Exploring the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
On November 15, 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act introduced by Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04) and signed into law by President Biden.1 The Act makes historic investments towards vulnerable infrastructure needs across the country. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides additional funding support towards roads, bridges, public transit, clean water, airport upgrades, energy grid upgrades, passenger and freight railways, coastal resiliency, clean school buses, and small business growth. Over the next 5 years, more than $1 trillion in government funding will be poured into infrastructure projects across the country.2 The Act also mandates policy changes to existing transportation policy requiring housing to be considered during the planning process of transportation policy.3 The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also directs comprehensive support towards the infrastructure needs of Black communities across the United States.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also directs comprehensive support towards the infrastructure needs of Black communities across the United States.
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The following investments from the Act have the greatest impact on Black communities:
BROADBAND ACCESS
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocates $65 billion towards enhancing broadband access.4 With the growth in “work from home” opportunities, as well as the shift towards virtual learning, prioritizing broadband internet access is one of the top features of infrastructure upgrades in the United States. It is estimated that 30 million Americans are living in areas with no access to broadband internet.5 Black citizens are 9% more likely to not have access to broadband internet than their white counterparts.6 Black communities across the country will benefit from expanded broadband internet access. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will also make broadband internet access more affordable for low-income families by making economical options for broadband access available through the Affordable Connectivity Program.
CLEAN WATER
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will eliminate lead pipes by investing $3.5 billion to repair water infrastructure.7 This will assist cities with higher concentrations of Black people exposed to lead pollution, like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Newark, and provide them access to clean water. A substantive amount of funding will go towards updating water infrastructures across the country, many of which were built in the 1970s and 80s.8 Only 24% of Black Americans report that they can safely drink tap water compared to 43% of white Americans.9 According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research,10 Illinois has more lead pipes than any other state. Black and Brown citizens in Illinois are two times more likely to live in neighborhoods with lead pipes. The replacement of failing drinking water systems is also prioritized through the Act. Cities, like Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi, will be eligible to receive $25 billion in funding allocated to increasing access to clean water.11
Opportunity
The Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more. The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.
The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program is the first-ever Federal program dedicated to reconnecting communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities by transportation infrastructure.
Funding supports planning grants and capital construction grants, as well as technical assistance, to restore community connectivity through the removal, retrofit, mitigation, or replacement of eligible transportation infrastructure facilities.
PUBLIC TRANSIT
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will make a $9.45 billion investment toward public transit, including high-speed rails.12 Funding towards repairs to clear the multibillion-dollar repair backlog for public transit services around the country will aid Americans in safely using public transit during timely commutes. The Act also allocates funding to make public transit services more accessible, which will help connect Black communities often faced with transportation barriers and improve access to work, healthcare, and school. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will make American metropolitan areas more accessible through public transit by funding projects that will eliminate neighborhood segregation in cities across the country through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.
MINORITY BUSINESSES
In addition to investing in physical and environmental infrastructure needs, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also invests in the economic infrastructure of minority businesses. The goal of the investment is to strengthen economically disadvantaged businesses. Included within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is the Minority Business Development Act of 2021, which established the United State Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency as a permanent government agency.13 Regional and rural minority business centers were also created within the agency to better serve minority business owners. Grant funding is available to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as Minority Serving Institutions, through the Parren J. Mitchell Entrepreneurship Education Grants program to support the next generation of minority entrepreneurs.14 Additionally, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides grant funding to nonprofits with missions to assist minority businesses.
Parren J. Mitchell was one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), playing a significant role in crafting the organization identity. He was elected to Congress in 1970, becoming the first African–American Representative from Maryland. During his sixteen years in Congress, he served in many committees, including Chairman of the House Small Business Committee and fought steadfastly for Black economic empowerment.
Snapshot of How the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Impacts Black Communities
• Funds the historic Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection, and Construction program to invest $225M over 5 years to improve and construct bridges in Mississippi.15
• Increases access to 14,000 Washington, D.C. residents that currently have no access to broadband internet through a $100M investment.16 This will also make broadband access more affordable for 23% (164,000) of D.C. residents through the Affordability Connectivity Benefit.
• Reduces neighborhood segregation in Chicago, Illinois by funding $23B to extend the Chicago Transit Authority Red line to connect areas of the far Southside to the city’s transit system.17
• Upgrades and repairs the Kansas City Transit to purchase electric buses, repair backlogs, and implement modern technology in a $27M project , which will also support American jobs by using materials made in American factories.18
• Provides construction and repairs to the highway and bridge systems in Wisconsin with $225M going towards 1,000 bridges in the state that have been labeled as ‘poor’.19
• Offers minority owned businesses opportunities to participate in the construction of the Hudson River Tunnel Project as the Department of Transportation commits to making the process of awarding contracts equitable.20
• Prevents flood damage and loss of life in Fort Worth, Texas by investing $403M into the Trinity River Central City Flood Project.21
• Improves broadband access and affordability in the Virgin Islands through $25M in funding with an additional $2.5M to prevent cyberattacks to the Virgin Islands territory.22
SPOTLIGHT PUBLICATION:
For more information on how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will increase racial equity across the country, please visit https://www. cepr.net/the-historicopportunities-forracial-equity-inthe-infrastructureinvestment-andjobs-act/
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• Redesigns highways that have divided communities in Atlanta, Georgia. Reconnecting the Stitch Project in downtown Atlanta with the greater Metro Atlanta area is one of the projects being considered for funding.23
• Improves the public transit system in Washington, D.C. for residents who are likely to spend 25% more of their time commuting than citizens who do not use public transit. Black citizens are 0.8 times more likely to use public transit than white residents. The replacement of 5% of trains in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority fleet that are past useful life will be funded with a $1.2B investment
• Eliminates neighborhood segregation in Birmingham, Alabama through the Reconnecting Communities program that will fund the Birmingham Xpress Bus Rapid Transit Project, which will connect citizens from 25 communities to jobs, schools, and healthcare.24
ENDNOTES
1. H.R.3684- 117th Congress (2021-2022): Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (2021, November 15). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684/text
2. McKinsey & Company. (n.d.). Reinvesting in America. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/ our-insights/reinvesting-in-america
3. Atlanta Regional Commission. (n.d.). Infrastructure and Investments Job Act: Transportation. Retrieved from https://atlantaregional.org/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act/transportation/
4. The White House. (n.d.). President Biden’s Infrastructure Law. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/
5. Id.
6. New York Amsterdam News. (2021). DNC: Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will revitalize Black communities across America. Retrieved from https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2021/11/09/dnc-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-will-revitalize-black-communities-across-america/
7. Supra note 4.
8. McKinsey & Company. (2022). The US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Reinvesting in water. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/the-us-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-reinvesting-in-water
9. Novo, C. (2021). New data show racial differences in access to clean water in US. Retrieved from https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/smart-water-magazine/new-data-show-racial-differences-access-clean-water-us
10. Goubert, A. & Austin, A. (2022). The historic opportunities for racial equity in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Retrieved from https://www.cepr.net/the-historic-opportunities-for-racial-equity-in-the-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act/
11. Thrush, G. (2022). An Alabama town’s sewage woes tests Biden’s infrastructure ambitions. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/us/politics/infrastructure-environmental-racism-alabama-black-belt.html
12. Supra note 4.
13. Minority Business Development Agency. (n.d.). The Minority Business Development Act of 2021. Retrieved from https://www.mbda.gov/minority-business-development-act-2021
14. Supra note 1.
15. Vicksburg News. (2022). Thompson announced first rounds of investments in repairing bridges. Retrieved from https://vicksburgnews.com/thompson-announced-first-round-of-investments-in-repairing-bridges/
16. The White House. (2021). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will deliver for Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/DC_IIJA_State-Fact-Sheet.pdf
17. Guarino, M. (2022). A windfall for infrastructure. Retrieved from https://www.chicagobusiness.com/ crains-forum-illinois-infrastructure/how-bidens-infrastructure-bill-will-change-chicago-0
18. Office of Congressman Cleaver. (2022, April 7). Congressman Cleaver announces $27million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Kansas City Transit [Press release]. https://cleaver.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cleaver-announces-27-million-frombipartisan-infrastructure
19. Office of Congresswoman Moore. (2022, January 14). Congresswoman Gwen Moore announces $225 million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Wisconsin bridge repairs [Press release]. https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4939
20. Office of Congressman Payne. (2022, May 26). Rep. Payne, Jr. welcomes transportation secretary Buttigieg to district to discuss minority business opportunities [Press release]. https://payne.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-payne-jr-welcomes-transportation-secretarybuttigieg-district-discuss
21. Office of Congressman Veasey. (2022, January 19). Congressman Veasey announces $403 million in new funding for Trinity River Project from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law [Press release]. https://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-veasey-announces-403-million-in-newfunding-for-trinity-river
22. Office of Congresswoman Plaskett. (n.d.). The Infrastructure & Jobs Act will deliver for the United States Virgin Islands [Press release]. https://plaskett.house.gov/covid-19/i-i-j-a.htm
23. Supra note 3.
24. Office of Congresswoman Sewell. (2022, June 30). Rep. Sewell welcomes transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg to Birmingham to announce program to reconnect communities [Press release]. https://sewell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-sewell-welcomestransportation-secretary-pete-buttigieg-birmingham