Tag Archives: infrastructure

Fact Sheet: Biden Announces $8.2 Billion to Deliver World-Class High-Speed Rail and Launch New Passenger Rail Corridors Across USA

December 8, 2023 krubin

*$8.2 billion from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda are earmarked to deliver transformative passenger rail service in America © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com*

Biden Administration, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features, President Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: President Biden Advances Vision for World Class Passenger Rail by Delivering Billions in New Funding

November 6, 2023 krubin

This fact sheet from the White House describes how President Biden is using $16.4 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair and replace critical rail infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor, to provide faster and more reliable passenger rail service, and create more than 100,000 construction jobs:

Penn Station, New York, on the busy Northeast Corridor. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with $66 billion investment in rail. Biden announced $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, moving the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail. The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying. The funding will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Bidenomics and President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are tackling long-standing infrastructure needs, supporting communities nationwide, and making it possible to get people and goods where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with a $66 billion total investment in rail. Today, President Biden is announcing $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, moving the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail. The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying. The funding will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. President Biden will travel to Bear, Delaware to make the announcement.

The Northeast Corridor, running from Boston, MA, to Washington, DC, is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The trains carry five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York. Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor also emit up to 83% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to car travel and up to 72% less greenhouse gas emissions than flying. If the Northeast Corridor shut down for a single day, it would cost the economy $100 million in lost productivity. Despite its importance, the Corridor hasn’t seen major investment in generations. The Northeast Corridor that exists today is the product of investments that date back to the 1830s, and many of the existing bridges and tunnels were built in the early twentieth century. Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Northeast Corridor is finally on track to be rebuilt to meet the needs of 21^st century travelers.

Today’s $16.4 billion announcement is through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant program, and reflects nearly $9 billion in FY 2022 and FY 2023 funds and $7.4 billion in future commitments through phased funding agreements.
Major awarded projects include:

Gateway Hudson River Tunnel (NY/NJ) will receive $3.8 billion in a phased funding agreement to rehabilitate and expand the Hudson River Tunnel between New York and New Jersey, which is over 100 years old, serves 200,000 passengers daily, and was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The overall Gateway Hudson River Tunnel project will improve resiliency, reliability, and redundancy for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Amtrak passengers traveling on the Northeast Corridor between New York and New Jersey. Combined with other investments, the total Biden Administration commitment to the tunnel project will be a record $11 billion. President Biden visited this project in January to announce a $292 million DOT MEGA program grant for the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, which supports the critical connection between the new Hudson River Tunnel and New York Penn Station. In June, the Hudson Tunnel Project received a $25 million grant through DOT’s RAISE program to support construction of the new tunnel portal through the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and utility relocation project in North Bergen, NJ. On Friday, Administration officials participated in a groundbreaking to officially begin construction on the New York side of the tunnel. The Hudson Tunnel Project is a critical component of the Gateway Program — a comprehensive rail investment program that will improve commuter and intercity services, add needed resiliency and create new capacity for the busiest section of the Northeast Corridor. The project is critical to the northeast regional economy — not only will the project generate $19 billion in economic activity over the Project’s construction period, addressing this critical chokepoint on the Northeast Corridor supports the $50 billion that workers riding on the NEC contribute to the economy annually.

Frederick Douglass Tunnel (MD) will receive $4.7 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, increasing speeds from 30 mph to 110 mph and reducing delays on the entire Northeast Corridor. The tunnel’s tight curvature and steep incline requires trains to reduce speeds to 30 mph. These issues create chronic delays — more than 10% of weekday trains are delayed, and delays occur on 99% of weekdays. The tunnel is the largest Northeast Corridor bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey and a single point of failure for the roughly 24,000 Amtrak and Maryland Area Commuter (MARC) passengers who rely on it daily. The President visited this project in January to announce the signing of a project kickoff agreement between Amtrak and the State of Maryland and a Project Labor Agreement between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council. Initial construction began in March of this year, and Amtrak recently awarded a contract for construction on the southern approach.
Susquehanna River Bridge (MD) will receive $2.1 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace an existing 100-year-old rail bridge with two new two-track spans that will allow speeds to increase from 90 mph to 125 mph, and improve reliability and trip times. Amtrak, the MARC rail and Norfolk Southern Railway use the bridge to transport both passengers and freight and therefore experiences a high volume of rail traffic. Roughly 19,000 passengers travel over the existing bridge every weekday. As part of this replacement project, the existing movable bridge will be replaced with high-level fixed bridges, which will also improve navigation for boats on the Susquehanna River.
Penn Station Access (NY) will receive $1.6 billion in a phased funding agreement to repair and rehabilitate 19 miles of the Amtrak-owned Hell Gate Line, including tracks, bridges, and signals. The project will introduce Metro-North service to Penn Station, increase Amtrak service, and the cut local transit travel time from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. In addition to reducing travel times, New York MTA’s investment will create four new fully ADA-accessible rail stations, and the added service and reduced travel times will have significant benefits for low-income communities in the Bronx. This project is in active construction as of 2023.
The Connecticut River Bridge (CT) will receive $827 million to replace a 116-year-old bridge with a new modern, resilient movable bridge. Replacing the existing structure will increase reliability and safety, and rail speeds on the bridge will increase from 45 mph to 70 mph. This project is fully designed and set to begin construction in 2024.

Two planning studies are also included in the investment: one to examine opportunities to increase speeds and reduce travel time between Washington, D.C. and New York City, and one to study future infrastructure options to improve speed, resilience, performance, and capacity to support faster trains traveling on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Each new awarded project – from the Frederick Douglass Tunnel to the Connecticut River Bridge – will improve travel times by addressing the delays associated with the constant maintenance and repair of old Northeast Corridor infrastructure. These delays are estimated to result in almost 245,000 train delay minutes annually, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will support replacing infrastructure that could result in almost 110,000 delay minutes saved annually.

Creating Good-Paying Union Jobs

Across all Northeast Corridor projects, an agreement is in place between Amtrak and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) that ensures Amtrak’s large civil engineering construction projects will be performed under a collective bargaining agreement that addresses points such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and promoting diversity and veteran hiring in the construction trades. With this agreement, Amtrak and NABTU will promote a strong workforce pipeline to prevent work disruptions; contractors and subcontractors share Amtrak’s commitment to paying fair wages and benefits; and Amtrak and NABTU can move forward with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded projects with efficient labor-management relations.

Amtrak expects the Hudson River Tunnel project will result in 72,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction with union partnerships for job training. The Frederick Douglas Tunnel program is expected to generate 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, including approximately 20,000 construction jobs. Amtrak is investing more than $50 million in local workforce development and community investments, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to ensure that local workers in West Baltimore can access these jobs.

Progress for Other Rail Investments

After waiting years for new federal funding, 2023 is the year in which major rail and transit projects across the country are moving forward.

Today’s investment follows major investments in rail safety through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer grade crossings, upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials, and enhanced multi-modal connections to keep people living near, working on, and who travel along America’s rail lines safer:

Last month, FRA announced more than $1.4 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan infrastructure law for 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements — or CRISI — program. This popular program has quadrupled since the President signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments are also laying the groundwork to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide. For example, investments in Virginia will result in two new Amtrak round trips and three new commuter rail round trips on the RF&P corridor between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA — a critical link between Northeast and Southeast states — while also improving the fluidity of CSX’s freight network. In California, two additional daily round trips will be added to the Capitol Corridor between the cities of Sacramento and Roseville, and a project eliminating grade crossings in the Central Valley will bring high-speed rail one step closer to becoming a reality. At least $376 million, or 25 percent of the amounts appropriated, was made available for projects in rural areas. In addition to improving passenger rail service, the CRISI program provides funding to further develop workforce and industry in America around rail. For example, Amtrak will receive up to $8.8 million for a pilot apprenticeship training program to recruit and train new track foremen and inspectors in Pennsylvania.
In June, FRA announced $570 million for 63 projects in 32 states under the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, or RCE, created by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This inaugural round of funding will address more than 400 at-grade crossings nationwide, improve safety, and make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect. Over each of the next four years, additional RCE Program funding will be made available annually. Project selections for other grant programs that will improve freight rail safety and efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and expand the passenger rail network — representing billions of dollars in infrastructure law investments — will be announced in the coming months.
In 2022, the Biden Administration announced $233 million in grants to upgrade intercity passenger rail service across the country through the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. These investments will help replace bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, many of which are over 100 years old. Grants were also awarded to improve rail infrastructure in California, Michigan, and improving Chicago Union Station.
On November 30, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration granted $4.3 billion to Amtrak, which represents the first year of the $22 billion in direct funding to Amtrak provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Amtrak is using these funds to modernize the intercity passenger rail network, modernize and increase accessibility at more than 280 Amtrak-served stations across the country, and replace Amtrak’s existing fleet of over 1,000 railcars and locomotives with accessible, comfortable, state-of-the-art equipment. Portions of the new fleet will enter service in 2023, and over 525 new railcars and locomotives will begin service by the end of the decade. Amtrak debuted the design of the new “Airo” railcars in late 2022. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Amtrak has invested nearly $3 billion in 750 projects across the country. By the end of 2023, 15 Amtrak stations will have been brought to full ADA compliance, with 25 more upgraded with passenger information display stations. Through these investments, Amtrak has created nearly 5,000 jobs, including employing over 4,000 union workers.
Later this year, FRA will award billions from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for intercity passenger rail projects across the country under the Fed-State Partnership National Program. High-speed rail projects are eligible for funding from this program.

Northeast Corridor Awarded Projects Map

Biden Administration, Federal Budget, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: As President Biden Announces Historic Transportation Investments, Extreme House Republicans Try to Slash Infrastructure Funding

November 6, 2023 krubin

This fact sheet from the White House details Biden’s historic investments in transportation, while Congressional Republicans are using the threat of a government shutdown to slash infrastructure funding.

President Biden wants to invest in America’s infrastructure, including passenger rail, but Republicans would cut funding that would impact making critical investments in improving the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s rail system and airspace, risking increased delays and cancellations due to outages and lost opportunities to improve safety, and undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to promote innovations that would lower noise and emissions, improve efficiency, and help the industry keep flight costs under control © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, the United States is making historic investments in infrastructure needs so people and goods can get where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. Today, the President is announcing $16.4 billion for passenger rail projects from his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.

While the Biden-Harris Administration is trying to make travel faster, safer and more reliable, House Republicans are trying to make it slower, harder, and less safe.

House Republicans are turning their backs on their communities—both urban and rural—and undermining American infrastructure with an appropriations bill that guts funding for Amtrak and makes draconian cuts to transportation and infrastructure programs. As outlined in a Statement of Administration Policy, the President would veto this extreme bill that would slash support for infrastructure in communities across the country, while at the same time adding billions to the deficit with give-aways to wealthy tax cheats.

Extreme House Republicans’ bill to defund infrastructure is just the latest example of their brutal cuts that would hurt the American people—following failed attempts to cut investments in infrastructure in March, May, June, and September and to eliminate hundreds of border patrol officers and tens of thousands of Head Start slots for kids. Rather than putting forward these devastating cuts, House Republicans need to follow the lead of the Senate and get to work on a bipartisan funding agreement—and act immediately on the Administration’s supplemental funding requests for urgent national security and domestic needs.

Extreme House Republicans’ draconian infrastructure defunding bill would:

Severely reduce Amtrak service and undermine critical maintenance work by slashing Amtrak funding by $1 billion. This reduction in funding would require Amtrak to reduce most, if not all, long-distance services, reduce certain Northeast Corridor regional train frequencies, and reduce or defer nearly 400 capital projects across the country. The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
Cut transit programs across the country with an 85% cut to the Capital Investment Grant program. This critical program funds projects that provide transformative benefits for communities across the Nation by expanding convenient and accessible transportation options—while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
Fail to make critical investments in improving the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s airspace, including by funding National Airspace System technology $500 million below the President’s Budget request, risking increased delays and cancellations due to outages and lost opportunities to improve safety.
Cut aviation research funding by over 20 percent, which would undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to promote innovations that would lower noise and emissions, improve efficiency, and help the industry keep flight costs under control.

The same extreme bill includes deep cuts to housing programs, which would:

Result in 20,000 fewer affordable homes being constructed, rehabbed, or purchased in communities across the Nation due to a nearly 70% cut to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Put 78,000 children at greater risk of lead exposure due a rescission of over $564 million for programs that mitigate housing-related risks of lead poisoning and other illnesses and hazards to lower income families, especially children.

Biden Administration, Build Back Better, Economic Development, Economic Policies, Economy

Bidenomics Is Working, Growing the Economy from the Middle Out and Bottom Up—Not the Top Down

July 20, 2023 krubin

Freight Train, Rochester New York. The Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is rebuilding our infrastructure, including our roads and bridges, high-speed internet capacity, ports, and airports. This infrastructure is the necessary foundation for durable and shared economic growth. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 35,000 new projects have been awarded funding in communities all across the country. By requiring Made-in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in our country’s roads and bridges, but also a strong domestic manufacturing base © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The June 2023 jobs report showed 497,000 more jobs created last month (twice the number anticipated) and wages up 6.4% – both indications of a strong, resilient economy and that ordinary, working Americans are doing well. Nonetheless, the stock market fell sharply over fears the Federal Reserve would continue to hike interest rates in order to tame the demon inflation by causing the labor market to weaken and take the steam out of wage growth. But the stock market is not the economy Americans live every day.

The Bidenomics agenda is driving investments in communities across the country – like billions of dollars for states to connect every American to high-speed internet, investments to rebuild roads and bridges, and investments to build a clean energy economy, boost domestic manufacturing, create jobs and lower costs for the American people.

Meanwhile, Republicans who voted against the historic investments of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and all efforts by the Biden Administration to promote a sustainable, resilient economic recovery that benefits all Americans, are actually, cynically, hypocritically taking credit for the marvelous infrastructure improvements like broadband and bridges, in their communities.

Despite GOP “voting no but still wanting the dough,” the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to deliver investments, lower costs, and opportunity to hardworking Americans in every corner of the country.

In remarks in Chicago on June 28, President Biden declared, “Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth among the world’s leading economies since the pandemic. We’ve added over 13 million jobs, more jobs in two years than any President has added in a four-year term.

“And folks, that’s no accident. That’s Bidenomics in action.

“Bidenomics is about building the economy from the middle out and bottom up – not the top down by making three fundamental changes.

“First, making smart investments in America. Second, educating and empowering American workers to grow the middle class. And third, promoting competition to lower costs and help small businesses.”

The White House provided this fact sheet outlining how Bidenomics is indeed working, giving the U.S. the strongest economy among the G7, and growing the economy sustainably, from the middle out and the bottom up, rather than the top-down “trickle down” con the Republicans have been hawking since Reagan.—Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office determined to rebuild our economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down—and that strategy is working. Even as they faced an immediate economic and public health crisis—with a raging pandemic, elevated unemployment, snarled supply chains, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses at risk of shuttering—the President and Vice President understood that it wouldn’t be enough to simply go back to the economy we had before the pandemic. That economy was saddled with longstanding challenges that held America back—including rising inequality and disinvestment from communities across the country.

President Biden recognized that some of those challenges were rooted in a failed trickle-down theory that supported slashing taxes for the wealthy and big corporations, shrinking public investment in critical priorities like infrastructure and education, and failing to safeguard market competition.

The President took office determined to move beyond these failed trickle-down policies and fundamentally change the economic direction of our country. His plan—Bidenomics—is rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up. It’s an economic vision centered around three key pillars:

Making smart public investments in America
Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class
Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive

While our work isn’t finished, Bidenomics is already delivering for the American people. Our economy has added more than 13 million jobs—including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs—and we’ve unleashed a manufacturing and clean energy boom. There were more than 10 million applications for new small businesses filed in 2021 and 2022—the strongest two years on record. America has seen the strongest growth since the pandemic of any leading economy in the world. Inflation has fallen for 11 straight months and has come down by more than half. And we have done it all while responsibly reducing the deficit.

None of this progress was an accident or inevitable—it has been a direct result of Bidenomics. And rather than taking us back to the failed trickle-down policies of the past, President Biden is committed to finishing the job and continuing to build an economy that finally works for working families—with better jobs, lower costs, and more opportunity.

Building More in America by Making Smart Public Investments

When President Biden came into office, public investment as a share of the economy had fallen from 7% in the 1960s to half that. A core tenet of Bidenomics is that targeted public investment can attract more private sector investment, rather than crowd it out. This is particularly true in sectors that are central to the long-term economic and national security interests of the United States—from improving our infrastructure, to semiconductors, to investing in clean energy and climate security.

The Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is rebuilding our infrastructure, including our roads and bridges, high-speed internet capacity, ports, and airports. This infrastructure is the necessary foundation for durable and shared economic growth. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 35,000 new projects have been awarded funding in communities all across the country. By requiring Made-in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in our country’s roads and bridges, but also a strong domestic manufacturing base.

The President’s agenda is also investing in key industries that are critical to our national security and economic security, like producing more semiconductors in America. And it is investing in accelerating the clean energy economy to help achieve our climate goals, working with our global partners. This approach is creating millions of good-paying jobs, advancing American leadership in innovating next-generation technologies, and delivering for workers and communities. The President’s agenda is strengthening our clean energy supply chains by spurring new and expanded U.S. factories, including more than 150 battery plants and 50 solar plants already announced. In all, we’ve seen $490 billion in private investment commitments in 21^st century industries since the President took office, and inflation-adjusted manufacturing construction spending has grown by nearly 100% in just two years. New data released just today shows the clean energy workforce added nearly 300,000 jobs in 2022 and clean energy jobs grew in every state in America, in part because of the investments in clean energy and manufacturing by the Biden-Harris Administration.

Empowering and Educating Workers to Grow the Middle Class

Bidenomics also recognizes that the benefits of a growing economy are only broadly shared when policies are designed to promote and empower workers. When the President took office, independent experts like the Congressional Budget Office were projecting that the unemployment rate wouldn’t fall below 4% until the end of 2025. But under Bidenomics, the unemployment rate fell below 4% four years before expectations and has stayed there for the past 18 months.

We’ve also seen record lows in unemployment for workers who have often been left behind in previous recoveries: with record low unemployment rates achieved under this Administration for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and people with disabilities—and a 70-year low for women. This strong labor market recovery has also led to better pay and working conditions. Inflation-adjusted income is up 3.5% since the President took office, and low-wage workers have seen the largest wage gains over the last year. Job satisfaction reached its highest level on record last year. And the prospect of good jobs has drawn people off the sidelines and into the workforce. In fact, the share of working-age Americans in the workforce hasn’t been higher in more than 20 years. This strong recovery will also provide durable benefits for years to come, in part by preventing the labor market scarring that sticks with workers for generations after a recession.

Empowering workers also means educating America’s workers—those with and without a four-year degree. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration is investing more in registered apprenticeships and career technical education programs than any previous Administration and continuing to fight for free universal pre-K and free community college.

And the President believes a critical tool for empowering workers is making it easier to join a union. The President is addressing a decades-long decline in unionization by supporting project labor agreements and collective bargaining. He asked the Vice President to lead the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment to drive action across the Administration to empower workers and support their right to join or form a union. Support for unions is the highest it’s been in more than half a century, and the labor movement is expanding to new companies and industries.

Promoting Competition to Lower Costs and Help Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Thrive

Bidenomics recognizes that for markets to function—and for workers and consumers to benefit—our economy requires healthy competition across sectors. After three-quarters of U.S. industries grew more concentrated in the two decades before President Biden took office, he understood that we needed a different approach. More competition means lower costs for consumers and higher wages for workers. And since taking office, the President has been delivering for the American people to lower prices, protect workers, and increase competition across the economy.

When the President took office, he signed an historic Executive Order on Competition, which “commits the federal government to full and aggressive enforcement of our antitrust laws.” That order identified 72 specific initiatives across government to promote competition—and it is paying off. In addition to enforcement, the Administration is lowering costs for consumers and creating opportunities for innovative new products to come to market—including from the millions of new small businesses around the country that have started during the Biden-Harris Administration.

For example, the Administration changed the rules so that hearing aids can be sold over-the-counter, instead of just via prescription. Previously, hearings aids could cost up to $5,000 per pair, but Americans can now get them for a few hundred dollars at a local convenience or electronics store. President Biden has signed legislation into law that will lower prescription drug costs for seniors and save taxpayers $160 billion over the next decade by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. The Administration is also fighting to end junk fees—hidden charges that cost Americans’ tens of billions per year and rob the marketplace of the kind of transparency that is necessary for real competition. And the Administration is working toward cracking down on noncompete agreements, which currently limit as many as 30 million workers from switching to a new job in the same field.

Reducing the Deficit and Making the Wealthy and Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

President Biden has pursued this economic vision in a fiscally responsible way—in stark contrast to the Congressional Republican approach. His predecessor enacted the latest version of trickle-down and the result was predictable: his tax giveaway added trillions to deficits, never trickled down to workers, and led to continued offshoring of jobs and profits. In recent weeks, House Republicans have doubled down on this approach—rolling out proposals to enact massive tax cuts for large corporations, including oil companies that made $200 billion in profit last year, while setting the stage for trillions in tax cuts skewed to the wealthiest Americans, delivering a $175,000 average annual tax cut to the top 0.1% (incomes over $4 million). Their view of “fiscal responsibility” is massive cuts to programs that millions of Americans count on, with the Republican Study Committee—which speaks for more than three quarters of House Republicans—recently releasing a plan to raise the Social Security retirement age to 69, eliminate the Medicare prescription drug savings that President Biden has signed into law, raise premiums for seniors on Medicare, and slash Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, food assistance, and Pell Grants.

President Biden believes in a fundamentally different approach. Under Bidenomics, he has proven that we can make smart investments in the American people while reducing the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes, closing wasteful tax loopholes, and slashing wasteful spending on special interests.

During his first two years, the President presided over $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction—a larger reduction than under any other President in American history. He has signed legislation into law to reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, including by ensuring the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations pay their fair share, cracking down on wealthy tax cheats, and lowering prescription drug costs for the American people by cutting wasteful giveaways to Big Pharma. And his Budget would reduce the deficit by another more than $2.5 trillion over the next decade with additional reforms, including requiring the wealthiest Americans and the largest multinational corporations to pay at least the tax rates that many middle-class families do.

Unlike House Republicans—whose plans would harm hard-working families—the President has proposed cutting taxes for working people and families with children by almost $800 billion over the next 10 years, including cutting taxes by an average of $2,600 for 39 million families that include 62 million children by expanding the Child Tax Credit, cutting taxes by an average of $800 for 19 million working individuals or couples by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and continuing Premium Tax Credit plus-ups that are cutting health care premiums by an average of $800 for nearly 15 million people.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Makes Historic Investments to Build Community Climate Resilience

July 7, 2023 krubin

Mendocino, California. President Biden went to California to tour a coastal community that is working to safeguard their natural infrastructure – highlighting both the urgency of taking bold climate action and strengthening America’s resilience. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Over the past two years, more than 100 million Americans have been personally affected by an extreme weather event. The record-shattering heat wave that hit Puerto Rico earlier this month, recent wildfire smoke that blanketed the Midwest and East Coast, and devastating storms in California, are just the latest evidence that climate change is not a far-off threat. It’s a crisis that’s here now. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris understand that to protect lives and livelihoods, we need to both slash emissions and give Americans the tools they need to prepare for the growing impacts of climate change.

That is why President Biden went to California to tour a coastal community that is working to safeguard their natural infrastructure – highlighting both the urgency of taking bold climate action and strengthening America’s resilience. During his visit, he previewed the Biden-Harris Administration’s latest actions to help communities adapt to the changing climate.

Through the President’s historic Investing in America agenda, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a first-ever $575 million Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to help coastal and Great Lakes communities, including Tribal communities in those regions, become more resilient to extreme weather and other impacts of the climate crisis. The funding will support innovative coastal resilience and adaptation solutions, such as building natural infrastructure, planning and preparing for community-led relocation, and protecting public access to coastal natural resources, that protect communities and ecosystems from sea level rise, tidal flooding hurricanes, storm surge, among other severe climate impacts. The Challenge is part of the $2.6 billion in resilience funding for NOAA included in the Inflation Reduction Act, and is part of the President’s Justice40 Initiative.

In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $2.3 billion in states, Territories, Tribes, and the District of Columbia over the next five years to bolster grid resilience across the country. As part of this investment, California is set to receive $67.4 million in the coming days, with the ability to apply for additional funding in the future, to modernize its electric grid to reduce impacts from extreme weather, natural disasters, and wildfires, and to ensure the reliability of the state’s power sector.

The Biden-Harris Administration knows that effective climate resilience strategies must be locally tailored and community-driven. That is why the President is also announcing that later this year, he will bring together state, local, Tribal, and Territorial leaders – who are managing the lived impacts of climate change every day – for a White House Summit on Building Climate Resilient Communities. As part of the Summit, the Biden-Harris Administration will release a new National Climate Resilience Framework designed to advance U.S. Government actions, in alignment with non-Federal efforts, towards a shared vision of a climate-resilient nation.

These announcements build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented commitment to strengthening America’s climate resilience.

Investing in Climate Resilience and Adaptation
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building communities that are not only resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, but also safer, more equitable, and economically stronger. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act together invest more than $50 billion in climate resilience and adaptation. This historic level of funding is already delivering real-world benefits while creating high-quality jobs that provide opportunities to community residents and offer a free and fair choice to join a union. The President’s investments are upgrading aging roads and bridges, providing tax credits for families to add more efficient appliances to their homes, restoring critical waterways, forests, and urban greenspaces, supporting resilient and climate-smart agriculture, bolstering water infrastructure across the American West, modernizing our electric grid, and funding research to develop the latest energy-storage technologies here in America.

Enhancing Drought Resilience Across the West
The Biden-Harris Administration is leading a whole-of-government effort to support drought-prone communities address the ongoing megadrought in the West. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law together include $15.4 billion to enhance drought resilience. Earlier this year, under President Biden’s leadership, the Department of the Interior and the seven Colorado River Basin states united around a historic consensus-based agreement to conserve water resources in the critical Colorado River System.

Combating the Growing Threat of Wildfires
In addition to implementing a 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy that will limit the impact and severity of fires in coming years, the Administration is helping communities prepare for and respond to wildfires right now. Recent actions include investing $7 billion to expand the wildland firefighter workforce, remove hazardous fuels from millions of acres of forest, and bring online new technology to better locate and respond to fires. The Administration also launched a new Community Wildfire Defense Grant program that helps local communities develop and implement wildfire preparedness plans. In addition, the Administration is tackling the pronounced health effects of wildfire smoke. AirNow.gov and its specialized Fire and Smoke Map provide Americans with real-time information about smoke and air quality so people can make informed decisions about how to stay safe. The Environmental Protection Agency recently made $10 million available to support wildfire smoke preparedness in community buildings, and awarded an additional $9 million for strategies to reduce smoke impacts.

Protecting Communities from Extreme Heat
The Biden-Harris Administration is saving lives by reducing exposure to extreme heat events. Community investments through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are reducing cooling costs and funding cooling centers in public facilities. The U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program recently announced $1 billion in grants to expand equitable access to trees and green spaces in urban communities, which will reduce heat-island effects and slash heating and cooling costs for residents. To better equip local officials and the public with robust and accessible information, the Administration launched Heat.gov, a centralized portal with real-time, interactive data and resources on extreme heat conditions, preparedness, and response.

Reducing Flood Risk for Households and Communities
Most homeowners’ and renters’ insurance does not cover flood damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program is helping communities proactively protect their homes, businesses, and belongings from unexpected flood damage. This includes providing guidance to communities on how they can mitigate their flood risk. President Biden also reinstated the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, which ensures that Federal agencies are considering and managing current and future flood risks in order to build a more resilient nation.

Promoting Climate-Smart Buildings and Infrastructure
Buildings and infrastructure investments last for generations when done right, so it is critical to plan and build in ways that promote long-term decarbonization and climate resilience. President Biden’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes is accelerating adoption of modern building codes that protect people from extreme-weather events and save communities an estimated $1.6 billion a year in avoided damages. The Administration is also making billions of dollars available to build climate-smart buildings and green infrastructure, through programs as such the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, and the Department of Transportation’s PROTECT program.

Incorporating Climate Risk into Decision-Making
Extreme weather related to climate change threatens the U.S. economy and the financial security of families, businesses, and workers. President Biden’s Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk ensures that climate risk and resilience actions are appropriately factored into the formulation and execution of the President’s Budget, thereby properly managing and protecting Federal funding on behalf of taxpayers. This includes formally accounting for the risks that climate change pose in the President’s Budget for the first time.

Advancing Environmental Justice
The most severe harms from climate change fall disproportionately on communities that are least able to prepare for, and recover from, those harms. President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative makes it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments, including investments in climate resilience, flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution. The President’s Executive Order on Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All directs agencies to better protect overburdened communities from pollution and environmental harms, including climate change. President Biden also created a White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council to ensure that the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in Federal policies. The Council includes a working group focused on climate resilience.

Supporting and Learning from Tribal Communities
Climate change has a disproportionate impact on Tribal communities and heritage, and Tribal representation is key to climate resilience efforts. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides more than $200 million to support voluntary, community-led transition and relocation for Tribal communities severely threatened by climate change and accelerating coastal hazards. The Inflation Reduction Act includes Tribal-specific funding to support climate resilience and adaptation in Native communities. The Administration has also issued government-wide guidance and an accompanying implementation memorandum for Federal agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making.

Prioritizing Health and Safety
Climate and health outcomes are increasingly and inextricably linked. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, climate change is worsening asthma, cardiovascular disease, pest- and water-borne diseases, and other adverse health outcomes and chronic health conditions. President Biden established the first-ever Office of Climate Change and Health Equity in the Department of Health and Human Services to address the impact of climate change on the health of the American people. The Department’s Climate and Health Outlook index provides public data on climate and health projections to inform health professionals and the public.

Empowering Communities to Better Understand and Plan for Climate Risk
The Biden-Harris Administration is advancing actionable data, information, tools, and technical assistance to help people understand and address their climate risks. Specific steps include developing the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) tool to help communities understand and plan for local climate-related hazards; updating sea-level rise scenarios for all U.S. states and territories (Sea Level Rise Viewer) so communities can easily assess changes in coastal flood risk; creating the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to help identify communities that will benefit from programs included in the Justice40 Initiative; developing an action plan to ensure that Federal agencies are producing coordinated, actionable climate information for end users; and increasing support for regional applied science and services centers, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Climate Hubs.

Harnessing the Power of Nature
Nature holds some of our best solutions to fight climate change and support communities’ adaptation to climate-related risks. Healthy forests, wetlands, and grasslands can also slow climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide. The Administration is taking bold action to ensure we look to nature and fully deploy nature-based solutions by setting the first national conservation goal through the America the Beautiful Initiative, to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, launching the America the Beautiful Challenge, which provided $91 million in funds in the first year to protect and restore biodiversity, help achieve our climate goals, and ensure all Americans have access to nature, and improving forest health through President Biden’s Executive Order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.

Biden Administration, Economic Development, Environment, Environmental Protection, Health Care, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Historic Biden Administration Investments in Water Infrastructure, Lead Pipe Replacement Are Creating New Domestic Manufacturing Jobs

July 7, 2023 krubin

Major US manufacturers committing to new investments and hiring in response to historic $50B investment in water infrastructure from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

Senior executives from major U.S.-based manufacturers and distributors of water infrastructure parts joined senior Biden-Harris Administration officials at the White House to announce new private sector investments spurred by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes a more than $50 billion investment in the nation’s water infrastructure – including $15 billion set-aside for lead service line replacement. This historic investment represents a transformational increase in federal investment in the nation’s drinking water infrastructure over the next five years. By requiring Made in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in fixing our country’s water systems and replacing lead pipes, but also creating good-paying jobs and new domestic manufacturing.

To meet the increased demand for American-made water products, American manufacturers are stepping up their production capacity with new investments, creating jobs and American industrial capacity in the process. Administration officials have also emphasized the importance of collaborating with unions to ensure these investments build the middle class from the middle out and bottom up, not top-down.

This week, the following firms announced tens of millions in new manufacturing investments and hiring commitments:

A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. is an Iowa-based 167-year-old 5th generation family business with three manufacturing locations in Iowa, and Tennessee, with plans underway to build a state-of-the-art brass foundry in Wisconsin. Since the beginning of 2019, A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. has doubled the manufacturing space of their Tennessee facility with a 100,000 square feet addition and has undertaken the largest capacity expansion in the company’s history having invested millions of dollars in new machinery and automation. Their production workforce has grown 45% since the end of 2020. In addition, parent company A.Y. McDonald Industries built a 100,000 square foot warehouse to house finished goods and maintenance supplies to free up additional manufacturing space in the 3 existing A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. factories.
Cerro Flow Products, an Illinois-based pipe manufacturer that is part of the Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway Group – has 100% domestic manufacturing facilities and is currently looking to hire 23 individuals for good-paying union jobs as soon as possible at their Sauget facility. Cerro is also standing ready to add additional shifts at their primary mill, as well as utilize additional manufacturing capabilities at other Cerro sites as demand for water products increases due to federal investments. Cerro has also invested in new workforce development programs, additional upskilling for maintenance and electrical staff, and sponsors a tuition reimbursement program unique to the industry.
Commercial Forged Products, an Illinois based company that does not normally make water parts, plans to invest $9 million in additional forging and ancillary equipment, while adding 15 new United Steelworker positions across multiple shifts, as well as hire 4 additional skilled machinists in its Bedford Park facility.
The Ford Meter Box Company, an Indiana-based company, is expanding its production capacity to meet private and public waterworks infrastructure demand in the long term, as well as lead service line replacement project needs in the near term. Ford has hired 40 new employees already this year, added new shifts, and invested in new equipment, all of which will increase production by 20%. The construction of a new 300,000 sq. ft. state of the art foundry will be announced this summer, pending final site selection. The new facility, along with committed downstream manufacturing investment, will increase production an additional 42%. This nine-figure manufacturing investment is the largest expansion project in the company’s 125-year history. Additionally, the continued pursuit of a complementary “investment in people” includes a Manufacturing Support Specialist Program, a two-year training program to advance employees into salaried manufacturing, support, and administrative positions.
Mueller Water Products, an Atlanta-based company, has invested approximately $150 million in three capital projects in recent years, expanding its U.S. production capacity due in part to the billions of dollars in water infrastructure investments made in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The largest capital project is a new brass foundry located in Decatur, Illinois, which will significantly expand its capacity to produce products, including those commonly used in lead service line replacements. The new foundry, which will replace an existing aging facility, uses a state-of-the-art brass alloy to eliminate dependence on imported Bismuth from China and increases recyclability. The new foundry – expected to be fully online by 2024 and employ United Steelworkers – and other production improvements are also expected to increase Mueller’s production capacity for brass and other water infrastructure products. Mueller already employs about 465 United Steelworkers in Decatur, and the firm’s investments will help replace 100% of lead service lines and deploy the largest single investment in U.S. water infrastructure.
Quality Steel Products, a Michigan-based firm that previously did not make components in the water space, has committed to expand its business to meet upcoming demand by adding employees and additional shifts, investing millions of dollars in new forging presses and equipment, induction furnaces, transformers and capital improvement process.

Through historic levels of funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan, annual appropriations, and harnessing a variety of tools across federal, state, and local government, the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering tangible progress on the groundbreaking Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan to replace all lead service lines in America in the next decade.

All Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments are subject to the Build America, Buy America Act, which requires iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in infrastructure projects to be produced in the United States. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is revitalizing American manufacturing, including in once hollowed out communities, and creating good-paying jobs across the country. Under President Biden’s manufacturing boom, nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs have been created, and private sector companies have announced over $480 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments since President Biden took office. This week’s announcements provide further evidence his approach to industrial policy is creating good jobs and rebuilding our manufacturing capacity while ensuring every family can access clean, safe drinking water.

Biden Administration, Economic Development, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Announces $40 Billion to Connect Everyone in America to Affordable, Reliable, High-Speed Internet

July 7, 2023 krubin

Largest Internet Funding Announcement in History Kicks Off Administration-Wide Investing in America Tour

High-speed internet is no longer a luxury – it is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school, access health care, and to stay connected with family and friends. Yet, more than 8.5 million households and small businesses are in areas where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure, and millions more struggle with limited or unreliable internet options. Just like Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Act brought electricity to nearly every home and farm in America, President Biden and Vice President Harris are delivering on their historic commitment to connect everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by the end of the decade.

The Department of Commerce announced funding for each state, territory and the District of Columbia for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program—a $42.45 billion grant program created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the Department of Commerce. This announcement—the largest internet funding announcement in history—kicks off the three-week Administration-wide Investing in America tour, where President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Cabinet members, and Senior Administration Officials will fan out across the country to highlight investments, jobs, and projects made possible by President Biden’s economic agenda.

Among the highlights:

Awards range from $27 million to over $3.3 Billion, with every state receiving a minimum of $107 million.
19 states received allocations over $1 billion with the top 10 allocations in Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
With these allocations and other Biden administration investments, all 50 states, DC, and the territories now have the resources to connect every resident and small business to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by 2030.

Details related to the BEAD allocation for the states, D.C., and territories, as well as the total Federal investment in high-speed internet in each State and Territory are available here.

In addition to helping connect everyone in America to high-speed internet, this funding will support manufacturing jobs and crowd in private sector investment by using materials Made in America. For example, anticipating this major investment in high-speed internet infrastructure deployment, earlier this year, fiber optic cable manufacturers CommScope and Corning announced $47 million and $500 million expansions of their domestic manufacturing capacity, which will create hundreds of good-paying American jobs in North Carolina. These investments are part of the nearly $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments spurred by the President’s Investing in America agenda. The Investing in America agenda represents the most significant upgrade to our nation’s infrastructure in generations—an investment larger than FDR’s Rural Electrification effort, Eisenhower’s effort to build the Interstate Highway system, and the construction of the Panama Canal.

Internet for All

The announcement of BEAD funds is just one component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to ensure that everyone in America has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. In recent weeks, the Administration has announced over $700 million in USDA ReConnect awards, over $900 million in NTIA Middle Mile awards and launched the Online for All campaign to increase ACP enrollment and visibility. Beyond BEAD, billions have already been announced or distributed to all states and territories to build out high-speed internet infrastructure by the Biden-Harris Administration.

In addition to BEAD, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes:

$14.2 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible households up to $30/month (up to $75/month on qualifying Tribal Lands) off their internet bill, as well as a one-time $100 toward a desktop, laptop or tablet computer offered by participating internet service providers. Thanks to commitments by over 20 internet service providers, millions of Americans are using the Affordable Connectivity Program to access internet for free. Today, 19 million Americans are enrolled in this program. Households can check their eligibility and sign up at GetInternet.gov.
$2.75 billion for the Digital Equity Act, which provides grants to ensure communities have the skills and support needed to take advantage of high-speed internet connections;
An additional $2 billion for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which provides grants to federally recognized Tribal governments, Tribal organizations, Tribal Colleges and Universities, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, and Alaska Native Corporations for high-speed internet deployment on Tribal lands, as well as for telehealth, distance learning, high-speed internet affordability, and digital inclusion;
$2 billion for the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Reconnect Program, which provides loans and grants primarily to build high-speed internet infrastructure in eligible rural areas;
$1 billion for the Middle Mile Program, which provides funding for the “middle mile” backbone of internet networks.

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan also included over $25 billion for high-speed internet, including:

The Department of Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF) provides $10 billion to states, territories, and Tribes for which high-speed internet is an eligible use. Today, over $7 billion has already been dedicated to high-speed internet deployment and connectivity across 45 states;
The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) delivered funding across the country to support the response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. About $8 billion is being used by states, territories, Tribes, and local governments for high-speed internet deployment and connectivity; and,
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) $7 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund program helped schools and libraries close the “homework gap,” providing schools and libraries with 10.5 million connected devices and over 5 million internet connections.

Additional information on Biden-Harris high-speed internet programs and funding is available at InternetForAll.Gov.

GOVERNOR HOCHUL, SENATOR SCHUMER, SENATOR GILLIBRAND AND NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION ANNOUNCE NEW YORK WILL RECEIVE MORE THAN $664 MILLION IN FEDERAL BROADBAND EQUITY, ACCESS, AND DEPLOYMENT FUNDS

Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and the New York Congressional Delegation today announced New York State’s ConnectALL Office has been allocated more than $664 million in funding from the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The BEAD allocation is the largest single investment in the ConnectALL program and will be used primarily for providing fiber optic infrastructure to locations in New York that currently have no broadband service.

“This transformative investment in New York’s ConnectALL program will be a gamechanger in advancing our statewide strategy to make affordable, high-speed internet available to all,” Governor Hochul said. “In today’s economy, reliable broadband access is an absolute necessity, and I thank the Biden administration, Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and New York’s congressional delegation for continuing to prioritize critical infrastructure needs and for supporting our mission to expand broadband to every corner of our state.”

The $1+ billion ConnectALL initiative, announced by Governor Hochul in her January 2022 State of the State Address, is New York State’s largest-ever public investment in broadband, aimed at transforming the state’s digital infrastructure to connect all New Yorkers to the internet. In addition to funding to reach unserved and underserved locations, ConnectALL includes grant programs to invest in public broadband infrastructure, to upgrade service to affordable and public housing, and to support digital inclusion and education on using the internet.

New York will submit an initial grant distribution proposal to President Biden’s National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA). Following approval of the initial proposal, the ConnectALL Office will solicit applications from internet service providers to build new broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of the state. That package of applications will be included in New York’s final proposal to NTIA, after which the state will receive its full BEAD allocation to issue grant awards.

The BEAD allocation follows a $100 million award from the Treasury Department’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund announced by the Governor in May and two planning grants totaling over $7 million announced in December.

The BEAD allocation is based largely on New York’s portion of the nation’s unserved locations, as reported by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC’s map originally showed New York had 106,290 unserved locations. In October 2022, Governor Hochul issued a challenge to the FCC’s broadband data maps, which revealed more than 31,000 underserved and unserved locations missing from the FCC’s data, following a statewide mobilization of regional, county, and local officials and New York’s own, first-of-its-kind interactive broadband map. In May, the FCC released updated data including over 140,000 unserved locations in New York and nearly 38,000 locations that have access to the minimal level of internet speeds to qualify as underserved.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said,”Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are making the largest investment ever to deliver reliable and affordable high-speed Internet for all New Yorkers, close the digital divide in the Empire State, and create thousands of good jobs as we build out our network infrastructure. I appreciate Governor Hochul’s leadership and work to ensure New York families will be able to connect to the digital economy and access even more opportunities to learn, work, and grow.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law we passed, a historic nearly $670 million is now on its way to expand broadband infrastructure and boost high-quality internet access across New York. Whether it is for work, school, or getting the healthcare you need, access to the internet is not luxury, but a necessity for modern life. Long before the pandemic, communities across New York, from rural communities Upstate to bustling city neighborhoods, have struggled to obtain reliable high-speed internet service. I am proud to deliver this record setting nearly $670 million for New York to help finally close the digital divide. New York, under Governor Hochul’s leadership, is leading the charge to get all New Yorkers the equitable access to the internet they deserve, and this major federal investment will help finally give our communities the support they need to succeed in the 21st century.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Access to affordable, high-quality internet is critical to connect New Yorkers with work, health care, education and more. This funding will go directly toward bridging the digital divide and deliver high-speed internet to families across New York State. I am proud to have worked to deliver this funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and I will continue to fight so every New Yorker has access to reliable, high-quality internet.”

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “In New York and throughout America, there are far too many under-resourced communities without the ability to connect online and engage with family, work, school and telemedicine. Working with President Biden, House Democrats passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ensure that every single community throughout our nation has access to high-speed internet. We invested $65 billion to expand broadband in every single zip code. I thank President Biden and Governor Hochul for their leadership in shepherding $665 million in crucial investments across New York.”

Representative Grace Meng said, “In Congress, I’m proud to have helped create the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, which helped schools and libraries in Queens and across New York purchase Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, internet service and internet-enabled devices so that we could increase access to the internet in our communities. I thrilled to hail this BEAD allocation as well, and glad to see that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I helped pass continues to deliver for our state. I will continue championing the crucial issue of improving internet and broadband access, and I thank Governor Hochul for announcing these funds.”

Representative Richie Torres said, “Reliable, accessible, and quality internet access is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity for almost every aspect of everyday life. That’s one reason why I was proud to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which continues to deliver historic and critical investments in New York and across America. Too many of our communities have historically been left behind without the ability to easily get online and be connected. But with this funding, our state and federal governments will work together to deploy broadband service equitably to make sure every New Yorker has the internet service they need and deserve.”

Other ConnectALL Initiatives

Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the ConnectALL Office is gathering an unprecedented level of community input to inform its broadband work. ConnectALL recently completed a three-month, statewide tour of 10 digital equity listening sessions to inform the development of the BEAD Five-Year Action Plan, the BEAD Initial Proposal, and the State Digital Equity Plan. ConnectALL will continue to meet with community stakeholders, coalitions, and statewide networks, including through the New York State Internet Access Survey, which closes on June 30. ConnectALL will make the New York State Digital Equity Plan available for public comment in September.

In addition, New York State continues to drive nation-leading enrollment in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, a nationwide subsidy to expand broadband access to low-income households. New York has enrolled more than 1.3 million households in the program as a result of a multi-agency, multi-pronged outreach effort led by the New York State Department of Public Service and Empire State Development.

Biden Administration, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: White House Launches Invest.gov, Highlights Record Public and Private Investment in Communities Under President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

June 6, 2023 krubin

Today, the White House launched Invest.gov, a new website showing the historic public and private sector investments President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is bringing to states and territories across America. Invest.gov features an interactive map showing infrastructure projects underway that are funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as private sector investments mobilized by President Biden’s agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is rebuilding the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up, not top-down. As a result of historic legislation passed by President Biden – including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – President Biden has overseen the strongest jobs recovery in history, is rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, and is bringing manufacturing back to the United States. Since President Biden took office, private companies have announced over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing investments, and over the last 18 months, the Administration has awarded over $220 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aimed at repairing roads and bridges, delivering clean water, deploying high-speed internet, and building out clean energy transportation infrastructure. Invest.gov enables Americans in every state and territory across the country to see these investments in their communities.

The website also includes summaries of the impact of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda in each state and territory, including jobs created, new businesses started, spotlight infrastructure projects funded, and manufacturing investments made under the Biden presidency. The website will be updated regularly to reflect recent investments, projects, and announcements.

State spotlight:

To highlight the impact of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, members of the Administration will be fanning out across the country later this month for a second installment of the Investing in America tour. The tour will coincide with the two-week Congressional recess around the July 4^th holiday.

Visit Invest.gov to learn more about the Investing in America agenda and projects in every community across the country.

Biden Administration, Infrastructure

Biden Administration Infrastructure Law Funds Gateway Hudson Tunnel, Major Transportation Projects

February 19, 2023 krubin

President Biden announced $292 million to complete a critical early phase of the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project, thanks to his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Hudson Tunnel Project will improve access to Penn Station, rehabilitate the old North River Tunnel which opened in 1910, build a new tunnel beneath the Palisades, Hudson River, and the waterfront area in Manhattan, and improve reliability for 200,000 weekday passengers on New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Amtrak. It will result in 72,000 well-paying jobs © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Continuing the progress implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic agenda, President Biden visited New York on January 31 to announce funding for a critical early phase of the Hudson Tunnel Project and Mega grants for other major infrastructure projects across the country. The President announced the Administration has awarded nearly $1.2 billion from the infrastructure law’s new National Infrastructure Project Assistance discretionary grant program (Mega) for nine projects across the country, including over $292 million to complete a critical early phase of the Hudson Tunnel Project.

These infrastructure investments will create good-paying jobs – including union jobs and jobs that do not require a college degree. The projects will grow the economy, strengthen supply chains, improve mobility for residents, and make our transportation systems safer for all users.

This announcement comes on the heels of several other announcements of funding for major infrastructure projects, including more than $2 billion to upgrade some our nation’s most economically significant bridges such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brent-Spence Bridge through the Bridge Investment Program and $1.5 billion for 26 major projects through the INFRA program.

These infrastructure improvements are a critical part of President Biden’s economic agenda to build the economy from the bottom up and middle out.

Hudson Tunnel Project

President Biden announced a $292 million Mega grant to Amtrak for Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, Section 3. This funding is part of a $649 million early phase project that will complete the final section of concrete casing intended to preserve future right-of-way for the new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The concrete casing protects the path of the new tunnel from Penn Station to the Hudson River’s edge. If this casing were not built now, the foundations from the new Hudson Yards development would likely impede the path of the tunnel and make the project extremely difficult.

The overall Hudson Tunnel Project is an over $16 billion investment that will improve resilience, reliability, and redundancy for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Amtrak train service between New York and New Jersey. The project will reduce commute times for NJ Transit riders, enhance Amtrak reliability on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and support the northeast regional economy. Amtrak expects the Hudson Tunnel Project will result in 72,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction with union partnerships for job training.

The existing North River Tunnel is over 100 years old, built to early 20^th century standards, opened for service in 1910, and is the only passenger rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. It facilitates more than 200,000 passenger trips per weekday on more than 450 Amtrak and NJ Transit trains servicing New York Penn Station. The tunnel has reached its full capacity of 24 trains per hour, causing bottlenecks and delays. The tunnel has two tubes with one track each. When one goes out of service for any reason, trains have to wait to go through the working tube. This creates headaches for NJ Transit commuters and Amtrak travelers and delays that cascade up and down the Northeast Corridor. In 2020, passengers experienced 12,653 minutes of delay due to problems caused by aging tunnel infrastructure. Delays occurred on 54 different days in 2020 and were attributed to a variety of causes involving the electrical power, signal and track systems.

In 2012, millions of gallons of salt water flooded into the tunnel during Superstorm Sandy. Even today, the remnants of seawater that entered the tunnel in 2012 continue to harm the concrete, steel, tracks and third rail, signaling, and electrical components within the tunnel. Today the tunnel requires regular, and occasional emergency, maintenance that disrupts service for hundreds of thousands of riders throughout the region. Rehabilitation of the tunnel would require a full closure, which will only be possible if a second tunnel existed.

To address those challenges, the Hudson Tunnel Project will rehabilitate the old North River Tunnel; build a new tunnel beneath the Palisades, the Hudson River, and the waterfront area in Manhattan; construct new surface alignment from Secaucus to the new tunnel portal in North Bergen; construct ventilation shafts and fan plants in New Jersey and New York; and make track modifications near Penn Station. When the project is done, the redundant capacity provided by a second tunnel will mean fewer delays and less risk for catastrophic disruption.

The project is part of the larger Gateway Program which envisions expanding and rebuilding the rail line between Newark, New Jersey and New York City through a number of projects, including the new Portal North Bridge, which broke ground last year and is supported by $900 million in federal funding.

Today’s Mega grant announcement is the first of several funding announcements for the project expected this year and the most significant federal funding for the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project to date.

The Administration is committed to providing the billions of dollars in funding necessary to ensure that this critical project is completed. Later this year, if and when additional milestones are met by the states and other parties, a full funding agreement will be completed.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with a $66 billion investment in rail. After waiting years for new federal funding, 2023 will be a year in which major rail projects along the 450-mile Northeast Corridor between Washington, DC, and Boston, receive their first significant funding.

New Mega Project Grants

The Mega grant program, created by the infrastructure law, funds projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects that are a part of one of the other project types. The Mega program will invest a total of $5 billion through 2026 to help rebuild the United States’ infrastructure for the benefit of residents now and for generations to come.

Beyond the Hudson Tunnel concrete casing project, the Administration is announcing projects of regional and national economic significance that are receiving Mega grant awards including:

$250 million for the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio, part of a total investment of $1.6 Billion from the infrastructure law to build a new companion bridge and rehab an existing bridge along a major freight corridor on I-75. Earlier this month, the President and Senate Minority Leader McConnell visited the Brent Spence Bridge to announce this funding.
$150 million to the Louisiana Department of Transportation for the Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement which will increase capacity on a critical stretch of Interstate 10 which is an important freight route;
$117 million to the Metra Commuter Railroad in Illinois to make improvements on the Metra Union Pacific-North line on a two-mile corridor from the Addison to Fullerton rail bridges, replacing approximately 11 bridges, 4 miles of track structure, and more than 1.75 miles of retaining walls along Metra’s UP-N line;
$110 to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to replace the Alligator River Bridge on U.S. Highway 64 with a modern high-rise fixed span bridge along the primary east-west route in northeastern North Carolina between I-95 and the Outer Banks;
$85 million to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for I-44 and US-75 improvements along a critical urban freight corridor near Tulsa, including vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements;
$78 million to the City of Philadelphia to make improvements along approximately 12.3 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard, from North Broad Street to the Bucks County line including making traffic signal upgrades, constructing intersection and roadway reconfigurations, constructing median barriers and pedestrian refuge islands, making corridor access management improvements, constructing complete streets improvements for accessibility, pedestrian, and bicycle improvements, as well as installing new business access and transit lanes;
$60 million to the Mississippi Department of Transportation to widen I-10 in Harrison and Hancock counties along a major freight corridor of regional significance; and,
$30 million to the California Department of Transportation (Santa Cruz County) for the Watsonville-Cruz Multimodal Corridor Program which will construct approximately 2.5 miles of State Route 1 auxiliary lanes and a Bus on Shoulder facility between Freedom Boulevard and State Park Drive, construct approximately 1.25 miles of the New Coastal Rail Trail within Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line right-of-way, and fund the purchase of 4 new zero-emission buses.

Biden Administration, Economic Development, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

White House Highlights Infrastructure Progress in Every Corner of the Country: State-by-State Updates

February 8, 2023 krubin

During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden touted the benefits of the once-in-a-generation Bipartisan Infrastructure Act that will fund tens of thousands of initiatives across the country – including places where Republicans opposed the measure but are happy to take credit for the progress (“I still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well, but don’t worry. I promised I’d be a President for all Americans. We’ll fund these projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking.” Biden said that the materials would be “Made in America” and support millions of well-paying union jobs, like the manufacture of electric buses for public transit fleets, on display in New York City © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Over one year ago, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. While “infrastructure week” was a punchline under his predecessor, President Biden is delivering an “infrastructure decade” that is producing real results to change people’s lives for the better, creating good-paying jobs, and boosting American manufacturing.

In his first State of the Union Address in 2022, President Biden highlighted how our historic federal investments in infrastructure would create a visible impact in the lives of American families by committing to start repair on 65,000 miles of roads and 1,500 bridges. The President also committed to making rapid progress across every facet of the law.

Since the last State of the Union, the Administration has surpassed those ambitious goals. This includes launching over 3,700 bridge repair and replacement projects across the country, beginning repair of over 69,000 miles of roadway, awarding funds for over 3,000 new clean transit and school buses, increasing enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program to over 16 million households, and approving state plans for water funding, EV charging networks and high-speed internet deployment.

Overall, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents historic progress, as the largest and most significant investment in:

Rebuilding our roads and bridges since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System;
Public transit in American history and an historic investment to make public transportation accessible;
Passenger rail since Amtrak’s inception, 50 years ago;
Clean water infrastructure;
Affordable, high-speed internet;
Tackling legacy pollution and advancing environmental justice;
Upgrading the power grid to transmit more clean energy and withstand extreme weather;
Increasing our infrastructure’s resilience against the impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, and cyber-attacks;
Replacing dirty diesel buses with clean, electric buses across school bus and transit fleets; and,
A national network of EV chargers in the United States and largest investment in domestic manufacturing of batteries and the critical minerals that power them.

These once-in-a-generation investments are positioning the United States to win the 21st century. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration has been laser-focused on implementing the law.

To date, the Administration has announced nearly $200 billion in funding and over 20,000 projects or awards, which are highlighted in a new map showcasing all projects and funding awards in all 50 states and territories. These awards and projects touch over 4,500 communities.
In recent weeks, the President has announced awards for regionally or nationally-significant projects including over $2 billion to upgrade some our nation’s most economically significant bridges and over $1.2 billion in Mega grants. These infrastructure investments will create good-paying jobs – including union jobs and jobs that do not require a college degree. The projects will grow the economy, strengthen supply chains, improve mobility for residents, and make our transportation systems safer for all users. To highlight that progress, the White House unveiled an illustrative map of signature projects on build.gov.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to making the funding opportunities from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law both accessible and transparent, so communities across America know what to apply for, who to contact, and how to get ready to rebuild. Our goal is to help state, local, Tribal and territorial governments navigate, access, and deploy infrastructure resources that will build a better America. As such, the White House today released an updated calendar of notices of funding opportunity expected throughout the year.

“Made in America”

Indeed, President Biden devoted the largest portion of his State of the Union address to infrastructure and jobs:

We used to be number one in the world in infrastructure. We’ve sunk to 13th in the world. The United States of America — 13th in the world in infrastructure, modern infrastructure.

But now we’re coming back because we came together and passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — the largest investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. (Applause.)

Folks, already we’ve funded over 20,000 projects, including major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland — projects that are going to put thousands of people to work rebuilding our highways, our bridges, our railroads, our tunnels, ports, airports, clean water, high-speed Internet all across America — urban, rural, Tribal.

And, folks, we’re just getting started. We’re just getting started. (Applause.)

And I mean this sincerely: I want to thank my Republican friends who voted for the law. And my Republican friends who voted against it as well — but I’m still — I still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well, but don’t worry. I promised I’d be a President for all Americans. We’ll fund these projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking. (Applause.)

Look, this law — this law will further unite all of America.

Projects like the Brent Spence Bridge in Kentucky over the Ohio River. Built 60 years ago. Badly in need of repairs. One of the nation’s most congested freight routes, carrying $2 billion worth of freight every single day across the Ohio River.

And, folks, we’ve been talking about fixing it for decades, but we’re really finally going to get it done….And that’s what we’re also building — we’re building back pride.

Look, we’re also replacing poisonous lead pipes that go into 10 million homes in America, 400,000 schools and childcare centers so every child in America — every child in American can drink the water, instead of having permanent damage to their brain. (Applause.)

Look, we’re making sure that every community in America has access to affordable, high-speed Internet…
And when we do these projects — and, again, I get criticized about this, but I make no excuses for it — we’re going to buy American. (Applause.) ..and it’s totally consistent with international trade rules. Buy American has been the law since 1933. But for too long, past administrations — Democrat and Republican — have fought to get around it. Not anymore.

Tonight, I’m also announcing new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America. (Applause.) Made in America. I mean it. (Applause.) Lumber, glass, drywall, fiber-optic cable.

And on my watch, American roads, bridges, and American highways are going to be made with American products as well.

Folks, my economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. So many of you listening tonight, I know you feel it. So many of you felt like you’ve just simply been forgotten. Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind and treated like they’re invisible.

Maybe that’s you, watching from home. You remember the jobs that went away. You remember them, don’t you?

The folks at home remember them. You wonder whether the path even exists anymore for your children to get ahead without having to move away…That’s why we’re building an economy where no one is left behind.

Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of choices we made in the last several years.

You know, this is, in my view, a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives at home. (Applause.)

Today, the White House Infrastructure Implementation Team also released new state-by-state fact sheets which outline the progress in all 50 states, DC and the territories as of January 13, 2023:

Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Northern Mariana Islands
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Tribal Fact Sheet
US Virgin Islands
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming