The United States Senate just passed President Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal. This bill would bring much needed funding for local infrastructure projects across the United States. DMO President and Philadelphia At-Large Councilman Derek Green issued the following statement in response to the bill’s passage through the Senate.

“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represents a major shift in how the federal government responds to local infrastructure needs. President Biden once again shows his commitment to towns and cities across the country by investing in public transportation, restoring our roads and bridges, and ensuring that every American has clean water to drink. As a local elected official, it is good to see a President who brings everyone to the table to solve our shared problems.”

The next step for the infrastructure act is for the House to pass the bill when they return from recess on September 20th. You can support the President by contacting your member of Congress urging them to pass the infrastructure bill. You can also voice your support for the bill on social media, tagging @NationalDMO so we can share your message with the White House.

FACT SHEET

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/28/fact-sheet-historic-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/

This historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal:

• Makes the largest federal investment in public transit
• Makes the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak
• Makes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system
• Makes the largest investment in clean drinking water and waste water infrastructure in American history, replacing all of the nation’s lead pipes and delivering clean water to millions of families
• Ensures every American has access to reliable high-speed internet
• Helps us tackle the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and EV infrastructure in history and electrifying thousands of school and transit buses across the country

TALKING POINTS: Details of Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal

• Last month, the President stood with Democrats and Republicans at the White House to announce the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework – a bipartisan agreement to make the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century.

• Today, the President and the bipartisan group of Senators announced a deal on the details of that once-in-generation investment in our infrastructure, which will now be taken up in the Senate for consideration.

• The policies agreed to will grow the economy, create good jobs, enhance our competitiveness, and make our economy more sustainable, resilient, and just.

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will create good-paying, union jobs – with more than 80% of its funding covered by prevailing wage provisions that require the jobs created by it provide fair wages and benefits.

• With the remainder of the President’s Build Back Better Agenda, these investments will add, on average, nearly 2 million jobs per year over the course of the decade, while accelerating America’s path to full employment and increasing labor force participation.

• President Biden believes we must invest in our country and our people by creating good jobs, tackling the climate crisis, and sustaining equitable economic growth for decades to come. This deal will deliver progress towards those objectives for working families across the country.

• This historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal:
  • Makes the largest federal investment in public transit
  • Makes the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak
  • Makes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system
  • Makes the largest investment in clean drinking water and waste water infrastructure in American history, replacing all of the nation’s lead pipes and delivering clean water to millions of families
  • Ensures every American has access to reliable high-speed internet
  • Helps us tackle the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and EV infrastructure in history and electrifying thousands of school and transit buses across the country

• It is paid for through a combination of redirecting unspent emergency relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, the macroeconomic impact of infrastructure investment, and other bipartisan measures.
• President Biden promised to work across the aisle to deliver results for working families, and today’s deal shows we can come together to position American workers, farmers, and businesses to compete and win in the 21s century.

• The American people know this will be a game-changer for their lives and our economy, which is why you have seen broad, bipartisan support in numerous polls and a stream of endorsements from the nation’s governors, mayors, business leaders, and major labor unions.

• President Biden pledged to be a President not for Blue States or Red States, but for all Americans. Families across the country have waited so long for these improvements in their lives. The President is proud of this deal, and he hopes the Senate moves on it quickly to pass it on the bipartisan basis, as well as continue to make progress on his Build Back Better Agenda.

• And the American people strongly support it, including Republicans:
  • A new poll from YahooNews/YouGov shows 60% of Republicans support the framework.

• This week, you saw the President travel to Wisconsin to keep actively making the case for this agreement and getting it over the finish line.

• And he’s going to continue to make the case for his American Families Plan, which we’re also fighting to pass through the two-path approach and includes investments that are widely popular with the American people:
  • 74% of Republicans and 67% of Independents support investments in the care economy, an issue I feel deeply about as we think about getting women back to work.
  • 52% of Independents support extending the child care tax credit
  • 67% of Independents support tax credits for development of clean energy
• The President gave his word to support the Infrastructure Plan, and that’s what he intends to do. He is going to continue to work to see it pass as well as the Families Plan, because our country needs both.

Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Advances President Biden’s Climate Agenda

Last month, the President stood with Democrats and Republicans to announce the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework – which makes the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century and is an important first investment to ensure the U.S. can tackle the climate crisis.

Last week, the President and Senators announced details of the historic investment, which includes historic components that will help combat climate change, advance environmental justice, and create good-paying, union jobs. From reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the transportation sector, replacing lead pipes to deliver clean drinking water, electrifying America’s power grid, and more, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal embeds key provisions that advance President Biden’s climate plan alongside his full Build Back Better Agenda.

President Biden promised to work across the aisle to deliver results for working families, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal demonstrates we can come together to take key steps towards building an economy and country that is more sustainable, resilient, and just – all while creating jobs, furthering environmental justice, and addressing climate change.

President Biden believes we must invest in our country and our people by creating good jobs, tackling the climate crisis, and sustaining equitable economic growth for decades to come. The deal – along with his Build Back Better Agenda – will deliver progress towards this vision for working families across the country.

Modernize Public Transit and Reduce Emissions

The transportation sector is the nation’s top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which we must reduce to ensure we meet President Biden’s goals to create a net-zero economy by 2050. And, America’s transit infrastructure has a multi-billion dollar repair backlog with more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal makes the largest investment in public transit in history and is the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak – helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions when repairing, upgrading, and modernizing the nation’s transit infrastructure. The bill invests $105 billion in new funding to improve healthy, sustainable transportation options for millions of Americans by modernizing and expanding transit and rail networks across the country. It will replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles.  And, it will benefit communities of color since these households are twice as likely to take public transportation and many of these communities lack sufficient public transit options. In addition, it will help transit workers who are disproportionally workers of color. Bus and transit workers are 31% Black and 19% Hispanic, compared to 12% and 18% respectively of the workforce overall.

Build Up EV Infrastructure

U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is only one-third the size of the Chinese EV market. The President believes that must change. The bill invests $7.5 billion to build out the first-ever national network of EV chargers in the United States and is a critical element in the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to accelerate the adoption of EVs to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs. The bill will provide funding for deployment of EV chargers along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop.  Federal funding will have a particular focus on rural, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach communities.

Electrify America’s Buses

American school buses play a critical role in expanding access to education, but they are also a significant source of pollution. The deal will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural communities, helping school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero emission buses, and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America’s children. The deal invests $5 billion in zero and low emission school buses, in addition to more than $5 billion in funding for public transit agencies to adopt low- and no-emissions buses. These investments will drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, creating jobs and supporting domestic manufacturing, while also removing diesel buses from some of our most vulnerable communities. In addition, they will help the more than 25 million children and thousands of bus drivers who breathe polluted air on their rides to and from school. Diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other health problems that hurt our communities and cause students to miss school, particularly in communities of color and Tribal communities.

Reduce Emissions Across Airports, Ports, and Waterways

The United States built modern aviation, but our airports lag far behind our competitors. According to some rankings, no U.S. airports rank in the top 25 of airports worldwide. Our ports and waterways need repair and reimagination too. The bill invests $17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies. Modern, resilient, and sustainable port, airport, and freight infrastructure will support U.S. competitiveness by removing bottlenecks and expediting commerce and reduce the environmental impact on neighboring communities.

Strengthen Resilience

Millions of Americans feel the effects of climate change each year when their roads wash out, airport power goes down, or schools get flooded. Last year alone, the United States faced 22 extreme weather and climate-related disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each – a cumulative price tag of nearly $100 billion. People of color are more likely to live in areas most vulnerable to flooding and other climate change-related weather events. The deal makes our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change and cyber attacks, with an investment of roughly $50 billion. This includes funds to protect against droughts and floods, in addition to a major investment in weatherization. The bill is the largest investment in the resilience of physical and natural systems in American history.

Deliver Clean Drinking Water

Currently, up to 10 million American households and 400,000 schools and child care centers lack safe drinking water. The deal’s $55 billion investment represents the largest investment in clean drinking water in American history, including dedicated funding to replace lead service lines and the dangerous chemical PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl). It will replace all of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines. From rural towns to struggling cities, the deal invests in water infrastructure across America, including in Tribal Nations and disadvantaged communities that need it most.

Address Legacy Pollution

In thousands of rural and urban communities around the country, hundreds of thousands of former industrial and energy sites are now idle – sources of blight and pollution. 26% of Black Americans and 29% of Hispanic Americans live within 3 miles of a Superfund site, a higher percentage than for Americans overall. Proximity to a Superfund site can lead to elevated levels of lead in children’s blood. The deal invests $21 billion in environmental remediation, making the largest investment in addressing the legacy pollution that harms the public health of communities and neighborhoods in American history, creating good-paying union jobs in hard-hit energy communities and advancing economic and environmental justice. The bill includes funds to clean up superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells.

Electrify America’s Power Infrastructure

As the recent Texas power outages demonstrated, our aging electric grid needs urgent modernization. A Department of Energy study found that power outages cost the U.S. economy up to $70 billion annually. The deal’s roughly $60 billion investment is the single largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history. It upgrades our power infrastructure, including by building thousands of miles of new, resilient transmission lines to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy. It creates a new Grid Deployment Authority, invests in research and development for advanced transmission and electricity distribution technologies, and promotes smart grid technologies that deliver flexibility and resilience. It invests in demonstration projects and research hubs for next generation technologies like advanced nuclear reactors, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.

BUILD BACK BETTER AGENDA

Tackling the climate crisis and reaching President Biden’s goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 requires consistent action and historic investments in sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure – and this deal is a critical step towards realizing these objectives.  But we know there is more work to do – to grow our economy, create jobs, reduce climate pollution, and ensure more Americans can participate fully and equally in our economy.

In addition to the bipartisan deal, President Biden is dedicated to fulfilling his entire vision to tackle the climate crisis – which includes advancing his full Build Back Better Agenda that will:

Create an energy efficiency and clean electricity standard to send a market signal that bring additional private investment off the sidelines and into modernizing America’s electric grid – a key step towards reaching President Biden’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.

Extend and expand clean energy and EV tax credits for businesses and consumers to spur demand for domestic manufacturing, accelerate clean energy and EV deployment, and grow our capacity to build those technologies in the U.S.

Enlist a Civilian Climate Corps to put a new, diverse generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, and advance environmental justice – all while paving the way for good-paying, union jobs.

DMO Resolution Supporting the LGBT Community and Celebrating Pride Month 2021

WHEREAS, the 2015 Obergefell v Hodges Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage was a baseline for LGBT rights and not a finish line; and

WHEREAS, municipalities have often led on LGBT rights, including the prohibition of so called “conversion therapy” and establishment of anti-discrimination ordinances; and

WHEREAS, in 2017 the City of Philadelphia unveiled a new pride flag to recognize LGBT people of color, who often face unique perils as marginalized people; and

WHEREAS, the Human Rights Campaign publishes an annual Municipal Equality Index to further the work of local government in securing LGBT rights; and

WHEREAS, the first Pride was a reaction against police violence, and the LGBT community still faces heightened risk of discrimination from law enforcement and the legal system; and

WHEREAS, the “gay panic” defense for murder is still legal in 38 states; and

WHEREAS, state legislatures have introduced more than 100 anti-trans bills in 2021 alone; and

WHEREAS, these bills include bans from youth sports, prohibit using gender affirming facilities, and enact a duty for teachers to report instances of gender non-conformity, and

WHEREAS, more than half of trans teens report seriously considering suicide, and

WHEREAS, gender affirming care for trans youth dramatically reduces the risk of suicide, and

WHEREAS, the medical establishment’s consensus is that trans youth should receive gender affirming care;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, Democratic Municipal Officials celebrates Pride Month 2021, acknowledges the work municipalities have achieved in furthering LGBT rights, and recognizes the important work that still needs to be done.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, municipalities should ban the harmful practice of so called “conversion therapy”.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, wherever possible, municipalities should pass legislation promoting gender affirming care and enable trans youth to use the spaces that correspond to their identity.

The Treasury Department has just released guidance on how local government can spend American Rescue Plan funds.

• For an overview of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program including an expanded use of eligible uses, see the fact sheet released today. For additional details on the state, local, territorial, and Tribal government allocations, see the full list here.

• For updates from Treasury Department Relief and Recovery Programs, sign up here.

• For more information, visit Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds on Treasury.gov.

The White House and Treasury Department will also be hosting briefing webinars today, May 10th at the following times.

4:00pm ARP State & Local Program Briefing #1

https://pitc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_8D1GDgKYRkedj1XwsTIXzw

6:45pm ARP State & Local Program Briefing #2

https://pitc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_dRcyIhMQS_aRwt89jTQTAQ

As always, we hope you continue to let your constituents know that President Biden, the Democrats, and their votes in 2020 brought them these resources.

Sincerely,

Nils Robbins

DMO Communications and Operations Director

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Our friends at the White House are asking for your support next week during the Getting Back On Track tour. First and foremost, they are asking local elected officials to promote the American Jobs Plan. In particular, the plan provides assistance for cities to rebuild infrastructure.

We hope you can spread the word about everything the Biden Administration is doing for Americans, and especially to help our towns and cities Build Back Better.

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DMO Actions

• Publish Op-eds, issue statements, and hold events calling attention to how the American Jobs Plan will benefit your city.
• Amplify accomplishments from the First 100 Days.
• Amplify how the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan will help your residents.
• Stay on the lookout for daily messaging briefs. As always, tag @NationalDMO so we can share your posts on social media.
  • Monday Theme: Pre-K and community college. If your city has free college programs, or is developing one, let your community know!
  • Wednesday Theme: Small business and restaurant recovery. Tag DMO in a post featuring a reopening business or restaurant, especially one helped by the American Rescue Plan.
  • Thursday Theme: Infrastructure day of action. Please post a social media picture of infrastructure priority or need. The White House wants to see photos of how they can help your city rebuild.

100 Days TOPLINE POINTS:

• In his first 100 days, President Biden acted to get America back on track by addressing the crises facing this nation: vaccinating America to beat the pandemic, delivering much needed help to American families, making transformative investments to rescue and rebuild our economy, and fundamentally showing that government can deliver for its people.
• In these 100 days of rescue, repair, and renewal, the nation is healthier, safer, more prosperous, fairer, and more competitive.

Accomplishments (By Day 100)

1. COVID: We administered over 200m shots in less than 100 days. More than half of U.S. adults have gotten one shot; two-thirds of all seniors fully vaccinated.   Daily deaths are now down 75% since January 20. 
2. Checks: We delivered 160 million relief checks of $1400/person, with 85% of all Americans receiving one.
3. Jobs:  President Biden and the Administration created more new jobs in the first 100 days than any President in history, and is the first to create more than 1 million new jobs in that timespan. Additionally, we extended – on a bipartisan basis – the loan program for Small Businesses hard hit by the pandemic and provided relief to 4 million small businesses struggling to keep their doors open. 
4. Schools: We opened a majority of schools for K-8, as promised.
5. ARP: We passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), to fund vaccine deployment and economic rescue payments, which many called “the most significant legislation” in a generation.  Experts say it will cut child poverty in half by next year.
6. Advanced Racial Equity: ARP will also significantly reduce poverty in communities of color— in the Black community by 38 percent, in the Hispanic community by 43 percent, and in AAPI communities by 23 percent. It contains the largest investment in child care since World War II, which will especially benefit women of color and delivers the largest federal investment in history for Native American programs. Our Administration has built equity into our policies across the board, from ensuring an equitable vaccine distribution to specifically initiating changes to combat housing discrimination, making historic investments in farmers of color, advancing a more equitable transportation system, and working to expand voting access.
7. Tax Cuts:  We cut taxes for families with children, so that families – starting in July – will get a $3600 tax credit for each child under 18.
8. Health Care: We cut premiums for those who get health coverage from the Affordable Care Act; four in five now can get plans for $10 / month.  Over 850,000 people signed up for coverage during special enrollment. 
9. Guns:  We ordered the strongest actions on gun safety in 20 years, including the first ever regulation of so-called ghost guns.
10. Diversity:  We have the most diverse Cabinet in history, including the first openly LGBTQ cabinet secretary, first Native American cabinet secretary, first woman Treasury Secretary, first African-American Secretary of Defense, first Latino Secretary of Health and Human Services, and first Asian American US Trade Representative.
11. Afghanistan: President Biden ordered the end of 20-years of US military involvement in Afghanistan.
12. Climate:  We rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and for the first time ever, the US is hosting a global climate summit for world leaders to make commitments to reduce their emissions
13. Infrastructure:  We launched the American Jobs Plan, a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure to make America more competitive, and help create 19 million jobs
14. Families:  We launched the American Families Plan, which will make PreK universal, provide, paid leave, community college free, and lower the cost of child care.

 American Family Plan Resources