 
“Today, I will issue a National Security Memorandum directing every federal Department and Agency to do even more to stop the flow of narcotics—including fentanyl—into our country.
 
“This Memorandum builds on my Unity Agenda, which made ending the opioid epidemic a top priority. It will enable our government to disrupt drug cartels—and their suppliers and financiers—more quickly and effectively. It will increase intelligence collection on traffickers’ evolving tactics to smuggle narcotics into our country. And it will help our law enforcement personnel seize more deadly drugs before they reach our communities. This Memorandum will also complement our historic work to expand access to treatment, including by making naloxone—the life-saving medication that reverses the effects of opioids—widely available over the counter for the first time. 
 
“I’m calling on Congress to do their part—including passing the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Detect and Defeat” proposals. These bipartisan proposals increase penalties on drug smugglers, give border officials key tools they need to target fentanyl at our border, and close other loopholes that traffickers exploit. I also once again urge Congress to pass the bipartisan border security agreement which provides funding for more border agents and more drug detection machines. These are the key investments needed to stop fentanyl from reaching our communities.” 

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Counter the Scourge of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs

Far too many Americans have lost children, spouses, and friends to dangerous drugs like illicitly manufactured fentanyl. It is a scourge that has no geographic or political boundaries, wreaking havoc on families and communities in all parts of America. That’s why since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has made disrupting the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a core priority. As part of their Unity Agenda for the nation, President Biden and Vice President Harris have taken a number of actions to combat the opioid epidemic: 

  • Border officials have stopped more illicit fentanyl at ports of entry in the past two fiscal years than in the previous five fiscal years combined.  In just the last five months, over 442 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl were seized at U.S. borders. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to invest in detection technology at U.S. borders, adding dozens of new inspection systems, with dozens more coming online next year. 
  • The Biden-Harris Administration has made naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, widely available over the counter, and has invested over $82 billion in treatment – 40 percent more than the previous Administration. 
  • In 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order targeting foreign persons engaged in the global illicit drug trade and has since sanctioned over 300 persons and entities under this authority, thereby cutting them off from the United States’ financial system.

 
Due to these efforts, the number of overdose deaths in the United States has started to decline for the first time in five years. But even one death is one too many. And so today, President Biden will issue a new National Security Memorandum calling on all relevant Federal Departments and Agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in our country. President Biden and Vice President Harris also are calling on Congress to enact legislation to increase penalties on those who bring deadly drugs into our communities and to close loopholes that drug traffickers exploit.
 
The National Security Memorandum
 
The National Security Memorandum (NSM) that the President will issue calls on all relevant Federal Departments and Agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl other synthetic opioids into our country.  As drug traffickers and suppliers adapt, we must do so as well.  The NSM directs even more intelligence collection, even more intensive coordination and cooperation across Departments and Agencies, and even more actions to disrupt the production and distribution of illicit fentanyl. The NSM is one more step forward in the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued focus on dramatically reducing the supply of illicit drugs and their precursor chemicals, and protecting American lives.
 
Detect and Defeat Proposal
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is also encouraging Congress to take action to combat illicit fentanyl, including by passing the Administration’s “Detect and Defeat” Counter-Fentanyl Proposal.  This proposal incorporates many of the bipartisan ideas put forward by Members of Congress, and will increase the United States’ ability to detect and seize illicit drugs and hold drug traffickers accountable.  The proposal would give border officials the tools they need to more effectively track and target the millions of small-dollar shipments that cross our borders every day—closing a loophole that drug traffickers exploit.  It would establish a nation-wide pill press and tableting machine registry so that law enforcement officials can track these machines and protect against their illicit use in producing fake fentanyl pills. And it would permanently regulate fentanyl-related substances as “Schedule I” drugs—subjecting the distribution and possession of these drugs to heightened penalties. 
 
Today’s actions build on a series of additional steps the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to combat the opioid epidemic, including: 

Biden Administration, College Affordability, Education, News & Photo Features

Biden-Harris Administration Takes Next Step Toward Additional Debt Relief for Tens of Millions of Student Loan Borrowers This Fall

President Biden presses ahead with efforts to relieve millions of Americans from the burden of student loan debt © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.

In a clear demonstration of the Biden Administration refusing to give up or give in, President Biden just announced next steps to cancel student debt for some 30 million Americans – despite Republicans actually going to the Supreme Court to prevent the administration from exercising its authority.

 “Today, my Administration took another major step to cancel student debt for approximately 30 million Americans,,” President Biden stated. “By providing more information to borrowers on how they can take advantage of our upcoming debt relief programs, borrowers will be prepared to benefit swiftly once the rules are final. Despite attempts led by Republican elected officials to block our efforts, we won’t stop fighting to provide relief to student loan borrowers, fix the broken student loan system, and help borrowers get out from under the burden of student debt. 
 
“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes canceling student debt for nearly 5 million Americans so far through various actions; providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Income-Driven Repayment so borrowers get the relief they are entitled to under the law; and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families.
 
:From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to make higher education affordable and to make sure our Administration delivers for the American people.”

This fact sheet was provided by the White House:

Next Step Toward Additional Debt Relief for Tens of Millions of Student Loan Borrowers This Fall

Starting tomorrow, the Department will email borrowers telling them about potential debt relief and giving them the opportunity to opt out   

The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that it will begin the next step toward providing student debt relief to tens of millions of borrowers this Fall. Starting tomorrow, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) will begin emailing all borrowers with at least one outstanding federally held student loan to provide updates on potential student debt relief, and to inform them they have until August 30 to call their servicer and opt out if they do not want this relief.

The rules that would provide this relief are not yet finalized, and the email does not guarantee specific borrowers will be eligible. The Department will provide additional information to borrowers once the rules are finalized this fall. These proposed rules build upon the Administration’s existing work that has approved more than $168 billion in student loan relief for nearly 4.8 million borrowers through various actions. These rules, if finalized as proposed, would bring the total number of borrowers eligible for student debt relief to over 30 million, including borrowers who have already been approved for debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration over the past three years. 

“Today, the Biden-Harris administration takes another step forward in our drive to deliver student debt relief to borrowers who’ve been failed by a broken system,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “These latest steps will mark the next milestone in our efforts to help millions of borrowers who’ve been buried under a mountain of student loan interest, or who took on debt to pay for college programs that left them worse off financially, those who have been paying their loans for twenty or more years, and many others. The Biden-Harris Administration made a commitment to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible, and today, as we near the end of a lengthy rulemaking process, we’re one step closer to keeping that promise.” 

In April, the Administration released its first set of draft rules that proposed authorizing the Secretary of Education to grant student debt relief to tens of millions of borrowers across the country, including those whose balances have grown due to runaway interest and those who entered repayment on their loans a long time ago, among others. If these rules are finalized as the Department has proposed, they would authorize the Secretary of Education to provide partial or full debt relief for the following groups of borrowers:

  • Borrowers who owe more now than they did at the start of repayment. Borrowers would be eligible for relief if they have a current balance on certain types of Federal student loans that is greater than the balance of that loan when it entered repayment due to runaway interest. The Department estimates that this debt relief would impact nearly 23 million borrowers, the majority of whom are Pell Grant recipients.
    • Borrowers who have been in repayment for decades. If a borrower with only undergraduate loans has been in repayment for more than 20 years (received on or before July 1, 2005), they would be eligible for this relief. Borrowers with at least one graduate loan who have been in repayment for more than 25 years (received on or before July 1, 2000) would also be eligible.
    • Borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness but have not yet applied. If a borrower hasn’t successfully enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan but would be eligible for immediate forgiveness, they would be eligible for relief. Borrowers who would be eligible for closed school discharge or other types of forgiveness opportunities but haven’t successfully applied would also be eligible for this relief.
    • Borrowers who enrolled in low-financial value programs. If a borrower attended an institution that failed to provide sufficient financial value, or that failed one of the Department’s accountability standards for institutions, those borrowers would also be eligible for debt relief.

If finalized as proposed, these new rules would authorize relief for borrowers across the country who have struggled with the burden of student loan debt. The Department expects that all four of these proposed forms of relief would be provided to eligible borrowers without requiring any action from borrowers; no application would be needed.

If, however, borrowers prefer to opt out of this debt relief for any reason, they can do so by contacting their servicer by Aug. 30, 2024. Borrowers who opt out of this debt relief will not be able to opt back in, and they will also be temporarily opted out of forgiveness due to enrollment in an IDR plan until the Department is able to automatically assess their eligibility for that benefit in a few months. In addition, borrowers would only be eligible for the proposed relief if they have entered repayment at the time that the Department would be determining eligibility, after the proposed rules are finalized.

More information for borrowers about this debt relief is available at StudentAid.gov/debt-relief.

An unparalleled track record of borrower assistance

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to educational and economic opportunity for students and families. The Administration secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant—the largest increase in a decade—and finalized new rules to help protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts or insufficient earnings. The Administration continues its work to issue debt relief regulations under the Higher Education Act, with final regulations expected this fall.

The Biden-Harris Administration has approved the following debt relief for borrowers:

  • $69.2 billion for 946,000 borrowers through fixes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
    • $51 billion for more than 1 million borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR payment counts. These adjustments have brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and addressed longstanding concerns with the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers.
    • $28.7 billion for more than 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
    • $14.1 billion for more than 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

$5.5 billion for 414,000 borrowers through the SAVE Plan

Child Care, Poverty

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Keep Children and Families Safely Together and Supported

The White House hosts a convening on transforming child welfare and announces new policy to prevent family separation due to poverty

 

President Joe Biden  and Vice President Kamala Harris believe every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential and grow up in a safe and loving home with their families. The White House announced new policies that focus on preventing family separation and supporting and creating opportunities for families and youth. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The President and Vice President believe every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential and grow up in a safe and loving home with their families. Over four million families are referred to child protective services each year, and around 200,000 children enter foster care.  Child welfare systems are prepared to step in when a child’s safety is at risk, but they are frequently tasked with intervening when families are simply impoverished and could  be best helped in the long run by helping meet their economic and service needs. Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to improving child and family well-being by keeping families together safely, including through helping connect them to community and economic supports, increasing the use of kinship care, and improving foster care so that when it is needed, it preserves and strengthens lasting emotional bonds.
 
Today, the White House hosted a convening on transforming child welfare to announce new policies that focus on preventing family separation and supporting and creating opportunities for families and youth. The convening brought together policymakers across federal, state, local, and tribal governments, philanthropy, child welfare and family support organizations, and young people and families who have personal experiences, to encourage further innovation, build new partnerships, and exchange best practices. The new announcements focus on four key areas:
 
Separating Poverty and Neglect
Children should not be separated from their families due to financial hardship alone. Several states, like Kentucky, Indiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Kansas have already clarified that poverty alone should not cause child removal. And there is emerging evidence connecting these actions to improvements in family outcomes. The Biden-Harris Administration is encouraging states to follow their lead and make clear the distinctions between child maltreatment and financial hardship. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is:

  • Issuing new policy guidance that encourages states to update their maltreatment definitions under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to exclude the inability to provide adequate housing, child care and other material needs if the family has insufficient financial means to do so from the definition of child neglect. The state should first seek to help the family. 
  • Committing to develop guidance on training mandated reporters so that they recognize the need to connect economically fragile families to supports and know these changes to neglect definitions.

 
Prevention Services
Prevention services, including services to help families economically and provide parenting and behavioral health treatment, need to be well resourced, tailored to best meet the needs of families and grounded in evidence. New Biden-Harris actions will expand how states and Tribes can use federal funding for prevention activities to provide greater assistance to children and families before a crisis point. These actions include new policies to:  

  • Provide more flexibility to Tribal governments to use Tribally accepted prevention services when they collaborate with state child welfare agencies.
  • Permit federal administrative funding to help families get to and engage with prevention programs, such as case management, peer navigation and transportation to help families engage with services. Policy will also clarify how federal funds can support evaluations of interventions and activities that improve service implementation.
  • As well as, forthcoming new guidance on ways to integrate and leverage the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to prevent involvement in the child welfare system.

 
Prioritizing Kin and Youth Needs
Children who cannot be with their parents but live with relatives and other kin have better outcomes than those who are not, including in stability, behavioral health, and education. New Biden-Harris actions will incentivize jurisdictions to do more to ensure children can live with kin, and meet youth needs by:

  • Allowing child welfare agencies to draw on federal funds to finance background check operations to facilitate quicker licensing for kin and others who provide foster care.
  • Rolling out a new website spotlights states and Tribes that have adopted new kinship licensing rules, as well as data on their kinship placement rates.
  • Publishing a resource guide on federal programs that provide supports to grandparents and kin in their caregiving roles. 
  • Conducting a series of listening sessions to identify federal flexibilities needed for states and Tribes to adopt kinship licensing rules and kinship first approaches.

 
Innovations and Research
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to further developing actionable research on the intersection between prevention, family support and child well-being outcomes. HHS announced several projects that:

  • Highlight innovative prevention approaches that rely on service integration and agency collaboration to prevent homelessness among youth aging out of foster care and to build family resilience.
  • Enable researchers to study linked Medicaid and child welfare data to understand the health needs of children and parents involved in child welfare.
  • Examine the characteristics and experiences of certain families who relinquished or voluntarily placed their children in child welfare custody to better identify the needs for community-based behavioral health and disability services.

 
THE BIDEN-HARRIS RECORD ON CHILD WELFARE
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has a long record of actions consistent with its commitment to keeping families together safely, providing supports as an alternative to child removals, and increasing the use of kinship care and other foster care best practices:

  • Accelerating uptake of the Title IV-E Prevention Program. This groundbreaking program provides open-ended funding for proven approaches to keeping children with their families.  This Administration has approved 38 prevention plans, bringing the total to 42 states, the District of Columbia, and four Tribes. 
  • Expanding evidenced-based services to use in the Prevention Program.  This month HHS announced changes to the title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse review procedures that will enable the review and approval of diverse new programs that can be funded through the Prevention Program, beyond the 85 already approved.  These changes clarify how services that include economic supports can be reviewed, offer more flexible evaluation designs to meet evidence standards, and create more engagement and transparency in the review process.
  • Respecting Tribal sovereignty. The Administration expanded the scope of Public Law 102-477 plans, which now deliver over $300 million in flexible funding to 298 Indian Tribes to strengthen the economic stability and mobility of families in Indian Country – including by braiding child welfare funding with workforce funding to help preserve families. And just over a year ago, the President celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, which upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act as a necessary safeguard to ensure that whenever possible, children should be kept with their extended families or community.
  • Expanding home visiting. The Administration has doubled total authorized funding for home visits from $400 million in FY 2022 to $800 million by FY 2027 in the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program and quadrupled funding to $48 million to Tribes over the same period, increasing efforts that can identify challenges facing families and enable solutions that keep children healthy and families together.  Most recently, HHS announced $3 million in grant funding to six new tribal entities for a home visiting programs to support and promote the well-being of expectant families and those with young children in Indigenous communities.
  • Prioritizing kinship care. In September 2023, HHS issued a final rule that allows a child welfare agency to adopt simpler licensing or approval standards for all kin foster family homes. The rule also requires that states provide kinship caregivers with the same level of financial assistance that any other foster care provider receives, an important step forward to strengthen the financial security of kinship families. In April 2024, HHS hosted a national convening on kinship care to highlight innovative strategies to bolster kinship care. Six states and three Tribes have taken up the kinship licensing rules in the first six months, and three more are pending approvals to do so.  
  • Supporting young people in foster care. HUD has increased public housing authority uptake of the Foster Youth to Independence Program, which provides housing vouchers for up to three years for older youth transitioning from foster care. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD awarded $60.3 million, providing 4,364 vouchers for older youth. HHS also funded 11 state and Tribal demonstration grants to test community approaches to prevent youth from becoming homeless. And USDA and HHS are working to ensure that young people experiencing homelessness or transitioning out of foster care can keep their SNAP benefits without work reporting requirements, as secured by the President through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
  • Protecting parents and children with disabilities from discrimination. HHS issued a final rule to protect parents and children with disabilities involved with the child welfare system. The final rule seeks to ensure that children with disabilities are served in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, and that parents and prospective parents do not face discrimination in visitation, reunification, child placement, and other child welfare services based on stereotypes about their disability.
  • Cutting child poverty. The Biden-Harris Administration saved nearly 40 million working families with 65 million children an average of $2,600 by expanding the Child Tax Credit in 2021—helping to cut child poverty nearly in half, lifting 1.2 million Hispanic children, 800,000 Black children, and almost 100,000 Asian American children out of poverty.
  • Providing affordable child care for families. The President has secured nearly a 50% increase in child care funding, keeping providers open during the pandemic and bolstering women’s labor force participation. HHS made changes to the child care subsidy program to lower costs for families with low-incomes by capping their out of pocket child care costs to 7% of their income. 
  • Providing housing relief for families. The Biden-Harris Administration has provided rental assistance to more than 5 million households, including an additional 100,000 low-income families. The Administration established a ceiling for annual rent increases for the two million apartments that are financed by federal tax credits—reducing the maximum allowable annual rent increase for those renters by an average of nearly $500 this year. And during the pandemic, the Administration provided rental assistance to 8 million renters to help pay rent, keep them in their homes, and cover utilities bills.
Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Jobs

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic Rules to Create Good-Paying, High-Quality Clean Energy Jobs

Inflation Reduction Act final rules build on Administration actions to develop a skilled, well-paid workforce to build the clean energy economy and combat the climate crisis. The Biden Administration has created mechanisms and collaborations to connect those who want to work in the clean energy industry with jobs. This fact sheet was provided by the White House:

Since day one, President Biden has committed to building a clean energy economy that creates good-paying and union jobs for American workers. Spurred by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which includes the most significant investment in climate and clean energy in history, America has unleashed a clean energy manufacturing and deployment boom that has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment and created more than 270,000 new good-paying and union clean energy jobs. These investments are flowing to the places President Biden promised not to leave behind, including the historic energy communities that have powered this nation for generations and economically distressed communities, providing jobs and economic opportunity, particularly for workers without a college degree.

The Inflation Reduction Act delivered on President Biden’s commitment to be the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history, attaching strong labor protections and incentives to climate and clean energy tax credits for the first time ever. Outside analysis projects that the Inflation Reduction Act could create 1.5 million additional jobs over the next decade, and these provisions will ensure that those jobs building wind farms, installing solar panels, and constructing hydrogen and carbon capture facilities will be good-paying and support proven pathways into the clean energy industry that will allow workers to earn while they learn.

Today, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced final rules implementing the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship increased credit provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Clean energy projects that meet the requirements of these final rules will receive a fivefold increase for clean energy tax credits for deployment of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies, as well as for projects receiving allocations under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Projects credit., providing a significant incentive for project developers to pay prevailing wages to workers for construction, alteration, and repair of clean energy projects and to hire registered apprentices to earn while they learn by working on those projects.  

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also published a blog highlighting the use of Project Labor Agreements as a best practice for large construction projects and a tool to help project developers comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Project Labor Agreements, or pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set the terms and conditions for employment on a construction project, help workers and developers alike by providing strong worker and wage protections while ensuring a reliable supply of skilled workers to help deliver projects on time and on budget.

The final rules provide certainty for clean energy developers and workers to realize the benefits of President Biden’s historic investments in the clean energy economy. To protect workers and ensure compliance with these requirements, the IRS also released a Fact Sheet that can be posted at job sites and used to educate workers about the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship standards for clean energy projects, including information on how to use IRS Form 3949-A to report suspected violations of tax law. The IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) also announced that they are working on an MOU, to be signed by the end of the year, that will harness DOL’s extensive prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship expertise, to facilitate joint education and public outreach, develop training content for IRS examiners, and formalize a process for DOL to share with IRS, any credible tips or information about potential noncompliance with the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements.

Today’s announcement builds on efforts across the Administration to create strong pathways into good-paying and union jobs in clean energy and build a high-quality, diverse pipeline of workers prepared to build the clean energy economy of the future:

  • The Department of Labor launched an interactive map to highlight for workers, unions, and the public more than 1,000 planned clean energy projects nationwide, including the estimated number of workers at each project who stand to benefit if taxpayers satisfy the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.
     
  • The Biden-Harris Administration launched a series of Investing in America Workforce Hubs, partnerships with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, high schools, and other stakeholders in regions with significant investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, to connect Americans to good-paying jobs in industries of the future, including Hubs focused on clean energy.
     
  • First Lady Jill Biden announced the first set of five Hubs in May 2023, fueling significant progress in building and scaling new job training opportunities, while President Biden announced four more hubs in April to build on the success of the first set.
    • The Augusta, Georgia Workforce Hub announced partnerships between employers, unions, nonprofits, philanthropy, school districts, and colleges to build workforce and skills development efforts to meet the needs of the energy, battery and battery materials, and nuclear sectors.
  • The Pittsburgh Workforce Hub announced hundreds of new job opportunities and training pathways—including registered apprenticeships—in clean energy, as well as in cyber occupations that support clean energy and other critical sectors.
     
  • Building on historic investments in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, President Biden launched the Michigan Electric Vehicle Workforce Hub, building on significant efforts underway, to ensure that the transition to electric vehicle supports the union workers and communities that have driven the auto industry for generations.
    • Vice President Kamala Harris visited Detroit in May to announce a suite of actions to support small- and mid-sized auto manufacturers and auto workers to lead the electric vehicle future.
       
  • In the Columbus Workforce Hub, Columbus State Community College is working with partners across the state to quadruple the number of students trained for engineering technology jobs. In addition, partners are preparing at least 10,000 skilled construction trades workers, including for clean energy jobs in the area.
     
  • The Department of Energy launched the Community Workforce Readiness Accelerator for Major Projects (RAMP) initiative, a pilot initiative that places selected fellows from across the nation in target geographies in order to  convene and  catalyze effective, inclusive workforce strategies to prepare and connect local workers to good jobs on large clean energy infrastructure and supply chain projects funded the Investing in America agenda.
     
  • The Department of Energy continues to incentivize grant and loan recipients across a wide array of Investing In America programs to commit to the use of registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, project labor agreements, collective bargaining agreements, community benefits agreements, and other established tools to ensure that workers have accessible on-ramps to good-paying and union jobs in the growing clean energy economy.
     
  • The Department of Energy, in coordination with the Department of Labor and the AFL-CIO, launched the Battery Workforce Initiative, a national workforce development strategy for lithium-battery manufacturing with $5 million to support pilot training programs. Recently, the Battery Workforce Initiative announced National Guideline Standards for registered apprenticeships for battery machine operators, created in partnership with battery manufacturers, community colleges, and unions, which lay out rigorous training requirements to support the skilled battery workforce.
     
  • Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it would invest $60 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to advance climate-ready workforce projects in coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes, and territories. The Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative will fund skills training in emergency preparedness and response, floodproofing, structural elevation, water and wastewater treatment, geographic information systems, and other critical climate-ready jobs. Every awarded project supports a community identified as disadvantaged by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.
     
  • The Department of Labor announced the award of nearly $94 million in grants to support 34 public-private partnerships to provide worker-centered sector strategy training programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia to meet workforce needs created by the Biden-Harris administration’s “Investing in America” agenda. The training will support jobs in sectors including clean energy. This investment will build career pathways in manufacturing Electric Vehicles (EVs), EV batteries, and EV charging infrastructure in places like Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Department of Labor also announced the availability of approximately $35 million in funding through the second round of Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs grants to be awarded.
     
  • The Department of Energy announced up to $24 million in high-quality training for union apprentices, incumbent workers, and students for in-demand jobs in advanced manufacturing and clean energy through the Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Program. The announcement is part of the IAC Program’s unprecedented expansion to include Registered Apprenticeship, union-led training, and community and technical college programs through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. It follows DOE’s $40 million investment, announced in November, to support 17 new IACs as well as the inaugural cohort of 10 Building Training and Assessment Centers. 
     
  • The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Advanced Manufacturing Sprint, an intensive drive to build a diverse, skilled pipeline of workers for needed to fill the good advanced manufacturing jobs created by President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, including in clean energy, biotechnology, semiconductors, and more. As part of the Sprint, the Department of Labor announced that more than 4,700 apprentices have been hired and more than 150 new programs and occupations created or under development during the course of its Advanced Manufacturing Registered Apprenticeship Accelerator Series—including in the clean energy, semiconductor, aerospace, automotive, and biotechnology sectors.
     
  • The Department of Labor launched a $20 million cooperative agreement with TradesFutures, the nonprofit organization of partner of North America’s Building Trades Unions) and the National Urban League, to enroll more than 13,000 participants in apprenticeship readiness programs, giving them hands-on learning experience and skills development, and place at least 7,000 participants into Registered Apprenticeships in the construction industry. The launch followed the Department of Labor’s announcement of nearly $200 million in grants to expand registered apprenticeships, including for clean energy jobs.
     
  • The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge, nationwide call to action that brought together more than 350 employers, unions, education and training providers, states, local governments, Tribes, territories, philanthropic organizations, and other stakeholders to make tangible commitments that support equitable workforce development in critical sectors, including electrification.
    • As part of the Talent Pipeline Challenge, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers trained more than 20,000 members through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program to meet the training requirements for the Department of Transportation National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program to install fast EV chargers on national corridors and in communities.
       
  • The Department of Labor has invested more than $440 million to expand, diversify, and modernize registered apprenticeships, including in high demand clean energy occupations including electricians, water treatment specialists, wind turbine maintenance technicians and other occupations. DOL has also invested in a clean energy apprenticeship industry intermediary, Interstate Renewable Energy Coalition, to increase industry awareness, connect employers and labor organizations with workforce and education partners, and provide technical assistance to launch, scale, and diversify Registered Apprenticeship programs. These investments and resources expand the capacity of the Registered Apprenticeship system, supporting the education and training needs of more than 1 million apprentices across the country, including the clean energy sector. 
     
  • The Department of Energy is working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a first of its kind national Energy Workforce Needs Assessment to project employment impacts from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and related private investments by occupation and geography, analyze current education and training capacity, and identify the most acute workforce gaps and strategies to fill them. 
     

The Department of Energy has convened a federal advisory committee called the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board to develop a strategy and recommendations on how DOE and other federal agencies should address the workforce needs, challenges, and opportunities of a rapidly changing energy system. The report is expected in early August. 

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change

Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Expand Access to Capital for Small- and Medium-Sized Climate Businesses

The Biden Administration is accomplishing a real transition to clean energy and a sustainable green economy through promoting investments in technology, businesses, and innovation with state and local governments and private businesses, while demanding a framework of economic and environmental justice. This fact sheet listing Biden Administration actions to expand access to capital for small and medium sized climate businesses was provided by the White House:

Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. is making the largest public investment in climate action in history. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the largest-ever investment in climate action, introduced and expanded grants, loans, tax incentives, and other programs to accelerate clean energy deployment, invest in resilience, and seed breakthrough innovative technologies. Combined with unprecedented executive action, these investments are setting the United States on a path to achieve President Biden’s ambitious climate goals — including cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. President Biden’s historic economic policies have spurred unprecedented levels of private investment into America’s clean energy economy. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the private sector has announced $866 billion in new investments in clean energy and manufacturing.

Creating economic opportunity for all American communities, entrepreneurs, and workers is central to President Biden’s economic and climate agenda. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed not only to catalyzing investment for climate and clean energy companies, but also to expanding access to that investment, ensuring all communities, including those historically left behind, benefit from these unprecedented resources.  

Today, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman will host a Climate Capital Convening at the White House with investors, climate technology start-ups, small business owners, and entrepreneurs to discuss opportunities to mobilize capital for climate-focused businesses across America.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration will also announce new actions and resources to expand access to climate capital:
 
Releasing the new Climate Capital Guidebook:

The Biden-Harris Administration is releasing a new Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple, comprehensive map of capital programs across the federal government that are available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. While larger, institutionally-backed climate companies may have the resources to identify and access federal funding opportunities, smaller enterprises may face greater challenges in navigating these federal programs.

The Guidebook includes financing and funding programs created and expanded by the Biden-Harris Administration, including those made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and longstanding annual appropriations. It inventories opportunities across the entire federal government, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the Small Business Administration, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Together, these programs comprise hundreds of billions of dollars in grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other funding tools to spur the financing and deployment of new clean energy and climate projects — while simultaneously focusing on delivering cleaner air, good-paying jobs, and affordable clean energy to disadvantaged communities, energy communities, and other communities in need.  The Guidebook also indicates programs that are part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.


Expanding financing to support small businesses’ adoption of clean energy:

Small businesses are a critical part of achieving net zero by 2050 and should have access to capital to deploy new clean energy and climate projects.

The Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program provides long-term, fixed rate loans of up to $5.5 million from Small Business Administration-approved lenders to small businesses for certain energy and manufacturing projects to support capital expenditures such as real estate or equipment. Previously, this program was capped at three loans per company, allowing each company to receive a total of $16.5 million in loans backed by the Small Business Administration.  This month, the Small Business Administration is lifting its cap on the number of 504 loans that small businesses may receive for “energy public policy projects,” which include projects that reduce energy consumption such as retrofits and/or renewable energy projects such as adding solar. In lifting this cap, small businesses may now bundle multiple 504 loans to finance projects that leverage clean energy technologies to lower production costs, improve energy efficiency, and contribute to emissions reductions goals.

This change increases the total financing available to small businesses tackling climate change and investing in a clean energy future.

Today’s announcements build on prior Biden-Harris Administration actions to expand access to climate capital, including:

Expanding Financing for Clean Energy and Climate Solutions:

  • Thanks to the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is implementing the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a first-of-a-kind national financing program to catalyze private investment in clean energy projects. The agency announced $14 billion for a National Clean Investment Fund, $6 billion for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and $7 billion for the Solar for All Program. Together, these investments are creating new clean energy job opportunities and reducing pollution in low-income and disadvantaged communities, as part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act contains new and expanded tax credits to support investment in new clean electricity generation projects, clean energy manufacturing plants, electric vehicle charging stations, and other clean energy projects. The law also contains new credit monetization provisions for direct pay and transferability, which are expanding eligibility to tax-exempt entities like cities, states, and nonprofit organizations and helping to lower the cost of financing clean energy investments.
  • Made possible by funding from the American Rescue Plan, the Department of the Treasury allocated nearly $10 billion through the State Small Business Credit Initiative to deliver funding to states, territories, and Tribal governments that spurs lending and support to small businesses. Several states are using funds from the State Small Business Credit Initiative to support climate-focused initiatives, for example: Connecticut is leveraging $89 million to launch a climate equity and venture capital program, Illinois is using $20 million to support its Climate Bank Finance Participation Loan Program, and New Jersey is committing $80 million to its Clean Energy Loans Program.
     
  • The Department of the Treasury, through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), is promoting access to capital in low-income communities through monetary awards and tax credits to certified CDFIs. The program recently began collecting data on climate-centered financing by CDFIs — including projects related to climate resilience, extreme weather response or preparation, emission reduction, sustainability, energy or water efficiency, and clean energy projects.
  • The Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration are jointly rolling out the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies Initiative to increase capital investment in technologies critical to U.S. economic and national security. The initiative provides equity, debt, and other capital investments in specified critical technology areas, including renewable energy generation and storage.

Funding Clean Energy and Climate Projects Across the Economy:

  • The Small Business Administration’s flagship 7(a) Loan Program provides small businesses access to financing for a wide variety of projects, including acquiring new real estate, working capital, refinancing, and purchasing new equipment. In August 2023, the Small Business Administration announced its Affiliation Rule and SBLC Rule. This rule included changes to how affiliation is assessed and removed “control” as a factor in determining eligibility of a borrower under current size standards. In effect, this change will enable more small businesses, especially innovative venture-backed companies, to access the credit they need to start up and grow. 
  • The Small Business Administration plans to establish a new Working Capital Pilot Program under its signature 7(a) lending program to provide lines of credit to small businesses, including clean energy and climate technology manufacturers, to support their domestic or export finance needs. The program will be paired with business counseling from the Small Business Administration.
  • The Department of Energy is accepting Round 2 applications on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. After $4 billion in tax credits were allocated to taxpayers in Round 1 in Spring 2024, the program will allocate an additional $6 billion in tax credits to projects in three areas: clean energy manufacturing, critical materials, and industrial decarbonization. A portion of the funds have also been set aside for projects in certain designated energy communities.
  • The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act created the Clean Ports Program and the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Program, both of which help advance the Justice40 Initiative. Through the Clean Ports Program, the Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure as well as climate and air quality planning projects at ports. Through the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Program, the Department of Transportation is investing $400 million in port electrification and efficiency; $148 million in awards were made earlier in 2024, and companies can apply to a second funding opportunity that will go live later this year.
  • The Departments of Energy and Transportation are working together with states to build out the infrastructure for an electric mobility future while furthering the Justice40 Initiative. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program is providing a total of $5 billion over five years to states to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure along corridors, and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program is providing an additional $2.5 billion over five years to fill gaps in the national network by installing chargers in various communities. The SMART Program is granting states $500 million over five years to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems that improve transportation efficiency and safety. And the Communities Taking Charge Accelerator Program is providing $54 million in funding for projects that expand community e-mobility access and provide reliable clean energy, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, including in disadvantaged communities.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy are collaborating with state and local partners to ensure that funding for affordable housing development can also be used to deploy clean energy technologies like heat pumps. Programs like the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, the annual Innovative Housing Showcase, and the Buildings Upgrade Prize highlight how funds for affordable housing can simultaneously benefit clean energy and climate companies.

Building Federal Resource Hubs and Providing Technical Assistance:

  • The Small Business Administration launched its Investing in America Small Business Hub, a new digital resource to help small businesses identify and access industry-specific tax credit, rebate, contracting, and grant opportunities made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency published a list of Clean Energy Finance Tools and Resources to help state and local governments access financing for clean energy and climate programs. This includes a toolkit for state and local decision-makers on financing opportunities such as green banks, revolving loan funds, municipal bonds, and green bonds.
  • The Department of the Treasury launched the IRA Taxpayer Resource Hub, a one-stop-shop for information on the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax benefits. The Hub details how businesses can take advantage of clean energy tax credits to help finance new investments in clean power systems, energy efficiency upgrades, or electric vehicles.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development launched the Build for the Future Hub to connect users — including state and local governments, Tribal entities, private entities, and non-profits — to funding opportunities, technical assistance, and other information related to clean energy, climate resilience, energy efficiency, green workforce development, and more.
  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership provides a government-to-business and business-to-business portal for supplier scouting. Public and private organizations can access this portal for business or technology connections, including in clean energy and climate-related industries. Local Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers facilitate government, original equipment manufacturer, and small and medium-sized manufacturer matchmaking events for clean energy companies.
  • The Department of Labor offers workforce development opportunities for clean energy and climate technology companies. The Office of Apprenticeship connects employers with workforce and education partners and provides technical assistance to launch and expand Registered Apprenticeship programs. The Battery Workforce Initiative — an industry-driven, government-facilitated partnership coordinated by the Department of Energy — is accelerating the development and use of high-quality, standardized training materials in key occupations for companies and local training providers in the battery manufacturing industry.

Seeding Commercial Innovation:

  • The U.S. Economic Development Administration designated 31 communities across the United States as Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) to drive regional innovation, private investment, and job creation to strengthen each region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that advances national security. The hubs in Florida, Idaho/Wyoming, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and South Carolina/Georgia cite a growing need for clean energy technologies to build global economic competitiveness.
  • The U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale Program makes awards to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems that equitably support diverse technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and start-ups, including in clean energy and other climate-related industries.
Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Energy

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Launches Federal-State Initiative to Bolster America’s Power Grid

If you want to transition from planet-killing fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and climate change to clean, renewable, sustainable energy, much more has to be done to increase the capacity and reliability of the electric grid. This fact sheet on what the Biden-Harris Administration is doing to bolster America’s power grid was provided by the White House:

Since Day One, President Biden has positioned America as a leader in the global race for a clean energy future, including by taking ambitious action to deliver a clean, reliable electric grid, which will help ensure that communities don’t lose power during extreme weather events, lower energy costs for hardworking families, and create good-paying jobs – all while tackling the climate crisis. Under the President’s leadership, the U.S. is projected to build more new electric generation capacity this year than we have in two decades – 96 percent of that clean energy. In addition, ten major transmission projects have begun construction, expected to connect nearly 20 gigawatts of new power to the grid. America is investing tens of billions to strengthen our grid to bolster resiliency, strengthen energy security, and drive innovation. And in recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken critical steps to build out the nation’s power grid – from making the federal permitting process for new transmission lines more efficient to launching a public-private mobilization to upgrade 100,000 miles of existing lines.
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is building on this momentum by launching a Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative, with commitments from 21 leading states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s legislative accomplishments and executive actions in tackling the grid modernization challenge, the initiative aims to bring together states, federal entities, and power sector stakeholders to help drive grid adaptation quickly and cost-effectively to meet the challenges and opportunities that the power sector faces in the twenty-first century.
 
Participating states have committed to prioritize efforts that support the adoption of modern grid solutions to expand grid capacity and build modern grid capabilities on both new and existing transmission and distribution lines. Historically, expanding the capacity of the U.S. power grid has typically relied on building new transmission lines with technologies that have not changed since the mid-twentieth century. Today, a new generation of modern grid technologies provides a significant opportunity to achieve power system capacity expansion, including through high-performance conductors that have the benefit of being able to carry double or more of the amount of power of conventional transmission wires, as well as Grid Enhancing Technologies that maximize electricity transmission across the existing system through a family of technologies that includes sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools. These solutions increase the capacity and throughput based on real-time conditions. Deploying these tools means that renewables and other clean sources of power can be integrated sooner and more cost-effectively than waiting for new transmission construction, which will address load growth challenges more rapidly, create good-paying jobs, and lower Americans’ utility bills.
 
Alongside this announcement, the U.S. Climate Alliance announced the availability of policy, technical, and analytical assistance to help participating members advance state-level efforts to carry out these commitments. In conjunction the Department of Energy is elevating the host of technical assistance programs that can support varying levels of analysis for utilities, policy makers, regulators, state energy offices, and other stakeholders. 

In particular, the 21 states signing on as inaugural members will focus on:

  • Meeting the shared challenges and opportunities of increased load growth, a rapidly changing energy landscape, aging infrastructure, and new grid-enhancing technologies – while delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to consumers.
    • Deploying innovative grid technologies to bolster the capacity of our electric grid and more effectively meet current and future demand, maximize benefits of new and existing transmission infrastructure, increase grid resilience to the growing impacts of climate change, and better protect consumers from variability in energy prices.

Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a public-private mobilization to upgrade 100,000 miles of existing lines with these types of high-impact solutions over the next five years as part of a suite of announcements in the power sector. The Administration is advancing this goal by:

Catalyzing Nationwide Collaboration on Modern Grid Technologies: Governors, regulators, utilities, labor unions, and industry all play vital roles in determining how energy infrastructure gets built. For that reason, the Biden-Harris Administration is convening these stakeholders at the White House today to explore innovative policy solutions to unlock the deployment of modern grid technologies and share best practices. The Federal government stands ready to provide technical and financial assistance and can help provide additional forums to ensure that the best ideas from states, industry, and community stakeholders can be more readily shared.

Accelerating Permitting through New Categorical Exclusions for Reconductoring:
Previously, projects to upgrade a transmission line above 20 miles in length could trigger a detailed environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The Department of Energy last month expanded a categorical exclusion for upgrading and rebuilding transmission lines, replacing the previous length limits. DOE also made changes to categorical exclusions for certain energy storage and solar projects on previously developed lands. With these changes, most reconductoring projects now qualify for the simplest form of environmental review, which can take years off of project development time and allow the benefits of the transmission expansion to be realized even sooner.

Funding the Deployment of Advanced Grid Technologies: President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) have provided the largest investment in history to strengthen the nation’s power grid, including programs that can support transmission line upgrades. For example, DOE’s Grid Deployment Office is administering $10.5 billion in competitive grant funding through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The first round of GRIP awards included 10 projects that will help deploy Grid Enhancing Technologies and calls for applications for the second round placed even greater emphases on these solutions. The DOE Loan Programs Office has $250 billion of loan guarantee authority to provide low-interest financing to projects that upgrade existing energy infrastructure, with program guidance that highlights reconductoring as a qualifying project example. The Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program provides $9.7 billion in low interest loans or grants and represents the largest investment in rural electrification since 1936, with eligibility for transmission system upgrades.

Each of these programs advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Reinforcing Administration Accomplishments on New Transmission Lines: The Biden-Harris Administration’s new goal to expand capacity of existing transmission lines will work alongside a historic set of actions to accelerate buildout of new projects. Since 2021, ten major transmission projects have begun construction, expected to connect nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) of new generation to the grid and reflecting over $22 billion in investment, including several projects on public lands that received approvals from the Department of the Interior. The Department of Energy issued a final rule to launch the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorization and Permits Program (CITAP), which streamlines the federal permitting process for qualifying electric transmission projects and helps set a standard two-year schedule for authorizations and permits, cutting the average timeframe in half. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final rule on Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation, Order 1920, that adopts specific requirements addressing how transmission providers must conduct long-term planning for regional transmission facilities, consider the use of advanced conductors and Grid Enhancing Technologies, and determine how to pay for them, so needed transmission is built.