President Joe Biden, has issued a "roadmap" for spending $1 trillion on infrastructure
Key takeaways:
- As part of the National Governors Association's winter meeting, Biden welcomed governors to the White House and emphasized the importance of infrastructure.
- Administration officials scrambled to create the book as soon as the infrastructure package was signed into law on November 15.
President Joe Biden urged US governors to speed up their construction plans on Monday, as his administration released a guidebook for obtaining the nearly $1 trillion in funding made available by the bipartisan infrastructure agreement.
On Monday, Biden accepted governors to the White House as part of the National Governors Association's winter meeting, as well as he harped on the importance of infrastructure.
The Democratic president told them, "You know how to construct roads and bridges." "Well, we've got a lot of ground to cover."
The goal of the 461-page book, according to Mitch Landrieu, a senior White House adviser in charge of spending on infrastructure, is to ensure that all communities, regardless of size or politics, have the specifics on how to qualify for funding.
"It's an absolute road map," Landrieu, a former New Orleans mayor, said.
The book seeks to level the playing field by permitting smaller cities, tribal leaders, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations to compete for funds that are usually only available to lobbyists.
The infrastructure offered is unique in scope because it includes initiatives such as broadband internet, leads water pipe substitute, climate change resilience, and roads and bridges.
As soon as the infrastructure package was signed into law on November 15, administration officials scrambled to create the book. The administration is working with associations and direct contacts to ensure that it reaches govt officials in communities of all sizes.
Copies are available on the internet at build.gov. Landrieu stated he has already talked with 43 governors and more than 250 mayors as part of the push.
There are 375 different programs in the infrastructure package, with 125 of them being new. While the guidebook is more than twice as large as F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," it is much shorter and easier to navigate than the infrastructure bill, which was over 1,000 pages long.
Approximately 60% of the funds are accessible through a formula, with the remaining 40% available through competitive applications.
Because the gov't is operating on a continuing resolution, which runs until February 18, rather than an annual budget, not all of the infrastructure money can be spent.
Even so, not all of the funds will be distributed immediately, as the programs are typically implemented over a five- to seven-year period.