Outgoing US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Sunday aimed at prioritizing government resources to help economically struggling US communities, a day before he leaves the White House.
Biden’s order targets so-called “lagging communities” and is intended to help incoming President Donald Trump, who will oversee significant spending on infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, broadband internet and other programs approved during Biden’s presidency.
By one estimate, 15 percent of the U.S. population (about 50 million Americans) lives in a distressed ZIP code, as measured by poverty, unemployment, education, abandoned homes, median income, and decrease in jobs and businesses.
The White House touted a number of programs funded over the past four years, including $54 billion in investments for energy communities (coal, oil and gas, and power plant areas), as well as $210 million announced last week. passed for six new technology centers, $525 million for job training in distressed areas and billions in infrastructure for distressed regions.
Biden’s order prioritizes lagging communities for economic development funding, including those “facing economic hardship, undergoing industrial transitions, emerging as hubs of innovation, and rebuilding after natural disasters.”
“It’s not flashy. It’s just fulfilling his determination to help abandoned communities, particularly in the heartland, come back,” White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said in an interview.
Biden’s commerce department has provided $700 million for “tech hubs” that seek to spread the benefits of tech sector growth beyond traditional hubs, from California’s Silicon Valley to Boston, and has made other major investments.
Biden said in a statement that his administration “made historic investments to help left behind communities, like distressed areas, industrial cities and coal communities, turn setbacks into comebacks.”
His order directs government-wide coordination of federal investments in neglected communities and creates a “No Wrong Door” to help distressed areas identify resources across the federal government.
It also tells federal employees in areas that have recently suffered natural disasters to identify funding opportunities to address long-term infrastructure and economic development needs.
“This anchors the things we learned about how to do this work well and what gives these communities the best chance for success,” Brainard said.
In 2018, Trump signed his own executive order that created a White House Revitalization and Opportunity Council to address concerns about struggling communities, saying that “despite the growing national economy, these communities are plagued by high levels of poverty, poor schools and lack of jobs.”
The Republican president has promised to reduce regulations and raise tariffs during his second term as part of a plan to boost the US economy.
