Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday to prioritize government resources to help economically distressed American communities – a day before he leaves the White House.
Biden’s order targets so-called “left-leaning communities” and would help President-elect Donald Trump curb spending on infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, broadband internet and other programs approved during the Biden presidency.
By one estimate, 15% of the U.S. population — or about 50 million Americans — live in distressed ZIP codes, as measured by poverty, unemployment, education, abandoned housing, median income, and declines in jobs and businesses.
The White House announced $54 billion for energy communities — coal, oil and gas and power generation — including several programs funded over the past four years, as well as $210 million last week for six new technology hubs. $525 million for job training in disadvantaged areas and billions for infrastructure in disadvantaged regions.
Biden’s order prioritizes left-leaning communities for economic development funding “that are experiencing economic hardship, undergoing industrial transitions, emerging as centers of innovation and rebuilding from natural disasters.”
White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said in an interview: “It’s not a shame. It’s just a commitment to help backward communities, especially in the middle of the country, to get them back.”
The Commerce Department under Biden has awarded $700 million to “tech hubs” that want to boost tech sector growth and make other major investments beyond traditional hubs from California’s Silicon Valley to Boston.
In a statement, Biden said his administration “has made historic investments to help disadvantaged communities like distressed areas, factory towns and coal communities.”
His order “directs coordination of federal investments across the board in left-behind communities and creates a ‘faulty door’ to help distressed areas divert resources from the federal government.”
It tells federal employees in areas affected by recent natural disasters to identify funding opportunities to address long-term economic development and infrastructure needs.
“This will lock in the things we’ve learned about how to best do this work and give these communities the best chance for success,” Brainard said.
Trump in 2016 In 2018, the White House signed its own executive order Chance (SO:) and the Revitalization Council to address concerns about communities in crisis, “despite the growing national economy, these communities have high levels of poverty, the failure of schools and lack of jobs.”
In his second term, the Republican president has pledged to cut regulations and raise tariffs as part of a plan to boost the US economy.
