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Brought to You by Biden: The State of America’s Infrastructure Is Getting Stronger
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Brought to You by Biden: The State of America’s Infrastructure Is Getting Stronger

This week, President Joe Biden emphasized in his State of the Union address that “[w]e’re done talking about infrastructure weeks. We’re now talking about an infrastructure decade.”

With more than $100 billion in infrastructure funding given out already, that decade is off to a quick start. In the past two months alone, funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has delivered results to the American people, including:

  • More than 10 million households signing up for lower internet costs under the Broadband Affordability Program
  • $450 million to U.S. ports to speed the flow of goods and lower prices
  • $100 million to help lower heating and cooling bills for low-income families
  • $1 billion dedicated to investment in the cleanup of environmentally degraded sites in the Great Lakes region
  • $27 billion to fix 15,000 bridges across the nation
  • $725 million to 22 states to clean up abandoned gas mines, creating good-paying union jobs and boosting economic growth
  • $2.5 billion of funding toward the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Building a Better Grid” initiative to modernize and strengthen grid networks
  • $3 billion dedicated toward forest fire prevention
  • $4.7 billion in transit funding for agencies, states, and Tribal governments to support public transportation and jobs throughout the country
  • $6 billion to launch a program to prevent early closure of nuclear power plants, the nation’s largest source of clean power
  • The first “Buy Clean” task force to steer federal agencies to buy low-carbon industrial materials made in American factories and reduce carbon emissions in the manufacturing sector
  • Nearly $10 billion to promote clean hydrogen manufacturing
  • $1.7 billion to provide Tribal nations with water resources

See examples of how Biden administration funding is affecting state and local communities below:

AZ: “Arizona Ports of Entry Get at Least $315 Million for Upgrades, Expansion,” Tucson Weekly, March 1, 2022

“The funds are Arizona’s share of the $3.4 billion in federal funding that will be used at 26 land ports of entry on the northern and southern borders, which in turn is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approved last fall. The General Services Administration announced Friday that $200 million is expected to go to a new commercial port in Douglas, $115 million is budgeted for modernization of the San Luis I port and a still-undetermined amount for the Raúl Héctor Castro port, which is also in Douglas.”

AZ: “Senators: Federal funding authorized for wildfire recovery,” The Albuquerque Journal, March 2, 2022

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to provide $12.8 million in emergency funding to help parts of Arizona recover from three major wildfires in recent years, two members of the state’s congressional delegation announced. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly said Tuesday the money comes from funding authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law to protect communities, support recovery efforts, and reduce hazardous fuels on federal, state and tribal lands.”

AZ: “Rep. Grijalva Announces $11.3 million in EV funding heading to Arizona Highways,” KGUN 9 Tucson, February 10, 2022

“Investment into installing these charging stations will help protect Arizona’s environment, bring good-paying jobs, and support the rapidly growing electric vehicle production.”

GA: “Georgia’s shift to electric vehicles charging forward with $20M boost,” Georgia Recorder, February 10, 2022

“The federal aid was packed into the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that was signed into law in November. All said, $5 billion will go toward electric charging nationwide. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday the funding will help America ‘win the EV race.’ The $20 million for Georgia in this budget year is the first installment of the $135 million the state is set to receive over the next five years.”

MI: “Congressman Kildee: $4M+ coming to mid-Michigan for public transit investment,” WNEM, February 23, 2022

“On Wednesday, Congressman Dan Kildee announced $4,615,491 in federal funds will help strengthen public transportation as well as upgrade facilities and vehicles in mid-Michigan. The bipartisan infrastructure law is creating the biggest investment in public transit ever.”

NH: “Pandemic-related program poised to aid homeowners who need financial help,” Sentinel Source, March 1, 2022

“The Homeowner Assistance Fund Program is paid for by a $50 million grant to New Hampshire from the U.S. Department of Treasury as part of the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. The act aimed to help U.S. residents recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic through unemployment benefits, small-business grants and housing grants.”

NV: “Nevada now seeing funding to help with road infrastructure, traffic safety,” News 3 Las Vegas, February 11, 2022

“Clark County officials said around $80 million will be used on road infrastructure over the next few years.”

NV: “Rosen promotes law to ‘improve critical infrastructure in Nevada’,” North Vegas Times, February 6, 2022

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide approximately $45 million for highway bridge repairs across the state. The funds will be used to improve 28 bridges across Nevada that are currently in need of repair.”

PA: “Charged Up: Pa. to receive $171.5M to support EV charging stations,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, February 22, 2022

“It’s the fifth-highest tally nationwide under the bipartisan infrastructure law, officials said.”

PA: “Lackawanna County’s COLTS getting $2 million,” WNEP, February 23, 2022

“More than $2 million is coming to help improve public transit in Lackawanna County. That money from the Federal Infrastructure Law will benefit COLTS: the County Of Lackawanna Transit System.”

PA: “Amtrak to add to train service: Second round-trip passenger line between Harrisburg, Pittsburgh planned,” Altoona Mirror, February 19, 2022

“Money for Amtrak in the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will enable the addition of a second round-trip passenger train between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh via Altoona within the next several years.”

PA: “These Lehigh Valley bridges will get millions in infrastructure money this year,” Lehigh Valley Live, February 16, 2022

“When federal officials said the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law money would be coming to communities soon, they weren’t kidding. There’s about $20 million to spend in the 2022 fiscal year in the Lehigh Valley, and on Wednesday PennDOT officials laid out where some of it is going:”

PA: “Pittsburgh to receive $30M for public transit in 1st infrastructure bill allocation,” Trib Live, February 7, 2022

“In addition to Pittsburgh’s $30 million, the Monessen-California area received about $983,000 and the Uniontown-Connellsville area received about $900,000 in public transit funding. The funding also included more than $11 million for rural areas or Appalachian counties and $2.5 million for enhanced mobility of seniors and people with disabilities for communities with a population of less than 200,000.”

PA: “Wolf, Casey applaud as Pennsylvania receives $244.9 million in funding to clean up abandoned mines across the commonwealth,” Fox 43, February 7, 2022

“The funding comes from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will be used to help clean up the more than 5,000 abandoned mines across Pennsylvania.”

WI: “Bay-Area bridges to get needed repairs: Federal infrastructure bill to fund fixes,” Ashland Daily Press, February 14, 2022

“Anderson said the additional money in the infrastructure bill would help the county to do some needed bridge and roadwork. ‘We have had some really good discussions with the Department of Transportation and they are gearing up. They are saying they have about $171 million available in 2022 for roads,’ he said, observing that federal and state officials were ‘doing heavy lifting’ to make the funds available for projects. ‘And that’s just the road side of things,’ he continued. ‘They have an additional $45 million available this year for bridges. It’s a huge lift for us.’

WI: “Wisconsin received $17M to help school districts purchase food for school lunch programs,” WEAU News, February 28, 2022

“The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently received more than $17 million in federal funding to help school food authorities that are dealing with challenges created by national supply chain shortages. The funding is being allocated to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

WI: “School Districts Spending Pandemic Funds,” Urban Milwaukee, February 28, 2022

“Some schools beefed up their summer school offerings to try to get students more on track before the school year. Others have purchased new accelerated curricula that will help teachers cover some of the ground students might have missed last year while also hitting their benchmarks for this year. In the Madison Metropolitan School District, which will receive $66 million between three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds, one answer is an ACT prep class.”

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Author

Zahir Rasheed

Former Research and Press Assistant

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