Biden Administration Facing Difficulties Getting Money Out the Door.
A Politico analysis documents the slow pace of on-the-ground federal spending despite record commitments made by Biden's COVID relief, infrastructure, climate, and manufacturing legislation.
Federal spending is critical to most rural communities and economies. Whether the issue be Medicare or Social Security, farm subsidies or water access, mining public land or fixing a stretch of highway, federal budgets are drivers of many, many rural places (some more than others).
President Biden’s legacy legislation—the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act)—promises hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending in rural America. But will the promised funding ever make it to the ground-level, where local jobs and infrastructure can fully benefit from the short-term federal investment opportunities?
Politico’s recent investigative package, “Biden’s Billions,” is a must-read for policymakers, advocates, organizers, and people involved in politics in general. The series is informative and thorough, demonstrating the vast timeline between passing legislation, submitting project applications, awarding applications, beginning projects, and making progress to receive federal reimbursement.
According to Politico, “less than 17 percent of the $1.1 trillion those laws provided for direct investments on climate, energy and infrastructure has been spent as of April, nearly two years after Biden signed the last of the statutes.”
The Administration has announced around $60 billion in funds allocated out of $145 billion in direct spending on energy and climate programs through the IRA. But the government has awarded less than $700 million, Politico found, of the $54 billion CHIPS Act.
Politico also provides polling data to show how this spending lag could be hurting Biden Administration efforts to demonstrate how they are delivering jobs and infrastructure throughout the country. Read “Biden touts his 4 major infrastructure and clean energy laws. Voters doubt they’re working. Even when they do see positive benefits, many voters aren’t giving the credit to Biden, a new POLITICO poll shows.”
A potential Trump re-election, or even a Republican takeover of the Senate, could make implementation of remaining funds more difficult. This issue isn’t going away any time soon.
You can read more about it HERE.
The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.